MRA next is very buggy on my Android Auto

Léon Hassing

Hi, last month I was on a 12 day trip in Morocco with my BMW with Chigee Aio 5 connected to my Pixel 8 and used Android Auto. I intended to use MRA for my navigation. I downloaded the maps and gpx files for offline use. After the first day I had to switch to another app. The issue was that MRA couldn't find the GPS location or even stopped working. And when it seemed to work the roads were straight although in real it was a very curvy road. Other issue was that on the map all cities were written in Arabic. I did restart my phone several times, but that didn't help. My other apps, osmand and TT Go worked flawless. It seems that MRA has issues connecting to the GPS when other apps also use it. All in all I was very disappointed in MRA on AA. How can I solve the issue with the GPS positioning and the other findings?

Robert Gronewold

@Léon-Hassing There are a number of posts on this community forum about problems with MRA and Android Auto and no responses from the developers. Do they not monitor this forum? It would sure be nice to see a plan for addressing these app bugs.

PieterG

@Léon-Hassing I have lifetime licenses for MRA gold and Navigator app lifetime but I have completely stopped using them with Android Auto because it is unworkable due to a huge amount of bugs that made my routes fail over and over again. Maybe next year the product will be developed enough to be stable but for now I am fed up with it.

Léon Hassing

@PieterG I also have lifetime license for MRA Gold and Next. I like the navigation app very much, but indeed on AA it is almost unworkable.

@Robert-Gronewold I do hope the developers look into the comments on the forum. It would be a pity when our feedback is ignored, because in itself MRA Next is a nice product.

OGRIII

I have Gold membership and use Android Auto in Honda car and on Honda motorcycle.
I use the route planner to plan routes and transfer to TomTom 550 on the motorcycle. I have not yet had confidence in the Navigation App. However today in my car I thought I'd give it a try. So I switched on Navigation but could not get it to actually navigate on the mobile or via Android Auto (AA). After several attempts I was about to give up. However I decided to give my mobile a restart. Then the MRA navigation worked and lo and behold all the direction icons worked perfectly including the roundabout icons! The navigation then worked perfectly, first time ever!!! I will now try it on the motorcycle, when I next lead a ride, but will have the route backed up on my TomTom Rider 550 just in case. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised at how good the navigation worked both on the mobile and the AA screen, although there were slight differences between the views. I had it set to track and will try it next time using way points.

Corjan Meijerink

Since the latest update we really do expect Android Auto to work much better! We also got come promising signs from the community (and our internal tooling) such as here: https://forum.myrouteapp.com/topic/8267/encouraging-signs-that-myroute-app-android-auto-mirror-is-becoming-stable

Feel free to contact support about specific issues.
Yes, we are quite active on the forum and try to respond to all feedback. Yet, we are quite a small team

Corjan Meijerink

@OGRIII Thanks for sharing!

Léon Hassing

@OGRIII When I used MRA Navigation on AA in my rental car on Iceland last summer I had the same experience. Sometimes it got stuck (no GPS positioning), but after restarting the phone it started working again. At that time it was the only navigation app I used on my phone. Last month on the motorcycle I also used TT Go and Osmand. At that time restart of my phone was not sufficient anymore.

@Corjan-Meijerink The issue with the stuck GPS positioning is also tackled in the new version? And the issue with city names in Arabic on the map is HERE "functionality"?

Corjan Meijerink

@Léon-Hassing A lot has changed since summer regarding the Android Auto stability

Garry Davis

Used the App today to the Motorcycle Show in Birmingham, apart from a couple of meltdowns, it worked just fine ( to be fair Google maps threw a wobbly too ) The only thing that seems not to have been fixed it is the volume, when the directions are announced, when you have music playing on the phone, It's almost impossible to hear them. If there is no music, the app works just fine, and you can hear the directions perfectly.

Léon Hassing

Today I tried MRA navigation again with the latest updates, because I wanted to see if there indeed were improvements in the 4.3.3 - 357 version. Unfortunately I have to say that this not the case. I created a route with 4 stops. At every stop I disconnected AA. After the first step MRA couldn't find the location anymore. Navigation was impossible and the app didn't respond anymore. After restart of MRA the app seemed working, but the map was positioned on a unknown location and didn't move when I was driving. So the test failed again and I had to use another nav-app to finish my trip. I hope MRA on AA will improve soon. Until then I will use my old Tom Tom, that almost never fails me.

Marinus van Deudekom

@Léon-Hassing Maybe updating to the latest version, 372 will help

Rob Verhoeff

@Marinus-van-Deudekom 372 is beta only. Don’t know if TS is a beta tester. Seems not because this is a non-beta topic.

Léon Hassing

@Rob-Verhoeff said in MRA next is very buggy on my Android Auto:

@Marinus-van-Deudekom 372 is beta only. Don’t know if TS is a beta tester. Seems not because this is a non-beta topic.

No. I'm not a beta tester.

Marinus van Deudekom

@Léon-Hassing Ok with patience is the word

Jan 50

I can only agree, hoped it twould be a good alternative for navigating with Garmin. I have 4 different Android Auto devices (Renault, Ford, Maxca and a Pioneer. On all systems the app is buggy. With the latest update, within 5 km the app froze (again), stopped the app on the phone, restarted the entertainment system in the car and within seconds after connecting the screen froze again. Other apps work just fine.

It's really difficult to see development put new stuff into an app which is just not stable. For me it was a point where i'm not trusting it anymore and switched to TomTom Go. It has limitations but, after installing it just works. No frozen screens, position is correct, etc. and no battery drain so the phone was not empty when arriving.

Marinus van Deudekom

@Jan-50 hi Jan
Witch version do you use and witch phone.
Are you a Beta tester. In the Bèta version 375 is out and I don’t experiance any problems

Mzokk

@Léon-Hassing last August

This is a photo of me testing an earlier iteration of the App against my Garmin Zumo XT. The last two versions of the app. I'm now on 4.3.4 -375 have worked perfectly for me on my Africa Twin and VW ID3

However, I still think that using Android Auto or Apple Carplay could add levels of troubleshooting if you are having problems. The head unit, the connection (wired or Wifi) and the phone (particularly AA or CP settings) or competing apps (Bluetooth) could all lead to issues that may not be connected to the app that you are using.

The two that I have encountered over the past year and a half of experimenting with MRA and OSMand are. The data cable not streaming enough data. This was cured by purchasing a high data transfer up to 10 Gbps Amazon Basics cable (about £7) I think. My newest phone glitching when it became charged to 100% and was switching off Android Auto. This was a setting in Android 14 OS which flashed a message on screen that the phone had reached 100% and simultaneously switched off AA. That took some googling to work out and switch off in the Android settings.

Up to now I've continued to use my Garmin Zumo XT as my Primary navigation device. Now however, the latest version of the app is so good for me I think from now on I will use it for primary navigation with the Zumo as a backup. Not least because I can control the app with the Honda bar buttons which I can't do with the Zumo.

Jan 50

@Marinus-van-Deudekom Thing is, i can provide a lot of information, but it shouldn't be that way.

Installing TomTom, Waze, ANWB -> They al just work. No problems with screen lockup, no problems with excessive battery drain, no routing problems, ok some times map information is incorrect but that's not the app function.

I have had a year of patience with all the problems, but by now had to stop too many times to stop applications, reset systems, connecting again ans still not working as it should. And with the latest public update, within minutes, again problems... Android Auto or Carplay are just not stable and development seems to only be busy with updates which are not usefulle if the app is not stable. It should first work with it's primary goal, just be able to drive a complete route without problems. A lot other functions are just not needed in a navigation app. Ok, if it's working, but it's just not stable.

Marinus van Deudekom

@Jan-50 I'm sorry to hear that you still got some problems. It seems that you're not in the Beta program so the public version is the one one witch you've got the problems.
the extra info that I requested was trying to help you out in determining what is the actuall problem on your side.
The app itself is stable and when I use it on the bike I don't have any problems at all. When in the car and therefore duplicating the phones screen with Android Auto since the last Beta version I don't have problems on Android Auto. As Corjan stated there is a problem with ASndroid 15. So maybe that's your's as well.
I'm still willing to help you out