A very important one Part of driving safety is keeping your eyes on the road. When you need to take a call, change playlists, or change the destination you’re navigating to, it’s not always easy. We should all stop when these tasks need to be done (or ask a passenger to do them), but that doesn’t always happen.
By using your voice to interact with Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, you can get directions, look up information, and control media playback without taking your hands off the wheel or your eyes off what’s in front of you. Here’s how to do it when you’re connected to Android Auto or Apple CarPlay in your vehicle.
Talking to Android Auto
There are several ways to get Android Auto to listen to you. One is to tap the microphone icon that appears on the side of the interface, next to the list of recently used apps. Another is to press the voice command button on your car’s steering wheel, if it has one. It looks different on some cars, but it usually shows an illustration of a person’s face in profile, with their mouth open and sound waves coming out of their mouth. (Check your vehicle’s documentation if you’re not sure.)
If you want to go completely hands-free and use the “Hey Google” prompt to have Android Auto listen to you, you need to make sure that voice prompts are enabled on your phone. In Settings, select Connected devices > Connection preferences (Google Pixel phones) or just Connected devices (Samsung Galaxy phones), then Android Auto.
Choose Detecting “Hey Google” and you’ll see two toggle switches, so you can enable hands-free voice activation on your phone all the time or just when you’re driving. Note that if you haven’t already, to enable this feature you’ll need to record some audio samples so your phone knows how to recognize you when you’re speaking and making requests.
Talking to Apple CarPlay
As with Android Auto, there may be a voice command button on your car’s steering wheel that you can press before talking to Siri in Apple CarPlay. It depends on the make, model, and age of your vehicle, so if the voice control button doesn’t seem obvious, you may need to consult your manual to find it. (Look for the button with a picture of a person speaking.)