Bogdan Popa
13,289 ARTICLES
Personal motto:
"Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow" - Jeff Valdez, Stand-up Comedian.
He typically carries both an iPhone and Android device because there’s no such thing as the perfect phone, and he drives a car that some say is blue, others say is green.
His guilty pleasure is finding bugs in Android Auto (cc @Google, you’d better keep an eye on his reports, as these could actually help you refine the experience behind the wheel), and he occasionally tries out all kinds of weird gadgets that many people didn’t even know they exist.
His daily tech arsenal also includes a smartwatch and earbuds because that’s how geeks rock, as well as a laptop that has nothing in common with fruit.
Bogdan’s long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space in the trunk for his kid’s toys, as well as convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as the phones that these two companies build.
When he’s not writing about cars, Bogdan’s probably trying to fit a bike in the 375-liter trunk of his car or posting tech stuff for autoevolution’s sister site Softpedia.
This Awesome Android Auto Music Player Has Just Received a Welcome Update
10 Mar 2020, 18:02 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / As far as Android Auto music player apps are concerned, there are plenty of choices in the Google Play Store, but in reality, only a handful are actually worth installing. Poweramp is without a doubt one of the best, as it comes with features to...
This CarPlay System Uses an Android Tablet and a Carlinkit Adapter
10 Mar 2020, 17:27 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Bringing CarPlay to older cars most often comes down to buying an aftermarket head unit that ships with support for Apple’s system, either with a cable or wirelessly. But on the other hand, if a third-party head unit isn’t possible d...
The Miracle of Technology Lets You Use an iPhone to See Any Car on Your Driveway
10 Mar 2020, 17:16 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / New-generation technology once again comes in handy in the automotive industry, as UK-based Creditplus has launched a new feature for its app, essentially allowing customers to see the car they want to buy right on their driveway. It’s all...
Flagship Samsung Feature Wreaking Havoc on Android Auto
9 Mar 2020, 18:28 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Connection problems on Android Auto could have a wide variety of causes, but according to some new reports, Samsung DeX might also be the culprit for those using a Samsung phone. Samsung DeX is one of the South Koreans’ most innovative fea...
Scaling Issues Sometimes Make Android Auto a Waste of Time
9 Mar 2020, 17:28 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Using Android Auto is more or less a matter of luck, as everything can work correctly right now and then break down entirely a minute later. One of the issues that make Android Auto more or less useless, however, concerns scaling, as depending o...
Widescreen Apple CarPlay on BMW i3 Is a Modern Forbidden Fruit
8 Mar 2020, 17:23 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / As many BMW owners learned the hard way, enabling CarPlay is something that’s just not possible everywhere around the world. This is the message the German manufacturer itself uses every time a customer reaches out to the company asking for C...
What Google Maps? This New Navigation System Takes You Anywhere (Literally)
8 Mar 2020, 15:31 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / While Google’s making big efforts to bring Google Maps to every little corner of the world, both on and off the road, motorcycle owners looking for an adventure can now get a new device that’s specifically built to deal with rigorous we...
Three Reasons Wireless CarPlay Is So Much Better than the Wired Version
8 Mar 2020, 14:07 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Apple’s CarPlay system can be used with either a wired or wireless connection, depending on the features of the car’s HUD, and at first glance, both systems come with their own pros and cons. One of the main advantages of using a wir...
This Subaru BRZ with a Custom Body Kit: Real or Fake?
7 Mar 2020, 17:16 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / The Subaru BRZ is an awesome car, there’s no doubt about that, so it’s no surprise that it receives so many customizations from tuning houses across the world. But at the same time, it’s also not a secret that video games have ...
Annoying Bug Blocks Waze Alerts from Going Away on Apple CarPlay
7 Mar 2020, 15:16 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / If you’re not using Google Maps for your daily commute and instead picked Waze in an attempt to avoid traffic jams, there’s a good chance you already noticed a bug that blocks alerts from going away when driving. In other words, if y...
Harley-Davidson Owners Still Dreaming About Android Auto Support
6 Mar 2020, 19:23 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Google adds Android Auto support for new car brands and models every once in a while, but one high-profile name that the search giant seems to ignore is Harley-Davidson. While the HUDs installed on Harley-Davidson motorcycles are perfectly capab...
Nasty Apple CarPlay Bug Is Now Plaguing Android Auto as Well
6 Mar 2020, 17:33 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Not a long time ago, we reported that an issue hitting Apple’s CarPlay system broke down audio during phone calls on several Harley-Davidson models and multiple cars. But as it turns out, similar problems are now being encountered by Andro...
Genius Uber Driver Tries to Avoid an Asian Rider by Hiding In the Back Seat
6 Mar 2020, 17:02 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / The coronavirus outbreak has apparently terrified one Uber driver, who decided to avoid an Asian rider by simply parking a few blocks away and then hiding in the back seat hoping he wouldn’t be noticed. The only problem is that he was even...
Forget About “Hey Siri” in Your Car Because You’ll Have Another App to Talk To
6 Mar 2020, 15:58 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Voice commands are vital when getting behind the wheel because they reduce the distractions and allow drivers to interact with systems like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto hands free. This is the reason both CarPlay and Android Auto come with bui...
This Trick to Disable Wi-Fi When CarPlay Opens Will Make You Feel Like a Hacker
6 Mar 2020, 15:28 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / While CarPlay comes with a limited set of options, there’s a lot more it can do, all thanks to the Shortcuts app pre-loaded on iPhone and which allows us to create a wide array of automations. One such automation makes it possible to disab...
One of the Best Android Auto Music Players Gets a Major Update with New Features
6 Mar 2020, 13:21 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / BlackPlayer EX is one of the best music players for Android devices, and as many drivers already know, it also includes support for Android Auto. As compared to apps like Spotify and Deezer, BlackPlayer EX is all about your very own music, so yo...
More Apple CarPlay Headaches as Phone Calls Now Broken on Harley-Davidsons
5 Mar 2020, 18:09 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / A bug hitting Apple’s CarPlay causes audio calls to no longer work properly when an iPhone 11 is used to connect to a Harley-Davidson model. The issue was first reported in late 2019, and despite Apple releasing several iOS updates in the ...
This Two-Click Trick Lets You Disable a Super-Annoying Waze Feature
5 Mar 2020, 17:32 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Waze is currently one of the top navigation apps on both Android and iOS (and, as a result, on Android Auto and Apple CarPlay), and it’s all because of how efficient it is when it comes to providing users with a fast route avoiding traffic ja...
The Latest Android Auto Version No Longer Closes After Turning Off the Engine
5 Mar 2020, 17:25 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Installing the latest version of a new application on day one is often a risky thing, especially without thorough internal testing before the release, and it looks like Android Auto makes no exception. The latest update appears to come with an o...
My Harley Sounds Like a Sewing Machine, So Many Google Users Say
4 Mar 2020, 17:59 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / If you use Google’s search engine or Microsoft’s Bing to look for information online, you probably know that both services provide you with suggestions (or predictions, as Google calls them) as you type, all in an attempt to make the wh...