I’m currently using the following setup, but I’m having a few issues that make it quite inconvenient for me, so I was hoping for some suggestions to improve the situation.
I have four user profiles:
- the owner profile which I only use to install apps and manage profiles
- my main (secondary) profile: I have Google Play Services installed, but I’m not logged into a Google account. I have most of my apps here.
- a secondary profile for apps that require me to be logged into Google. Just one app ATM.
- a secondary profile for Android Auto only used while driving (not logged into Google account)
My main issue is with the Android Auto profile. I can’t get calls to work over the car’s audio system. I read about an old bug in secondary profiles that is still unfixed, which interferes with using Bluetooth devices when answering a call. Outgoing calls seem to work for some users but not for me, maybe because I’m using dual SIM cards. When I try to make a call from Android Auto, I first have to select a SIM card on my phone’s screen (secondary users don’t seem to pick up the preferred SIM card and it looks like they also don’t have an option in the settings menu to choose their own preferred card). And when I select the SIM card the call is just on the phone’s screen and built-in speakers, but not in Android Auto nor on the car’s audio system.
So I’m wondering how to improve this situation. According to an X post by the GrapheneOS team, it doesn’t seem to be possible to install Android Auto in a private space or work profile. So, to improve the Bluetooth / phone call situation, it seems like the only option I have is to install Android Auto in the owner profile. I’m a little worried about the implications of this though as I have to give the Google apps a bunch of permissions (mic access, location) for the full experience. If I understand correctly, it shouldn’t be too bad though, as I believe mic and location access can only be used when the apps are active. As soon as I disconnect my car and none of these apps are in foreground anymore they should no longer have any access, right? Right now some of these apps have permission to run in the background, but maybe I could remove this permission as well to protect myself even better?
Does this make sense to you? Do you see any problems in my reasoning?
If I were to go down this route I could probably move all my other apps from profile 2 above into the main profile as well and put the app from profile 3 into the private space.
In case you have any other ideas how to improve my situation, I’d love to hear them as well.
Thanks a lot!