Atoto S8 General Discussion (2024)

ButtonBoy

alwin006

kramttocs

• Ensure your Google contacts are backed up if you allow the HU to access them. It has been known to delete them. You can disable Contact Sync from the Accounts section in Settings.
• Developer Options can be enabled via the repeated clicking under 'About', but to access the menu, you need a play store program that will take you directly to it. A lot of alternative launchers provide a way to access them.
• The ONLY USB connection that USB debugging works on is USB1 --> Phone Link. For it to work, you need to change the "computer connection" to whatever the SECOND option is [untranslated]. This can be selected from the top right menu in Developer Options
• File down the very end, outer part of the wire harness clip, and it will go in all the way and latch like it's supposed it. Just needs to clear the casing by 1/16" or less.
• On at least the first batch of S8's there is a chance the RCA Rear and Front outputs are incorrect and need swapped. The labels are incorrect.

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Just got mine in this afternoon and installed it in my 86 Ford truck this evening. Prior to that I set it up via the AC adapter (sold separately).
I know there are a lot more fleshed out reviews out there but here's my take on it.
I really liked the A6Y Pro. It started out really strong and for 95% of the time it did what was needed. When you consider it's a head unit so it encompasses a lot more than just an Android tablet, it really is impressive. Everything it did, it did well - it just did it kind of slowly. It got pretty sluggish at times when trying to switch between a lot of apps and installing apps from the app store was painfully slow. It should be noted that in just the normal run of the mill drive when you are listening to a single music/radio app or navigation it did great. It was really just when I was sitting in my truck messing with it that one noticed these things. So take those complaints as being a tad bit critical.
In comes the S8. I didn't have any plans of getting the S8 initially but since I am still working on the interior of the truck I am restoring I felt like it made sense to get the latest version before finalizing the wiring and dash.
Right off the bat, it's noticeably faster and more responsive. I could install my apps from the app store about as fast as I could click them. Even the cold boot wasn't much slower than my phone (A6Y Pro would go through the 'Optimizing app' process every time and that took awhile). The status bar has changed quite a bit in that the navigation is at the top left vs the bottom. The three primary buttons work really well there and the split screen feature works slick.
This is a personal preference but while I like the new status bar approach, I wouldn't mind seeing a way to style it differently. I am not a huge fan of colors up there like is seen when a phone is connected.

As I said, there are better video reviews out there but let me just say that if you have the A6Y and feel like you are pushing it, the S8 is the answer for you.
Additionally the Atoto support team is very quick to respond (realize that hours may differ from where you are) and is extremely helpful. That's a huge plus especially with the S8 being fairly new to market.

Items of note that I have found:
1. LastPass and FCC Launcher.
Both need Accessibility Services but when trying to grant them and click OK I am unable to due to a message of: "Because an app is obscuring a permission request, Settings can't verify your response"
There may be other apps that will run into this issue also or if someone has tried either one of these and they don't have the issue granting it, please let me know

2. RCA Rear and Front outputs are incorrect
This one threw me for a minute. I am using the RCA FR and FL for my door component speaks and am joining the RR and RL for my Hideaway sub. Turns out in the first shipment of S8's the ports are backwards so you will need to hook the Fronts to the RL/RR and vice versa. I am told that the next shipment will have this resolved. Those are the only RCA outputs I have used so far as the male part of my rear view camera RCA cable fell off when removing the A6Y Pro so I have to wait for a new connector to come in so I can repair it.

J

jojogunn

Gaugamela

M

Mozzer1

I have a few apps installed on my S8 Gen2. These apps are not able to write to the SD card. Nor can I enable access. When the app tries to open a dialog to grant access it fails. I cannot recall the messages but it seems to say that some system component is missing. I have tried to grant access from the settings -> apps -> permissions but each app seems to already have Storage permission.

Any ideas?

ChrisDos

03hdfatboy said:

I've rooted phones before but what do I gain/loose by rooting my headunit?

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

For the vast majority of users they don't need to root. If the system does what they want then leave well enough alone.

I've rooted all my Android devices since the original Google G1, with the exception of my Sony TVs. For me, rooting gives me full control of my device. I can backup all my apps along with their settings and I can easily restore them. I can block ads (I hate the ads in Waze). I can transfer files back and forth via ADB wireless for the ATOTO (none of the usb ports work for ADB). For the ATOTO, I want to fix the bloody buttons that don't open the correct app. Why in the world would I want the microphone button to open Google Voice Search and search the web instead of Google Assistant that I can open apps and have it make calls with. The AC-44F5 also is hard coded to open the FCAM app instead of being able to change it to open the HDDVR app.

I was really dissapointed to loose the rear cam calibration settings after spending 90 minutes measuring and calibrating the rear camera. So I was not going to go through that again unless I can backup the apps and the settings. Swift Backup gives me that.

So root if you want full control over your device, otherwise leave well enough alone and run the stock firmware.