5-minute read

Pace notes on Android Auto

Turini is a rally co-driver for Android Auto. It calls pace notes through your car’s speakers and shows them on the car screen, timed to your speed. Here is what you see, what you hear, and what to set up before you leave.

What does Turini show on the Android Auto screen?

The car screen shows a map with your route and your car, and a card with the next call and the one after it, with the distance to the corner.

• Two map views. Nav is tilted and follows the car; Map is flat. One button switches between them. The map zooms out as your speed rises.
• Speed and the finish. Your speed sits in a corner of the map. On a route you also get the distance and arrival time to the finish.
• A few big buttons. Stop, the view switch and Mute. Mute silences the voice for this drive; the calls still show.
• Messages when they matter. The launch countdown at the start, “Rerouting…” after a wrong turn, and a pause while you are on a phone call.

In cars that show navigation on the instrument cluster or dashboard display, the next calls go there too. In Auto mode the map switches between day and night with the car’s own lights.

What do you hear?

Each corner is called through the car speakers about 4.5 seconds before you reach it, earlier for hairpins and hard braking. Your music dips for the call and comes back.

Calls start slightly earlier to allow for the delay a car’s audio adds, so they land on time. You can choose numbers (1 tightest, 6 nearly flat) or Simple mode’s Easy, Medium and Hard. If the calls are new to you, read how to read pace notes first.

Can I use Turini with Google Maps or Waze?

Turini isn’t a sat nav. Google Maps and Waze tell you where to turn; Turini tells you what the road does next. How they work together depends on the screen:

• On a route, Turini follows the road you planned itself. It calls roundabout exits and reroutes if you take a wrong turn, so you don’t need another app’s directions on the stage.
• Getting to the start, the To start button hands the start point to your car’s navigation app. Turini steps aside while it guides you there, then takes over at the start.
• With music or another app in front on the car screen, Turini keeps talking, and each new call pops up as a notification with its turn arrow and distance.
• On the phone without Android Auto, Turini keeps calling with your sat nav or music on screen, so you can run both.

Does it work with the screen off or no signal?

Yes. When you build a route, Turini writes every note and saves it on the phone. The drive itself needs no network, so mountain passes and dead zones are fine. The phone’s screen can be off and the phone out of sight.

If the car connection drops mid-drive, say the cable comes out, the drive carries on from the phone. If you go off route without signal, Turini reroutes on road data already saved on the phone.

Set up the route before you leave

Do the planning parked, on the phone. Tap the map, search for a place, share a Google Maps or Waze link to Turini, or import a GPX or KML file. Turini writes the pace notes and shows the route with its corners, hairpins and the weather along the way.

Then in the car, Turini’s home screen lists:

• Back to drive, when a drive is already running.
• Free Roam, which calls the road ahead with no route at all.
• Your saved routes, favourites first, then newest.

Saving routes is part of Turini Pro. On the free tier you can build a route and drive it once. A “navigate to” request from Google Assistant, Gemini or another app that reaches Turini plans a route from where you are and starts the drive.

Drive to the start and stop there: Turini counts down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO and the notes begin. At the finish it says “Stage complete” and stops by itself.

Always drive within the law, the conditions and what you can see. Turini tells you what the map says; the road is what counts.

Android Auto questions

Read next: what a rally co-driver does and how to find twisty roads near you.