How to Auto Play Music on the Moto X 2014 With Moto Assist

A lot of smartphones offer large screens and faster processors. Motorola’s Moto X 2014 offers those things, but with the device users are also getting an experience that’s tailored to their lives.

Take Moto Assist for example. Motorola doesn’t add much software on top of the Google Android KitKat experience. One thing Motorola does do is make it easier for users to have their smartphones perform actions for them automatically. Say you plug headphones into your Moto X 2014. Moto Assist can be configured to play music from a specific app whenever it thinks you’re driving. It’s a nifty feature, one that’s incredibly useful for anyone that just likes to get in their car and go.

Here’s how to use Moto Assist to automatically play music when you’re driving.

Before we begin, you’re going to need to have done a bit of leg work. For the purposes of this tutorial we’ve already paired the Moto X 2014 with the SYNC entertainment system that comes pre-loaded in Ford cars and trucks. Go ahead and pair your Moto X 2014 to your car or truck before you start this tutorial. To be clear, you can only pair your Moto X 2014 for wireless music playback if your car or truck supports Bluetooth audio. If it’s a newer car it’s pretty safe to assume that Bluetooth is supported. If it’s an older model or a car that doesn’t come with a high-end entertainment package, you’ll need to plug in your phone every time you get in the car for this to work.

Moto Assist works by using your Moto X 2014’s sensors and GPS to learn about your activities. If you aren’t comfortable with Moto Assist using sensor information to take actions on your behalf, don’t turn on this feature or any other feature inside Moto Assist.

Press the power button on the Moto X 2014. Now enter your PIN code or pattern to unlock your device. If you don’t have either of these security features enabled you should be taken right to the Moto X 2014’s home screen.

Motorola stores all the settings for its features in an essential app called Moto. Look for the Moto app on your home screen if you haven’t customized your device too much already. Open Moto. If you have and you’ve removed the Moto app shortcut from your home screen that’s ok too. Tap the circle at the bottom edge of your Moto X 2014 in the home screen to open the app drawer.

The app drawer stores every app you have installed on your Moto X 2014. Swipe from left to right until you find the Moto app. Then tap to open the Moto app.

Tap the cog in the top-right corner of your screen to access the Moto app Settings area.

The Moto app is divided along the lines of features. Moto Actions are all about how the Moto X 2014 interprets gestures you make. Moto Voice focuses on voice control. Moto Display is where you change which apps are able to show notifications when your Moto X 2014 is turned off. Assist is the section you’re looking for. It controls the Moto X 2014’s real-time reactions based on your location and activities. Tap Assist.

Moto Assist is also separated between different actions. Sleep is for making sure the Moto X 2014 doesn’t disturb you when you don’t want to be disturbed. Home changes your settings to make sure you’re not disturbed by work when you’d rather not be bothered. The same goes for Meeting. Driving is all about the actions the Moto X 2014 does on your behalf when it realizes it is in a moving automobile. Tap on it.

Now tap on the checkbox beside Play Music.

 

Tap the arrow next to Play Music.

 

Most Android phones sold have more than a few different music apps pre-loaded and that’s before users start adding their own. To help users get a better experience the Moto app allows users to set one media app as their default to be used when driving. You can choose any app you want. Android KitKat comes with Google Play Music. It can see your local music collection, which is why you’ll probably want to set it as your default. If you like internet radio or NPR, you can install apps for those and set them as your default too.

For the purposes of this tutorial we’re setting Xbox Music as our default Driving music app. How great of an experience you have completely depends on how decent the music app in question is. Xbox Music on Android, isn’t that great and sometimes gets stuck when it should be playing music. Try a few different music apps if you’re having trouble. You can assign different Bluetooth devices to automatically put your Moto X 2014 in driving mode. That’s why doing the Bluetooth leg work ahead of time was important. Just tap more options.

That’s it. You’ve successfully setup Moto Assist so that your Moto X 2014 plays audio while you’re driving. Good luck and have fun.