As many Android Auto users know already, the experience with Google’s app isn’t always the most flawless, but in many cases, many issues can actually be resolved with the typical workarounds that involve new cables, app reinstallation, and device reboots.
And yet, some users are now pointing to a pretty weird error message that’s rather hard to diagnose.
More specifically, someone on Google forums says they are getting a 'plug in a phone with the Android app already installed' error message when connecting their phone to the car.
Needless to say, Android Auto then fails to launch, despite the phone actually recharging via the USB cable and Bluetooth working just fine.
This happens on a Samsung Galaxy S10, but someone else who owns a Google Pixel has already confirmed the bug. For the time being, however, this appears to be a rather uncommon problem, so there’s a good chance it’s not as widespread as others.
The problem might be in one way or another related to the car no longer showing up on the accepted car list, which means that the smartphone and the HU haven’t been paired. In other words, if you come across this issue, your best option is to pair the two once again to see if Android Auto launches correctly.
“Not working since Android 10 February update. Did everything but factory resetting the phone. Which I refuse to do it as part of solving this issue. I did all the process of connecting the phone with support on a shared screen collaboration with the phone in Safe Mode and even then did not work,” the Pixel owner explains.
The bug appears to be rather new, so it’ll be interesting to see if other users come across a similar behavior when trying to connect their phones to the car to launch Android Auto.
More specifically, someone on Google forums says they are getting a 'plug in a phone with the Android app already installed' error message when connecting their phone to the car.
Needless to say, Android Auto then fails to launch, despite the phone actually recharging via the USB cable and Bluetooth working just fine.
This happens on a Samsung Galaxy S10, but someone else who owns a Google Pixel has already confirmed the bug. For the time being, however, this appears to be a rather uncommon problem, so there’s a good chance it’s not as widespread as others.
The problem might be in one way or another related to the car no longer showing up on the accepted car list, which means that the smartphone and the HU haven’t been paired. In other words, if you come across this issue, your best option is to pair the two once again to see if Android Auto launches correctly.
“Not working since Android 10 February update. Did everything but factory resetting the phone. Which I refuse to do it as part of solving this issue. I did all the process of connecting the phone with support on a shared screen collaboration with the phone in Safe Mode and even then did not work,” the Pixel owner explains.
The bug appears to be rather new, so it’ll be interesting to see if other users come across a similar behavior when trying to connect their phones to the car to launch Android Auto.