Photo: Google
Android Auto comes with plenty of helpful features, including navigation apps that provide both visual and audio directions while driving.
With Google Maps and Waze currently the most used navigation apps, it’s pretty clear that many people rely on audio instructions to make sure they reach their destinations.
But as many learned the hard way before, not everything works exactly as expected when it comes to navigation on Android Auto.
Most recently, users started complaining about broken audio when navigation directions are issued, but this time it’s not the older problem that was causing the instructions to be muted. Some are now reporting that audio navigation is actually distorted, making everything sound pretty awful and difficult to understand.
The first time I’ve seen this problem being reported by Android Auto users was in late 2019, but now it turns out the distorted sound is back after the most recent update released by Google. At this point, however, it’s not yet clear if Android Auto is indeed the one to blame or the navigation app, like Google Maps, is the culprit.
Google is yet to acknowledge the problem, which means that users are pretty much all alone when it comes to fixing the whole thing. But is there a workaround to restore the standard audio quality for voice navigation?
Not really. Technically, what could work is downgrading the app that causes the issue to a previous version, only that right now, nobody knows exactly who is responsible for the glitch. One idea that could be worth a shot if nothing else works is just downgrading both Android Auto and Google Maps to a previous release, although you should keep in mind that both are automatically updated through the Google Play Store.
The good news is that the issue seems to be rather isolated right now, as I’m seeing only a very small set of users reporting the distorted sound. A new Android Auto is expected later this month, but it remains to be seen if a fix is included.
But as many learned the hard way before, not everything works exactly as expected when it comes to navigation on Android Auto.
Most recently, users started complaining about broken audio when navigation directions are issued, but this time it’s not the older problem that was causing the instructions to be muted. Some are now reporting that audio navigation is actually distorted, making everything sound pretty awful and difficult to understand.
The first time I’ve seen this problem being reported by Android Auto users was in late 2019, but now it turns out the distorted sound is back after the most recent update released by Google. At this point, however, it’s not yet clear if Android Auto is indeed the one to blame or the navigation app, like Google Maps, is the culprit.
Google is yet to acknowledge the problem, which means that users are pretty much all alone when it comes to fixing the whole thing. But is there a workaround to restore the standard audio quality for voice navigation?
Not really. Technically, what could work is downgrading the app that causes the issue to a previous version, only that right now, nobody knows exactly who is responsible for the glitch. One idea that could be worth a shot if nothing else works is just downgrading both Android Auto and Google Maps to a previous release, although you should keep in mind that both are automatically updated through the Google Play Store.
The good news is that the issue seems to be rather isolated right now, as I’m seeing only a very small set of users reporting the distorted sound. A new Android Auto is expected later this month, but it remains to be seen if a fix is included.
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