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Android in the Car: How a $1,500 Phone Makes the Whole Thing Ridiculously Hard

Google is very committed to expanding the Android experience beyond the mobile screen, and all the efforts on this front seem to already be paying off.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 6 photos
Photo: Samsung
Samsung Galaxy S22 UltraSamsung Galaxy S22 UltraSamsung Galaxy S22 UltraSamsung Galaxy S22 UltraSamsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
The Mountain View-based search giant claims there are over 150 million cars running Android Auto, and the number is probably even higher considering some older vehicles have been fitted with aftermarket head units.

But at the same time, drivers don’t specifically need Android Auto to enjoy Android behind the wheel. The mobile phone itself can double as a great driving companion, as it can pair with the Bluetooth system in the car, run navigation apps like Google Maps and Waze, and allow the driver to interact with apps using voice commands.

Given Samsung is currently the world’s number one phone maker, most people obviously expect the experience with its devices to be as flawless as possible. And when the company’s flagship, most expensive, and newest device is involved, there’s no room for mistakes.

Unfortunately, the experience with Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra leaves a lot to be desired. And people who paid more than $1,000 on this device (the top configuration with 1TB of storage is priced at $1,499 in the U.S.) are complaining pretty much all over the web that their high-end phone sometimes becomes useless in the car.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
Photo: Samsung
First and foremost, it’s the Android Auto support.

Like any other Android device, Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra comes with Android Auto pre-loaded (the app is now offered at the OS level on new-generation Android smartphones), so simply plugging it into a compatible head unit should be enough to launch the app.

It sounds straightforward on paper, but in reality, the whole thing is a huge mess.

Users have been complaining of Android Auto connection issues ever since the launch of the device back in February. And unfortunately, neither Google nor Samsung figured out a way to fix the problems, with users still struggling to find a method to get Android Auto up and running in their cars.

More often than not, Android Auto just fails to launch on a Galaxy S22 Ultra, while others claim the app just randomly disconnects as if it encountered a connection issue. What’s even worse is that older and cheaper Samsung phones work absolutely flawlessly in the same car, with the same head unit, and with the same cable.

In other words, the Galaxy S22 Ultra seems to be the culprit this time, and the more time passes, the more obvious it becomes that fixing Android Auto on this super-expensive Android device is something that’s a huge challenge even for Samsung and Google.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
Photo: Samsung
And then, there's the experience on Bluetooth.

As said, not all cars come with Android Auto support, so users rely on a much simpler setup. Phones are paired to their vehicles’ audio systems via Bluetooth, while apps, be they navigation tools, music streaming solutions, or anything else run on the mobile screen.

Not even this simplified approach works properly with the Galaxy S22 Ultra, as the audio sometimes cuts out for absolutely no reason. Others say the connection is lost completely, while some claim they’re getting vague errors like “the app has stopped working.

Some of the luckiest Samsung customers discovered a fix that comes down to toggling the airplane mode of a Bluetooth smartwatch on and off, but on the other hand, not everybody struggling with these problems has a wearable device.

This seems to suggest the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s Bluetooth support is the one that needs to be fixed, but again, Samsung has so far offered no confirmation that at least it’s investigating the reports.

There are complaints pretty much everywhere you look online (there are plenty of posts here on Google’s forums and here on Samsung’s community boards), but officially, no fix seems to be on the radar.

Unfortunately, customer support services aren’t exactly helpful and sometimes cause even more frustration in the Galaxy S22 Ultra customer base. A long thread on Samsung’s forums has recently been locked, with users told to submit feedback via the Samsung Members app.

As if this wasn’t upsetting enough, the thread has been marked as solved even if, obviously, it’s not.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
Bogdan Popa profile photo

Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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