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Another Essential Android Auto Feature Broken Down And This Is Getting Ridiculous

On paper, Android Auto has a very clear goal: to make the driving experience more convenient, safer, and a lot more enjoyable overall, especially as it’s supposed to allow users to interact with their phones without taking their eyes off the road.
Android Auto home screen 6 photos
Photo: Florin Profir/autoevolution
Android Auto Coolwalk interfaceAndroid Auto Coolwalk interfaceAndroid Auto Coolwalk interfaceAndroid Auto Coolwalk interfaceAndroid Auto Coolwalk interface
In some cases, however, Android Auto does exactly the opposite, and the ones to blame for the whole thing are the bugs that show up totally out of nowhere. And we all know that the number of issues with Android Auto is ridiculously high lately.

This is precisely what started happening this week as well, as users claim that one of the essential Android Auto capabilities is broken down for a reason that nobody can determine.

Android Auto can no longer read messages out loud, only asking users if they want to reply to a text they just received. In other words, whenever you receive a new message, Google Assistant fails to read it out loud and only wants to send a reply.

This is awful news for two different reasons.

First and foremost, because Android Auto no longer reads the message, users might be tempted to grab their phones and read the text themselves. There’s no way to do this manually on Android Auto (and this is actually a good thing because users can’t stare at the screen to read their messages), so turning to the mobile device is the only solution.

And second, some users could end up accidentally replying to messages without them even knowing what they’re doing.

At this point, nobody knows precisely what’s happening, and as such, a workaround does not exist. Users who’ve been hitting this glitch claim it all started happening earlier this week, so presumably, one of the most recent updates for the Google app broke down the support for reading messages on Android Auto.

The Google app is the one responsible for powering the experience with Google Assistant both on the Android device itself and on Android Auto.

However, if you’re certain a recent Google app update is the one to blame for the issue, downgrading to an earlier release could help bring things back to normal.

The good news is that Google has already started an investigation of the error, but of course, it’s too early to tell when a fix could go live for users. For the time being, the search giant needs more information from the affected Android Auto users, so the company is encouraging the community to send bug reports from the phone to help diagnose the root cause of the issue.

A new Android Auto update is projected to launch in January, so for now, you’d better not hold your breath for a fix. And also, just make sure you don’t check out your phone to read new messages whenever the car is moving because of obvious reasons.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
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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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