Photo: Google
If you’ve been using Android Auto lately with voice commands, and Google Assistant wasn’t able to retrieve a location-based result, you are not alone. Even if Google already shipped a fix, that is.
Here's the story so far. Earlier this year, Android Auto started struggling with one of the app's most useful features: location-based results triggered with a voice command via Google Assistant.
In other words, if you wanted Google Assistant to find something based on your location, this was pretty much impossible, as Android Auto users were always provided with results around their home. The assistant just couldn't determine the user's current location, so instead of getting nearby results, they were also offered information near their home address.
Google itself acknowledged the problem, but in early September, the company announced a fix in this regard, telling everybody to update the Google app to get it.
The Google app is the one powering the Google Assistant experience on both Android and Android Auto, so theoretically, installing the latest version was supposed to bring things back to normal for drivers too.
However, the problem is still around today, with users whose devices are fully up-to-date complaining that Google Assistant still can’t provide any nearby results. Instead, the assistant just looks for information close to the defined home address, no matter where they are.
Unfortunately, the Mountain View-based search giant hasn’t acknowledged the new problem, so as far as the company is concerned, a fix is already live, and users should just install it.
There’s nothing users still struggling with the error can do right now. Downgrading the Google app obviously doesn’t make any difference since both old and new versions exhibit the same problem, while the latest Android Auto updates don’t include any fixes since the error resides in a separate app.
It remains to be seen if Google ships another update, but keeping the Google app up-to-date is obviously a good idea anyway, just in case any improvements are silently released.
In other words, if you wanted Google Assistant to find something based on your location, this was pretty much impossible, as Android Auto users were always provided with results around their home. The assistant just couldn't determine the user's current location, so instead of getting nearby results, they were also offered information near their home address.
Google itself acknowledged the problem, but in early September, the company announced a fix in this regard, telling everybody to update the Google app to get it.
The Google app is the one powering the Google Assistant experience on both Android and Android Auto, so theoretically, installing the latest version was supposed to bring things back to normal for drivers too.
However, the problem is still around today, with users whose devices are fully up-to-date complaining that Google Assistant still can’t provide any nearby results. Instead, the assistant just looks for information close to the defined home address, no matter where they are.
Unfortunately, the Mountain View-based search giant hasn’t acknowledged the new problem, so as far as the company is concerned, a fix is already live, and users should just install it.
There’s nothing users still struggling with the error can do right now. Downgrading the Google app obviously doesn’t make any difference since both old and new versions exhibit the same problem, while the latest Android Auto updates don’t include any fixes since the error resides in a separate app.
It remains to be seen if Google ships another update, but keeping the Google app up-to-date is obviously a good idea anyway, just in case any improvements are silently released.
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