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Google Announces a Highly Anticipated Android Auto Fix

Google Assistant is a key part of the Android Auto world, pretty much because it powers the entire hands-free experience, therefore helping to reduce the distraction behind the wheel down to a minimum.
Location-based results powered by Google Assistant on Android Auto 6 photos
Photo: Google
Android Auto interfaceAndroid Auto interfaceAndroid Auto interfaceAndroid Auto interfaceAndroid Auto interface
But on the other hand, as many Android Auto users probably learned the hard way, like the rest of the features, the Google Assistant integration is also prone to various problems that could end up with the voice commands no longer working exactly as expected.

This is exactly what happened earlier this year when several Android Auto users noticed that Google Assistant was no longer capable of providing location-based results while in their car.

In other words, whenever Google Assistant was asked things like “show gas stations near me,” the only results displayed to the user were actually locations close to their home (the address that was configured in the Google app).

This appeared to suggest that Google Assistant failed to detect the current location and therefore provide results accordingly, no matter the mobile phone powering Android Auto, the app version, or the head unit in the car.

And according to Google, it was all because of a problem in the Google app, which on both Android and Android Auto is responsible for powering the experience with Google Assistant.

But the good news is the Mountain View-based search giant has finally managed to deal with the whole thing, and the latest version of the Google app is supposed to fix it. In other words, if Google Assistant can’t provide location-based results on Android Auto, you should just make sure the Google app is fully up-to-date, as the most recent version includes a fix specifically added for this problem.

It remains to be seen if the error is gone for everybody running Android Auto, but additional information should be available as more users install the latest version of the Google app and interact with Google Assistant.
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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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