Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
Android Auto occasionally hits the most unexpected bugs, and earlier this year, users came across a problem that took everybody by surprise.
For some reason, Android Auto no longer recognized WhatsApp contact numbers, therefore being able to send a message via the app.
As you probably know already, WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world. With over 2 billion monthly active users globally, the Facebook-owned company is available on Android and iPhone and brings its messages to cars via integrated messaging support.
In plain English, you're not getting a dedicated WhatsApp interface, but thanks to Google Assistant integration, you can listen to received messages without even looking at the screen. At the same time, the digital assistant can send new messages to your contacts, as it automatically recognizes all your WhatsApp numbers.
For some reason, this latter functionality stopped working earlier this year, presumably after Google released an update.
Users who took to the company's support forums explained that Android Auto returned a mysterious error telling them the assistant couldn’t find a WhatsApp number for the contact.
Since the bug was first reported, users have been trying all kinds of workarounds, including removing Android Auto and downgrading to an earlier version. Nothing brought things back to normal, though some users discovered that the WhatsApp contacts somehow ended up being hidden in the phonebook on Samsung devices. As such, reenabling them restored the lost functionality on Android Auto.
The fix wasn’t universal, and users with non-Samsung phones were still left without essential functionality behind the wheel.
Google confirmed not long ago that it managed to discover the cause of the problem and release a fix. This time, however, the patch is not bundled with Android Auto but with the Google app, as the company determined the glitch resided in Google Assistant. The Google app is in charge of putting the wheels in motion for Google Assistant on mobile devices and on Android Auto.
Google says users hitting this error should update to the latest version of the Google app as soon as possible. The company did not mention a specific release that includes the patch, but if you bring the app to the latest version, you should theoretically get the fix. Some users claim the WhatsApp integration still doesn’t work after updating the Google app, but it's worth knowing that the rollout of the latest version takes place in stages through the Play Store.
The broken WhatsApp support was one of the most widespread Android Auto bugs lately, with hundreds of users confirming on Google's support forums they lost the functionality in their cars. Fortunately, the search giant only needed a few months this time to resolve the whole thing, as some bugs in Android Auto are still unresolved after several years.
As you probably know already, WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world. With over 2 billion monthly active users globally, the Facebook-owned company is available on Android and iPhone and brings its messages to cars via integrated messaging support.
In plain English, you're not getting a dedicated WhatsApp interface, but thanks to Google Assistant integration, you can listen to received messages without even looking at the screen. At the same time, the digital assistant can send new messages to your contacts, as it automatically recognizes all your WhatsApp numbers.
For some reason, this latter functionality stopped working earlier this year, presumably after Google released an update.
Users who took to the company's support forums explained that Android Auto returned a mysterious error telling them the assistant couldn’t find a WhatsApp number for the contact.
Since the bug was first reported, users have been trying all kinds of workarounds, including removing Android Auto and downgrading to an earlier version. Nothing brought things back to normal, though some users discovered that the WhatsApp contacts somehow ended up being hidden in the phonebook on Samsung devices. As such, reenabling them restored the lost functionality on Android Auto.
The fix wasn’t universal, and users with non-Samsung phones were still left without essential functionality behind the wheel.
Google confirmed not long ago that it managed to discover the cause of the problem and release a fix. This time, however, the patch is not bundled with Android Auto but with the Google app, as the company determined the glitch resided in Google Assistant. The Google app is in charge of putting the wheels in motion for Google Assistant on mobile devices and on Android Auto.
Google says users hitting this error should update to the latest version of the Google app as soon as possible. The company did not mention a specific release that includes the patch, but if you bring the app to the latest version, you should theoretically get the fix. Some users claim the WhatsApp integration still doesn’t work after updating the Google app, but it's worth knowing that the rollout of the latest version takes place in stages through the Play Store.
The broken WhatsApp support was one of the most widespread Android Auto bugs lately, with hundreds of users confirming on Google's support forums they lost the functionality in their cars. Fortunately, the search giant only needed a few months this time to resolve the whole thing, as some bugs in Android Auto are still unresolved after several years.
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