Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution/Google
Samsung's foldables might be truly innovative, but Google's Pixel still developers the best, raw Android experience. The debut of the eighth generation certainly pushed things to a whole new level.
Unfortunately, this didn't happen in the car, where the Google Pixel 8 has so far been acting up in the most ridiculous ways, especially for a Google device. The Android Auto experience is a mess with a Pixel 8, as the app fails to launch or disconnects in the middle of the drive.
Now it looks like using the Pixel 8 in the car without Android Auto running on the infotainment screen doesn't work as expected either.
One of our readers reached out to me after my initial story on the Android Auto errors hitting the Google Pixel 8 to report another problem. Navigation apps, including Google Maps and Waze, come with a mysterious lag happening only when the navigation mode is enabled.
The problem isn't hitting all Google Pixel 8 owners, but after doing a bit more research, it looks like other Pixel models are encountering the problem, too. Someone on reddit says they have a Pixel 7 that exhibits the same behavior only when with active navigation, though it's unclear if the glitch is widespread.
Google Maps runs correctly on my Pixel 7, with no lag whatsoever. Waze also determines my location and generates guidance correctly.
A reddit user claims the issue might be produced by the 120 Hz refresh rate, as Google Maps only runs at 60 Hz, eventually losing some frames and, therefore, producing a noticeable delay.
The reports seem more widespread on the Pixel 8 rather than on previous-generation models, and Google Maps is most often the affected app. The device isn't experiencing any lag or delay when not running the navigation app.
No workaround is available at this point, so fixing the error requires a Google patch. The company has yet to acknowledge the problem, and the chances are it will remain quiet about it unless it becomes more widespread, eventually hitting a bigger number of devices.
However, users should keep Google Maps up-to-date, as the search giant regularly ships new app versions to resolve bugs on Android and iPhone. The company typically remains tight-lipped on the changes included in these updates, so you must install the latest builds to figure out whether the bug is gone or not.
If you're struggling with Google Pixel 8 on Android Auto, I've already detailed a fix that seems to do the trick for everybody. Google says it's investigating reports of broken connections with the Pixel 8, but it's too early to tell when the search giant could come up with a fix, leaving users alone in their struggle to bring things back to normal in their cars.
Now it looks like using the Pixel 8 in the car without Android Auto running on the infotainment screen doesn't work as expected either.
One of our readers reached out to me after my initial story on the Android Auto errors hitting the Google Pixel 8 to report another problem. Navigation apps, including Google Maps and Waze, come with a mysterious lag happening only when the navigation mode is enabled.
The problem isn't hitting all Google Pixel 8 owners, but after doing a bit more research, it looks like other Pixel models are encountering the problem, too. Someone on reddit says they have a Pixel 7 that exhibits the same behavior only when with active navigation, though it's unclear if the glitch is widespread.
Google Maps runs correctly on my Pixel 7, with no lag whatsoever. Waze also determines my location and generates guidance correctly.
A reddit user claims the issue might be produced by the 120 Hz refresh rate, as Google Maps only runs at 60 Hz, eventually losing some frames and, therefore, producing a noticeable delay.
The reports seem more widespread on the Pixel 8 rather than on previous-generation models, and Google Maps is most often the affected app. The device isn't experiencing any lag or delay when not running the navigation app.
No workaround is available at this point, so fixing the error requires a Google patch. The company has yet to acknowledge the problem, and the chances are it will remain quiet about it unless it becomes more widespread, eventually hitting a bigger number of devices.
However, users should keep Google Maps up-to-date, as the search giant regularly ships new app versions to resolve bugs on Android and iPhone. The company typically remains tight-lipped on the changes included in these updates, so you must install the latest builds to figure out whether the bug is gone or not.
If you're struggling with Google Pixel 8 on Android Auto, I've already detailed a fix that seems to do the trick for everybody. Google says it's investigating reports of broken connections with the Pixel 8, but it's too early to tell when the search giant could come up with a fix, leaving users alone in their struggle to bring things back to normal in their cars.
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