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Google Maps and Waze No Longer Feeling at Home on Android Auto

While the number of navigation apps available on Android Auto is growing at a steady pace, Google Maps and Waze continue to be the two most popular solutions.
Google Maps on Android Auto 6 photos
Photo: Google
The new Android Auto UIThe new Android Auto UIThe new Android Auto UIThe new Android Auto UIThe new Android Auto UI
And while we’re not here to discuss the reasons that make them so successful, it goes without saying that both should feel at home on Android Auto.

After all, they are both Google apps running on top of another Google app, so it makes sense for users to expect nothing but flawless performance.

And yet, this isn’t always the case, with one recent issue causing both Google Maps and Waze to fail to work with voice commands on Android Auto.

First reported earlier this year, the bug is causing Google Maps and Waze to fail to load when users rely on voice input on Android Auto. In other words, whenever they say something like “navigate to address,” Android Auto claims it’s trying to launch Google Maps, only to then display that “no search results” have been found.

The glitch also seems to affect Waze, some users claim, so the only workaround is to pull over, manually launch the navigation app, input the address using touch input, and then start navigating without relying on voice commands.

Voice/assistant commands work great if the phone is not plugged into android auto. This means, I have to either always set my destination manually prior to driving or I have to unplug my phone from the car, start navigation in maps and then plug back in,” one user explains.

No workaround is known to exist at this point, which means that users who are struggling with this behavior in their cars have no other option than to wait for Google to come up with a fix. Of course, it’s also not clear who’s to blame for the whole thing, as the culprit could very well be the Google app powering the Google Assistant experience on Android Auto.
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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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