Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
A bug hitting Android Auto and becoming more widespread these days causes an insane lag, eventually making it impossible for users to interact with the app.
At first glance, the combination of Google Maps and music apps is the one to blame, though the behavior is as confusing as it can get.
First discovered in January this year, the issue seems to become more widespread, possibly as more users receive the update causing the whole thing. No information on the version that might be responsible for the problem is available, but based on user reports, Android Auto 9.0 and newer versions seem to exhibit the same glitch.
Android Auto loads correctly at first, but after launching Google Maps and a music app, be it Spotify or a different audio player, the experience becomes laggy down to a point where it looks like it's freezing.
Users who encountered the problem claim all music apps are affected. In addition to Spotify, Musicolet and YouTube Music also suffer from the same glitch. The bug is triggered only when Google Maps runs – some users explain they occasionally experience the lag with Waze as well, so maybe it's somehow related to navigation apps or the GPS connection.
Regardless of the application causing the error, Android Auto becomes impossible to use, as it sometimes takes up to several seconds to respond to input. Stopping the music playback in whatever audio app is running restores Android Auto – this could suggest that audio apps are the ones to blame for the bug, but again, the bug happens with pretty much any music player as long as Google Maps is running.
No workaround has been found just yet, and users claim they've tried everything, from single fixes like clearing the cache and the data to reinstalling Android Auto, Spotify, and Google Maps. Nothing worked, and Android Auto still suffers from this awful bug that nobody can diagnose.
A member of the Android Auto team chimed in back in January to ask for additional information, including phone logs, but no further details have been provided since then. For what it's worth, an investigation might be underway as we speak, but no confirmation exists on this front.
The good news is that the bug doesn’t seem to be linked with the release of Coolwalk. Announced in January, this major Android Auto facelift is responsible for some pretty awkward bugs, including a freezing error affecting the screen's lower part. Google hasn’t yet completed the Coolwalk rollout, presumably as it's working on improving the overall performance and reliability of the update.
For now, users who come across this Google Maps bug have no other option than to wait for Google to come up with a fix.
First discovered in January this year, the issue seems to become more widespread, possibly as more users receive the update causing the whole thing. No information on the version that might be responsible for the problem is available, but based on user reports, Android Auto 9.0 and newer versions seem to exhibit the same glitch.
Android Auto loads correctly at first, but after launching Google Maps and a music app, be it Spotify or a different audio player, the experience becomes laggy down to a point where it looks like it's freezing.
Users who encountered the problem claim all music apps are affected. In addition to Spotify, Musicolet and YouTube Music also suffer from the same glitch. The bug is triggered only when Google Maps runs – some users explain they occasionally experience the lag with Waze as well, so maybe it's somehow related to navigation apps or the GPS connection.
Regardless of the application causing the error, Android Auto becomes impossible to use, as it sometimes takes up to several seconds to respond to input. Stopping the music playback in whatever audio app is running restores Android Auto – this could suggest that audio apps are the ones to blame for the bug, but again, the bug happens with pretty much any music player as long as Google Maps is running.
No workaround has been found just yet, and users claim they've tried everything, from single fixes like clearing the cache and the data to reinstalling Android Auto, Spotify, and Google Maps. Nothing worked, and Android Auto still suffers from this awful bug that nobody can diagnose.
A member of the Android Auto team chimed in back in January to ask for additional information, including phone logs, but no further details have been provided since then. For what it's worth, an investigation might be underway as we speak, but no confirmation exists on this front.
The good news is that the bug doesn’t seem to be linked with the release of Coolwalk. Announced in January, this major Android Auto facelift is responsible for some pretty awkward bugs, including a freezing error affecting the screen's lower part. Google hasn’t yet completed the Coolwalk rollout, presumably as it's working on improving the overall performance and reliability of the update.
For now, users who come across this Google Maps bug have no other option than to wait for Google to come up with a fix.
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