Photo: Google
Google rolled out Android 11 with much fanfare earlier this year. In addition to major improvements for the mobile experience, the new version also brings a series of goodies for Android Auto users too.
For example, beginning with this OS version, Android Auto supports the wireless mode regardless of the phone model, as this feature previously required a Samsung or Pixel device.
But as some users who updated to Android 11 discovered, not everything is working as expected after installing the new operating system, with phone calls performed via Google Assistant being among the broken features.
More specifically, asking Google Assistant to start a call has no result, with Google itself acknowledging the problem shortly after the debut of Android 11 and eventually rolling out a fix in an OS update. But as it turns out, the problem is still there, and some users still can’t make calls on Android Auto after the update to Android 11.
Someone on Google’s forums, however, has discovered a rather simple fix that comes down to just one tap on the mobile device. What you need to do is configure the default app to handle phone calls and set it to “always” be the preferred option.
So the first thing you need to do is park the car and then start a phone call on Android Auto. Immediately look at the phone, and you should see a prompt asking you to select the app to “open with” the call.
“Choose the phone app you use (I use the default Samsung phone app - a green icon with an old school phone receiver depicted) and then click ‘Always.’ This part is critical because if you accidentally select ‘Just Once’ (either by accidentally selecting ‘Just Once’ or you click the icon twice to select rather than once to highlight), the problem will only be fixed for that call, not calls going forward,” the user explains.
At this point, however, it’s not yet clear if this does the trick for everybody, especially if the default app for handling phone calls is already configured.
But as some users who updated to Android 11 discovered, not everything is working as expected after installing the new operating system, with phone calls performed via Google Assistant being among the broken features.
More specifically, asking Google Assistant to start a call has no result, with Google itself acknowledging the problem shortly after the debut of Android 11 and eventually rolling out a fix in an OS update. But as it turns out, the problem is still there, and some users still can’t make calls on Android Auto after the update to Android 11.
Someone on Google’s forums, however, has discovered a rather simple fix that comes down to just one tap on the mobile device. What you need to do is configure the default app to handle phone calls and set it to “always” be the preferred option.
So the first thing you need to do is park the car and then start a phone call on Android Auto. Immediately look at the phone, and you should see a prompt asking you to select the app to “open with” the call.
“Choose the phone app you use (I use the default Samsung phone app - a green icon with an old school phone receiver depicted) and then click ‘Always.’ This part is critical because if you accidentally select ‘Just Once’ (either by accidentally selecting ‘Just Once’ or you click the icon twice to select rather than once to highlight), the problem will only be fixed for that call, not calls going forward,” the user explains.
At this point, however, it’s not yet clear if this does the trick for everybody, especially if the default app for handling phone calls is already configured.
Google News