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The Mysterious Android Auto Phone Call Bug and the Questions Nobody Can Answer

As most Android Auto users already know, the experience with Google’s app is a crazy rollercoaster ride, and something that works right now might be broken down in just a minute without any clear reason.
2019 Android Auto glitch yet to get a patch 1 photo
Photo: Google
And some users figured this out the hard way back in 2019 when they reported a glitch in Android Auto that’s yet to be fixed after nearly one year and a half.

More specifically, users said phone calls lose audio when the call is connected via Android Auto, explaining the whole thing was happening randomly without them changing anything on their side.

Recently I have started having an issue where callers can’t hear me and I can’t hear them even though the call is connected. Sometimes if it is safe to do so I can swap to loudspeaker and back to Bluetooth and that will sometimes fix it. Also the issue seems to be intermittent and it will work for a couple of calls then stop again,” the original report posted in September 2019 read.

But here we are in mid-February 2021 with Android Auto yet to get a fix for the whole thing and users still struggling with the whole thing in their cars.

While some have discovered that enabling the “Use Phone Ringtone” restores part of this feature, others claim the full functionality isn’t coming back. And there are several questions that nobody can answer right now.

First of all, the most important question concerns the ETA of a possible fix. When is Google projected to fix this Android Auto bug? Not soon it seems, as the company has never shared any specifics. Furthermore, the company says it actually informed partners about the whole thing, so there’s a chance the Android Auto team doesn’t consider it a priority because it’s not happening on their side.

Then, who exactly is affected by the problem? At this point, owners of models produced by various carmakers confirmed the problem, including Vauxhall, Ford, Acura, Subaru and others. Google, on the other hand, says it has reached out to Ford, so presumably, the search giant believes only models from this company are impacted.

Google says the bug hits SYNC 3 models, so there’s a chance a patch would land in the spring. A Ford spokesperson told us recently a bug-fixing Android Auto update would be released in a few months, but we can’t yet confirm this problem would be addressed.

In the meantime, neither Google nor another carmaker shares more specifics on the whole thing, so if you’re hitting the same bug in your car, the only option is to try out the aforementioned workaround.
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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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