As we’ve learned in the last 12 months or so, Android Auto doesn’t always provide the most stable and reliable experience behind the wheel. Occasionally, new reports surface to remind us Google still has a lot of work on this otherwise great application.
This time, it’s a problem affecting the way users listen to radio stations in their cars when the phone is connected to the head unit, and Android Auto is running on the screen.
More specifically, some users claim Android Auto always takes over the audio, disconnecting it and reverting to whatever media app is installed on the phone.
“I have the same problem recently. Google will not allow me to listen to over the air radio for more than a couple of minutes, and then shuts it off (the car radio, whether satellite or terrestrial) and then insists that any audio I hear comes exclusively via Internet, through and controlled by and monitored by the Google Android Auto app,” one user explained in December; several others confirmed the same behavior in their cars too.
For the time being, it’s not clear what’s happening and how users could bring things back to normal, especially because the problem doesn’t seem to be caused by a specific Android Auto update.
Some say the behavior was introduced in mid-December, and everything worked just fine in the past.
If you’re certain a new Android Auto version is causing the whole thing, one thing worth trying is a downgrade to a previous release of the app. This can be done by removing the Android Auto version installed on your device and then downloading a stand-alone APK installer for the build you want to try out.
Google is yet to acknowledge the problem, so for the time being, it’s still not known if the problem is under investigation and a fix is at least planned.
More specifically, some users claim Android Auto always takes over the audio, disconnecting it and reverting to whatever media app is installed on the phone.
“I have the same problem recently. Google will not allow me to listen to over the air radio for more than a couple of minutes, and then shuts it off (the car radio, whether satellite or terrestrial) and then insists that any audio I hear comes exclusively via Internet, through and controlled by and monitored by the Google Android Auto app,” one user explained in December; several others confirmed the same behavior in their cars too.
For the time being, it’s not clear what’s happening and how users could bring things back to normal, especially because the problem doesn’t seem to be caused by a specific Android Auto update.
Some say the behavior was introduced in mid-December, and everything worked just fine in the past.
If you’re certain a new Android Auto version is causing the whole thing, one thing worth trying is a downgrade to a previous release of the app. This can be done by removing the Android Auto version installed on your device and then downloading a stand-alone APK installer for the build you want to try out.
Google is yet to acknowledge the problem, so for the time being, it’s still not known if the problem is under investigation and a fix is at least planned.