With Android 13 on the Radar, Android Auto on Android 12 Is Still a Huge Mess

Unfortunately, things are completely different in the Android Auto world, where even the final and supposedly more polished updates sometimes end up doing more harm than good.

The release of Android 12 last fall was received with much enthusiasm by the majority of users for the very same reasons mentioned above. It didn’t bring much in terms of Android Auto improvements, but on the other hand, it came with lots of new capabilities supposed to overhaul the mobile experience anyway.

Unfortunately, what it did include for Android Auto was a bug that made it impossible for many users to even run the app.

Shortly after the debut of Android 12 the last fall, users who updated their devices to the new version started complaining that Android Auto was no longer running in their cars.

After trying pretty much everything, including changing cables, switching ports, and so on, it was pretty clear Android 12 was the one to blame for the whole thing.

A discussion thread on Google’s forums has close to 1,600 upvotes and 500 replies from people who are no longer capable of launching Android Auto after updating their devices to Android 12.

“Before updating to Android 12 when plugging my phone into my 2018 F150 things worked flawlessly. However, after the OS update when I plug in the phone, nothing happens. Android Auto doesn't pop up on my vehicle screen at all. I've plugged in using multiple cables and on both ports. Nothing seems to work,” the first message, dated October 20, 2021, reads.

Since then, hundreds of other people chimed in and confirmed the same behavior in their cars.

Google has never acknowledged the problems apparently caused on Android Auto by Android 12, with a Community Specialist telling users that all these connectivity issues might actually be caused by other factors.

“Connectivity issues can occur due to several factors (e.g. car, phone, USB cable, software, etc) that can affect the performance of Android Auto. We recommend trying the troubleshooting steps on this FAQ thread to help with your experience,” the message reads.

Users, obviously, claim otherwise. Everything worked just fine before installing Android 12 on their devices, and given nothing has changed on their side, other than the operating system version, it’s pretty clear the one to blame is the update itself.

“I have a Pixel 2XL and am having the same issues others have reported on this thread. I cleaned out the port, tried new cables, switched to debugging mode, and changed various transfer methods. After I cleared all of the cache and storage based on the Android Auto troubleshooting checklist, it worked until I shut off the car and tried again and it wouldn't work no matter what I tried. Not that this is good, but I'm happy it's an issue with other Pixel phones and not just the Pixel 2xl. Hopefully, you'll fix this issue soon!” an optimistic Android Auto user posted on November 1.

Oddly enough, not only the bug isn’t getting a fix, but Google is also working around the clock on finalizing the development of another major Android update.

Android 13 is already at its second beta, with the platform stability phase expected to be reached this month. The rollout should start in September to the very first devices before the other Android phone makers out there expand the availability to their own models as well.

At the end of the day, there’s a chance this bug caused by Android 12 remains unfixed, so maybe the only workaround would eventually be the move to Android 13 when it goes live.