It might just be me, but I've had bad luck with Android Auto's reliability. I hate to say it, but my iPhone has never had a problem connecting to Apple CarPlay in any car I've ever tried it in, but on my Android phones there's always some extra hurdle to jump through.
The good news is that, as annoying as it may be, there seem to be a few tricks that almost always solve the problem, and I'm going to rank them here in order from least to most hassle.
Connect your phone before starting the car
I currently drive a 2020 Kia Sportage and Android Auto worked great for the first few years. Now I get this error every time I connect my Android phone to it.
This was incredibly frustrating for my wife, who is currently an Android user, and after trying everything else on this list below, it turned out that the solution was to plug the phone into a USB port. to turning on the car and starting the engine.
So, if you are having similar problems, try this first.
Try a different cable
The next most likely culprit is the USB cable itself. If you are using a wired data connection, that is. Replace the cable with a known good one and see if it makes a difference. If the cable you are using has never worked correctly, it may be faulty. fight against fraud The cable is only for charging, not one that can also transfer data.
Disable battery optimization for Android Auto
Android's battery optimization feature can interfere with Android Auto's background process, so you may want to turn off battery optimization for Android Auto, especially if you're using it wirelessly, and it may help even when connected to the network, so it's worth a try.
Go to Settings > Apps > Android Auto > Battery and make sure you select the “unlimited” option.
You can also check the settings of apps you use while driving, such as Google Maps, to make sure they are not set to do the same.
Forget about your machine and reconnect from scratch
This is an old faithful fix, especially right after an Android update. All you have to do is open Android Auto settings, and then from the Connected Cars list, select “forget” the car you're having trouble with. Then simply connect again as if it were the first time.
I've found that this usually solves all but the most stubborn Android Auto problems.
Clear Android Auto cache and storage data
As with all Android apps, problems with the app's cache can cause problems, especially after an update. Luckily it's pretty easy clear Android app cache.
The exact steps and menu labels may vary slightly depending on your version of Android and the brand of your phone, but they are located in the Apps settings section and should be under the Storage subsection on the main app settings page.
Update everything—your phone, Android Auto, and your car.
For Android Auto to work properly, several components need to work together in harmony: Android, the Android Auto app, and your car's software.
Updating one of these three components may cause Android Auto to not work correctly or at all. Updating Android and the Android Auto app is easy enough, and you probably already know how to do it, but when it comes to updating your infotainment system software, it may not be so simple.
Some cars may have OTA (over-the-air) update capability, but in the case of my car, the only way to update the infotainment system firmware is to use an update file from a properly formatted USB drive. I have a strong suspicion that our problems with Android Auto were due to the latest version of Google's software having some kind of problem with the Kia software that came with my car.
Unfortunately, Kia hasn't provided any updates for my 2020 model of car, and even if they did, I'd be better off asking the dealer to do the update because you can lock up your infotainment system if something goes wrong, and apparently it's quite expensive to fix.
So, if updating your car's software is an option for you, it's worth a try, but in my case I can only hope Google fixes the problem on their side of the fence.
Android Auto is such an essential app for the millions of drivers around the world who use Android phones that it's a shame that it can be so finicky. This is understandable given the wide variety of cars and Android phones, so perhaps it's a miracle that it works so often, but either way, these simple tricks should solve most of the tricky problems you encounter.
