[Updated] Google confirms February update will fix Android Auto launch issue

Update (March 10):

For what it’s worth Google has provided another update on the matter, and here’s what they have said:

Several factors (car, phone, USB cable, software, etc) affect the Android Auto connectivity issues reported here in the forum. Further, the solutions are complicated by the fact that different underlying issues can show similar symptoms that are difficult to tease apart. For example, the Android OS February security update resolved certain specific technical problems that eliminated the connectivity problems for some, but not all of you.

Several investigations remain ongoing for each category of the symptoms. Bug reports are always helpful for us understand the individual issues. We deeply appreciate those who filled in in this form and shared bug reports with us. If you are willing to help the investigation with your bug report, please let us know through the form. Please understand that we are not usually able to provide immediate resolution for individual cases.

It bears repeating that some users were able to resolve the issue by changing the USB cable with one of the recommended USB cables (or short USB cables under, say 12-18″ – we are especially interested in hearing about these cases), so please take a look if you haven’t, yet. Here’s another reference for USB connectivity.

Update (February 17):

Here’s a recent update on the story:

The Android Auto team is actively working with the Pixel and Android OS teams to address what appear to be multiple interrelated issues that exhibit similar outward symptoms

Regarding the “Android Auto intermittently fails to start” issue: As we announced earlier last month, a fix for one of the underlying issues went out in Android OS February security update.

• Some of you asked how to get the February security update. See here
• While the February security update did solve reported problems for some people, we are aware that other problems remain to be addressed. If you are willing to capture and share bug reports for this specific issue, please let us know here

Original story:

While the list of issues plaguing Android Auto is quite long, the company seems to be making all possible efforts to fix them. One such broken functionality that we highlighted back in December was the service failing to launch on the car’s head unit.

Cheer up, as Google has figured out the fix, and it will be pushed out in the next security update.

Google employee Yurrim (from Android Auto team) broke the news on one of the relevant threads discussing Android Auto’s issues with Pixel devices. They said a fix for Android Auto’s launch glitch will be rolling out in the upcoming monthly security update (should be the February one).

For the issue that Android Auto intermittently fails to start, the fix will roll out with upcoming monthly security update

ALSO READ: Motorola confirms Oreo-triggered VoLTE issue with Moto Z2 Force

Not only that, Yurrim also provided a heads-up on other Android Auto issues (like service crashing, Bluetooth and USB connectivity problems), saying they are actively being worked on.

We are working with the Android OS team to address the issues

Following is their complete statement:

To give you a quick refresher, the matter in question is where the service instead of launching on car’s head unit throws notifications (like the one shown in the proceeding screenshot) stating ‘Android Auto cannot connect at this time‘ or ‘loading‘.

Mainly, Pixel phone users have been reporting the issue.

As already mentioned above, the fix for the same will be included in the February security update. Needless to say, the timing for the update may vary for devices/countries. Meanwhile, we are keeping tab on all related developments, and will update as and when the awaited fix gets live.

Stay connected with us on Twitter (@PiunikaWeb) to hear about all related developments as and when they occur