New Android Auto bug makes listening to music a nightmare – Google is on the case

Music mayhem strikes vehicles using Android Auto

Android Auto
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Where would we be without more reports from drivers of Android Auto not working again? The answer, of course, is with a lot fewer articles to run. This time it appears that music playback is causing problems – and it looks like it's driving some users up the proverbial wall. 

We all enjoy listening to our favorite tunes from our favorite playlists displayed on the best Android Auto head unit rigs in our cars. This is only true if you get to actually choose your favorite song, though, rather than being tricked into clicking an annoying Android Auto Easter egg.

Google's support forum is alight once again with complaints of a glitch that affects sound settings when driving. The folks over at Auto Evolution spoke to an unnamed reader impacted by the issue, who claims that the bug changes the "car's sound settings on the fly when driving." 

Apart from being very annoying, other users report that the music playing in the car will change its output source, suddenly routing from the car's speakers to the phone before then settling down again and returning to its default settings. That in itself is rather peculiar because it suggests that something within the app is perhaps triggering the sound to deviate.

Lost in the music

Again, it's all speculation as to what's causing the sudden audio glitch, but several of the forum's users have taken it into their own hands to try and narrow down the likely causes. Different cables have been tried and applied; Bluetooth has been reset on both the car and on the phone; meanwhile, another user has done a complete reset of Bluetooth cache and settings, twice. All of this hasn't fixed the problem, which could possibly be attributed to the newly-released Android Auto 7, based on the timing of the issues, and because new updates can cause teething issues when first released.

Based on the replies in the forum, the Android Auto folks have now acknowledged the issue, relayed it to the wider development team, and will update users when a solution is available. Google is always refreshing Android Auto with user-improvements tweaks so the service is known to run into issues, especially with it being used across so many different vehicles, all with their own set of nuances and idiosyncrasies. 

For instance, while it was good news that Android Auto recently got optimized for right-hand drive vehicles, that move caused a flurry of user bugs in the process that Google had to swiftly squash afterward. These issues usually get patched eventually, even if an official timeline isn't offered up by Google. However, fear not, T3 is here to keep you posted along the way with any news of a fix. Stay tuned.

Luke Wilson

Luke is a former news writer at T3 who covered all things tech at T3. Disc golf enthusiast, keen jogger, and fond of all things outdoors (when not indoors messing around with gadgets), Luke wrote about a wide-array of subjects for T3.com, including Android Auto, WhatsApp, Sky, Virgin Media, Amazon Kindle, Windows 11, Chromebooks, iPhones and much more, too.