Android Auto not connecting? Try this one setting tweak - it worked for me

8 hours ago 1

My Android Auto was having trouble connecting until I did this one thing

A few months ago, I bought into the Jeep cult. One bit of fanciness with this vehicle is its ability to connect to Android Auto. I was excited because I'd never owned a car that could connect to my Android phone and actually make use of it.

Of course, the biggest reason I wanted to use Android Auto was for the Spotify connection. My previous auto would allow me to connect my phone, but I had to control the music from the phone itself, which I wouldn't do while driving (Drive safe, everyone.)

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Now that I can do all of that via the vehicle's touch screen or steering-wheel controls, I'm actually using my phone's Spotify app every time I get in the car. However... Android Auto slowly started either failing to connect or taking minutes to do so.

It became frustrating. My phone instructed me that it was a problem with the cable, so I switched it out. Same problem, so I switched to another cable. I was using high-speed, high-quality cables, so that was not the issue.

(I would recommend you purchase a high-speed, high-quality USB cable for this if you don't have one.)

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I'd unplug the phone, plug it back in, and repeat the process over and over, to no avail. Eventually, I realized it wasn't the cable, which meant it had to be either the Jeep's software or my phone.

It took me a while, but I figured out a way to make this work as expected.

How to fix slow Android Auto connections

What you'll need: To make this work, you'll need an Android phone and a vehicle that supports Android Auto.

Android Auto is supposed to automatically detect when it's connected to your vehicle and run the required software. Plug in your phone, and Android Auto will do its thing. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.

In fact, there were times when it took Android Auto up to 5 minutes to finally connect.

This is tricky because, at least on my Pixel 9 Pro, there is no Android Auto app. Instead, Android Auto is found within the Settings app. This baffles me because it would make more sense if Android Auto were its own app.

Oh well, I'm not an engineer at Google, so it's not up to me.

Instead, open the Settings app and go to "Connected devices" > "Connection preferences." In this section, you should see Android Auto near the bottom. Tap on Android Auto.

You'll need to be in your car at this point. Start your car (or turn it on so that your entertainment/infotainment screen is on). Go back to your phone and tap "Connect a vehicle." Once you've done that, plug your phone into the car (with a high-speed cable), and the connection should be made fairly quickly.

The "Connect a vehicle" button in Android Auto.

With the connection made this way, your phone should remember the connection, and the wait time for Android Auto to connect to your vehicle shouldn't be an issue.

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This worked for me and my Jeep. Your situation may be different, depending on the vehicle software, whether the software is updated, your phone make and model, and the cable you use. Hopefully, you'll have the same luck I had with this procedure, and Android Auto will now pop up soon after you plug your phone into the car.

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