Android Auto's connection nightmare may finally be over

Google has pushed out a Play Services update that hopes to solve some nagging connection issues experienced by a number of Android Auto issues.

These fixes will hopefully be a salve for anyone who's had connection issues with Android Auto since around March of this year, though it remains to be seen whether this is a cure-all.

Android Auto is useless without a connection

Android Auto has been suffering from connection issues for a lot of people since the Samsung Galaxy S26 launch in March of this year. While initially spotted mostly on Samsung's phones, the problem soon spread to other devices as well, including Google's own Pixel devices.

There have been a number of updates since then, but for some, the same connection issues have continued.

Thankfully, Google isn't giving up, as this update makes clear.

The changelog is fairly sparse, listing just "bug fixes for Device Connections related services", and not detailing what those particular fixes are. But it's easy to read between the lines that Android Auto's connection continues to be a problem. The issue seems to affect both wired and wireless connections, affects different brands and builds of car, and even seems to impact people who'd previously used the same phone, cable, and port as before.

Hopefully, this update will clear up those problems.

Unfortunately, connection issues are always going to be a problem for Android Auto. The entire system works on a tether, and whether you're using a wired or wireless connection, the bitter truth is that those connections are going to have issues from time-to-time.

But there's a difference between normal and accepted problems, and the sort of issues that plagued a number of people from March onwards.

Even if all this update does is reduce the number of people who still have the problem, then that's positive, but it must be a real pain for anyone who's been battling this problem since March. If that's you, I hope you at least have a good car cradle to stand in for your Android Auto screen.