topic Re: Android Auto disconnects on Galaxy Z Flip 5 with Kia Ceed (2018/MY2019) in Mobile Apps & Services

Android Auto disconnects on Galaxy Z Flip 5 with Kia Ceed (2018/MY2019)

Members_GV5XZzj — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 15:05:51 GMT

I am having persistent issues using Android Auto with my Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 (Android 16, One UI 8.0) in my 2018 Kia Ceed Sportswagon (MY2019). Android Auto disconnects randomly after an unpredictable amount of time. When it happens, my car cannot reconnect and the head unit keeps showing the error message: “Reading USB/Phone Not Responding.”

I mainly use Android Auto wirelessly, but the issue also occurs when using a cable. Since Android Auto is a system app on the Z Flip 5, I cannot reinstall or manually update it.

What I have already tried

Clearing cache and app data
Wiping cache partition
Rebooting the phone
Enabling/disabling USB debugging
Disabling Auto Blocker
Disabling WiFi calling
Disabling battery optimization
Resetting the Kia head unit
Removing and re‑adding the car under “Accepted vehicles”
Fully reinstalling the phone (Android Auto worked briefly, then failed again)

None of these steps solved the issue.

I found a video from another user showing the exact same issue (not my own recording).

(view in My Videos)

If anyone has experienced this issue on the Galaxy Z Flip 5 or knows whether this could be related to Samsung software, I would appreciate any guidance. I’m happy to provide logs or additional details if required.

Re: Android Auto disconnects on Galaxy Z Flip 5 with Kia Ceed (2018/MY2019)

JordanS — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 09:35:09 GMT

You have carried out some extensive troubleshooting there. I commend you for that. Sometimes with major Android updates, this can cause incompatibility with other Bluetooth devices. In terms of car systems, it can sometimes result in an update needing to be applied by your car's manufacturer. Definitely worth investigating.

In terms of logs, our Research and Development team can certainly investigate this behaviour to pin point where exactly the issue lies. We recommend recreating this behaviour, then within 10 minutes, submit an error report with your logs attached.

You can do this by long pressing on the Samsung Members app > Error report > Write a full description, along with the steps you have tried to remedy this > Down at the bottom, select Attach System Log Data > Send > Keep the app open and the screen awake while the logs compile for sending.

Re: Android Auto disconnects on Galaxy Z Flip 5 with Kia Ceed (2018/MY2019)

Members_GV5XZzj — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 10:43:54 GMT

Thanks for your response and the suggestions.

In the meantime, I’ve contacted the seller of my car, who then reached out to the official Kia dealer. According to Kia, there is no software update available for my head unit because it’s the “no‑SD card” version without built‑in navigation. I find this explanation rather odd, since the software on my head unit is from 2018, while the latest SD‑card‑based version (with navigation) was released in August 2025. It’s difficult to believe that the non‑navigation units would be left on software that old.

The seller has ordered a replacement USB port module, which will be installed next week. Hopefully this resolves the Android Auto issues. If not, I’ll need to look for another solution.

For other users experiencing similar Android Auto problems: support for Android Auto is ending this summer. My impression is that this might explain why the Android Auto developer team hasn’t been very proactive. I submitted extensive logs and debug reports over four weeks ago at their request, but follow‑up has been limited to generic status messages like:

“Thank you for reaching out… our team continues looking into it… your concern is a priority… investigation is taking longer… no further action required from your end…”

So for now, I’m waiting to see whether the hardware replacement fixes the issue. If not, it seems increasingly likely that this is a compatibility problem that won’t be addressed anymore.

Re: Android Auto disconnects on Galaxy Z Flip 5 with Kia Ceed (2018/MY2019)

Members_GV5XZzj — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 05:40:34 GMT

A small update from my side.

Yesterday the USB port in my car was replaced, but unfortunately the issue still persists. The garage has been in contact with Kia, and Kia insists that my type of head unit (the non‑SD card version without navigation) cannot be updated. That means I’m stuck with software from 2018.

I’ve also found a reliable way to reproduce the problem quickly: if I scroll through music tracks rapidly, Android Auto drops out on the head unit. The display then gets stuck in an endless loop of “Reading USB/Phone Not Responding.”. After a few minutes the head unit tries to reconnect, fails, and the loop starts again. This continues indefinitely until I disconnect the phone.

If I connect a different Android device, it connects instantly. An Apple device with CarPlay also works immediately. Meanwhile, Android Auto on my own phone keeps running in the background and even reports that it is still connected, despite the head unit showing otherwise.

At this point I haven’t been able to use Android Auto for more than two months. The Android Auto developer team hasn’t provided any real progress and mostly responds with generic status messages, so I’m not expecting a solution from their side anymore.

That’s why I want to make another appeal to anyone with technical insight — and especially to Samsung (@JordanS). Please help me figure out what is going wrong. Everything increasingly points to something in the system on my phone, even though I have already performed a full factory reset.

Any guidance or deeper technical investigation would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Android Auto disconnects on Galaxy Z Flip 5 with Kia Ceed (2018/MY2019)

Members_GV5XZzj — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 10:09:46 GMT

I would like to share an update after further testing.

I performed another provocation test to reproduce the issue and compared Android Auto behaviour using both a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 (2023, 5th generation) and a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (2025, 16th generation). The core problem remains the same: Android Auto projection on my car’s infotainment screen drops out at random moments. When it happens, the head unit shows “Reading USB / Phone not responding” repeatedly for several minutes until it gives up and tries again, resulting in an endless loop.

Although the issue occurs unpredictably, it can be provoked reliably by rapidly skipping music tracks in VLC for Android. I was able to reproduce the problem on both the Z Flip5 and the S25 Ultra.
This behaviour does not occur when skipping tracks in YouTube Music or Spotify.

I want to clarify that this provocation method does not necessarily imply that the spontaneous disconnects during normal driving share the exact same root cause. However, the resulting failure pattern is identical in both cases.

Once the issue occurs, Android Auto will not reconnect unless I force‑stop the Android Auto app on the phone and reconnect the device via USB cable (or WiFi dongle). Additionally, “Start music automatically” must be disabled in the Android Auto settings. If this option is enabled, the head unit immediately falls back into the “Reading USB / Phone not responding” loop after reconnecting.

In this setup, Android Auto uses both Bluetooth and either a wired USB connection or a WiFi dongle. The issue occurs in both cases.

Even without skipping tracks, the problem still appears randomly — the skipping only helps to reproduce it consistently.

This may be a compatibility issue between the outdated software on the Kia infotainment system and the newer Android/Android Auto ecosystem. I have not been able to reproduce the issue on another Kia Ceed SW with a different infotainment system.

Device information:
Galaxy Z Flip5 — SM‑F731N
Build: BP2A.250605.031.A3.F731NKSS5FYL1
Android Auto: 15.9.655114-release

Galaxy S25 Ultra — SM‑S938B/DS
Build: BP2A.250605.031.A3.S938BXXS7BYLR
Android Auto: 16.0.660234-release

Infotainment system:

Kia Ceed SW 1.0 TGDI
Build year: 2018
Model year: 2019
Software: CD.EUR.SOP.V093.180713.DAU_A
Firmware: CD.EUR.281.180201.MICOM.DL

Any further technical insight from Samsung or the community would be greatly appreciated.