Android auto Disconnects shortly after connecting.

[Warp1]

Hi! I've been having an issue connecting my new S22+

Car: Renault Clio (Compatible with AA since I've been using it with my s9)

The issue at hand:

I used to have my s9 connected without any problems, I recently got a new phone (S22+) and tried to use both WAZE and SPOTIFY as I used to on my s9 but, my s22 connects to the infotainment system and works for about 5 minutes +- it's very inconsistent. When it disconnects the display shows "error while connecting to android auto" even though it was already connected.

Stuff I've already tested:

Reinstalling all used apps (AA, Spotify and Waze)

Restarting phone (I've probably restarted it like +- 30 times over the past couple weeks)

Using all kinds of different cables to connect.

Clearing cache of all the apps.

Factory default on infotainment System, and removing the car from the list of cars in AA (Basically establishing a new connection.

Running AA without the use of Spotify, so just using Waze and vice versa.

I'm at a loss of what to do, is there anyone who has experienced this issue? Or might have an idea of how to fix this. Anything I've found on google as for troubleshooting I've tried.

[Rohit]

Did you try updating the infotainment system? Also file in a bug report with the Samsung Members app. Maybe it wil work with the next update.

[Warp1]

I have done both of those, Infotainment is on most recent update. I've also sent a bug report.

[VladSnow]

I have the same problem. Bought my S22 Ultra a month ago. I previously used a Huawei P20 Pro. While I was able to get the Huawei to work almost perfectly with Android Auto, the S22 Ultra disconnects after just a few minutes of driving. Sometimes after less than a minute. Needless to say, that's extremelly annoying. It makes Android Auto almost unusable.

For the Huawei, I had to use a good Anker USB to USB-C cable to solve a similar problem. Now, with the same Anker cable, the S22 Ultra keeps disconnecting while driving with Android Auto.

I also tried reducing the maximum resolution for Android Auto in the developer settings. That didn't help either.

To make sure it's not a cable issue, a few weeks ago I even ordered from the US five additional USB  to USB-C cables recommended by Google for Android Auto: one Anker cable, three Cable Matters cables, and one Amazon Basics cable.

I just drove for an hour today to test those 5 new cables, and the problem can be reproduced with all 5 of them, and also with my old Anker cable. Android Auto just randomly disconnects.

After all the troubleshooting I did recently (and also in the past, until I found the Anker cable that worked fine with the Huawei phone), I now have about 40 USB to USB-C cables, out of which about 10 even allow Android Auto to connect, the other 30 don't work with Android Auto at all, they are only useful for charging, at best. Even some expensive cables do not work. It's a lottery, really.

Next, I'll visit the car dealership to see if there is any update to the infotainment software, or there is anything else that might be an issue, or if there is any other solution. I have a Volkswagen Polo GTI with a Discover Media VW infotainment/navigation system, manufactured late 2016. I'm not sure, but I remember updating it myself a few years ago, now it seems to no longer be possible.

I'll also try filing a bug report with Samsung, but honestly I'm not optimistic about that solving anything.

One guess is that the the internal cable that came with the car between the infotainment system and the USB socket doesn't have the best shielding. Or maybe it's connections are slightly loose.

Or the USB chip from the infotainment system is very sensitive to even slightest signal quality issues. Or the signal it generates towards the phone is not perfect, and the S22 Ultra is more sensitive to that. Or the signal generated by the S22 is not perfect and causes problems for the infotainment system. Or a combination of the above.

Either way, while the cables can clearly be a factor for this kind of issues, because a poor signal, marginally in spec, can be made even worse by a poor quality cable, getting it out of spec, I think I did everything I could do to get the best cables and the problem must now be somewhere else.

It could also be a software issue, but I doubt it. Speaking of software, I don't understand why Android Auto doesn't automatically reconnect after these disconnections. While it wouldn't solve the root cause, it would make the problem much less painful.

In the future I'll buy a car with an infotaiment system that supports wireless Android Auto, because I'm sick and tired of all this mess with Android Auto and cables. Until then not sure if changing the hardware in my current car would also be an option, I'll discuss that when I visit the dealership.

[MartijnK]

Hi @VladSnow, good morning.

Thank you for reaching out! As I can see you've tried a lot of options and possibilities to resolve this, unfortunately without the result you're hoping for. Let's hope this can be resolved with an update for your infotaint system 😇 You also send in an error report by the Samsung Members-app, so my colleagues of the R&D department can take a closer look into this.

Keep us posted, please!

Kind regards,

Martijn

[VladSnow]

I have an update, I also ordered a few USB to USB-C adapters and also an original Samsung cable. Those didn't help either.

Then I took my entire stash of 40 USB-C cables and started testing them with this phone one by one. After testing 15 cables, I was finally able to find one that works well. It's from a less known brand named Poss, possibly owned by Carrefour. It's a very thin cable, and as far as I remember quite cheap, so I was very suprised that it fixed the problem. I drove for about an hour, and I had no disconnects.

Next day, I drove again, with the same cable, and the disconnects started again. However, since you can connect USB-C cables two ways, I tried it the other way around, rotating the connector 180 degrees. The connection become stable again.

So, now I have half a cable that works

As to why this particular cable works when others do not, I don't know. Maybe a lower quality cable causes the phone and the car to negociate a lower communication speed which is then more stable, but it's just a guess.

[Warp1]

Hi @VladSnow! 

I love how much effort you've put into this up until now, I've been researching / looking around a bit. And I may have found what could cause this issue.  Now I haven't tested it, nor do I know 100% if this is what happened but, better to ask and be wrong then not ask at all and miss my shot.  Did you by any chance use the application "Smart Switch" to transfer all your data from your old phone to your new one? 

If so, this could possibly be the issue, I haven't had the chance to back up my phone data and try using Android Auto on a complete fresh start, but I for sure will, especially if you used the same software. 

[VladSnow]

I don't remember using that application, SmartSwitch, I think I used the regular restore from the Google backup.

In any case, all evidence so far points towards a USB signal quality/integrity issue. So, a hardware/electrical issue, not software, since the choice of USB cables affects the frequency of the disconnects. So I doubt a "clean start" would help.

I'm currently on vacation, I drove about 1200 kilometers on Android Auto with Waze. Unfortunately even with that Poss USB cable that I found to work acceptably in my initial tests, I still get disconnects quite frequently. Bumpy roads seem to increase the frequency of the problem, probably because when the cable moves it slightly alters the USB signal.

I also bought another Samsung cable, a longer one, 1.5 meters, because I wasn't entirely sure my previous Samsung cable was genuine, but the new cable didn't fix the problem either.

When I'm back from my vacation I'll try visiting the car dealership to check the infotainment system as well for any issues, and maybe perform a firmware update on it.

Failing that, I'll probably buy more random USB cables, in the hope that one may finally fix the problem.

The only positive thing is that this phone connects automatically to the infotainment system when I reconnect the cable after a disconnect, and Waze navigation resumes automatically and so does the music. When I had similar problems with my old phones I would also have to tap on the car touch screen to connect, then tap again over a confirmation screen, which made the process much more annoying if I had to reconnect it while driving. And when I say "annoying" I actually mean "dangerous", as it would distract my attention from the road. With this phone this is less of a problem, as I learned to reconnect the cable without taking my eyes away from the road. Still, not the best experience and probably still a bit dangerous.

I really like the phone otherwise, especially the cameras. Otherwise I would have already returned it. And I like my car too, otherwise I would have already bought another one. Too bad two things I like don't work well together.

[harmanchandi]

Turn off fast charging and super fast charging. Thank me later ✌️

[VladSnow]

Thanks for suggesting this, but unfortunately in my case it didn't help at all.