Android Auto for Dummies Question/Issue

pegaxs on 12/06/2020 - 13:34

Had the wife's Corolla upgraded a while ago with Android Auto/Apple Carplay. She only drives it around town, so never really had a use for it. Today, I was trying to tell her about how to use it and worked out that I know zero about how it works as well. We were going somewhere and I wanted to use Waze for navigation. And that was the end of that.

The issue is that Waze didn't work. It loaded up and just showed a black map background (no map or roads). If I selected a destination, it would just go to "calculating route" and do nothing. This is where I found the problem. I cannot find a way to force close the app. I rebooted my phone and stopped the car and rebooted the car. When I plug the phone back in, Waze comes up and is exactly where it left off (and not in a good way). It just goes back to the black background and "calculating route".

I thought, while the phone is running, I'll just open the apps and force close them. Nope. Waze not showing and even in the app settings, it is not giving me the option to "force close" because it doesn't think the app is even open… If I unplug and replug the phone, the app just reboots in Android auto where it was when it was unplugged.

So, is there any other way, other than deleting the app off my phone, that I can force close an app from within Android Auto to get it to reload on the display? I've been searching for an hour and can only find information on how to quit the Android Auto app on the phone, not the app on the cars display… (I cant quit the Android Auto app anyway, I'm on Android 10, and AA is baked into the operating system…)

Automotive

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 12/06/2020 - 13:43
    -5

    when you don't know how to use something, don't search google, post a forum on ozbargain

    • pegaxs on 12/06/2020 - 14:02
      +2

      I've been searching for an hour…

      I hammered Google and the Android Auto forums already (also consulted the owners manual). They were no help. As a last attempt, I thought I would ask people who use it on a more daily basis than I do…

  • MS Paint on 12/06/2020 - 13:45
    +5

    AA is not the most intuitive when things go wrong.

    Only solution I can think of is to trade the car in.

    • Euphemistic on 12/06/2020 - 14:47

      By its a corolla. What else would he get?

      • MS Paint on 12/06/2020 - 14:49
        +2

        Camry without AA

    • pegaxs on 12/06/2020 - 15:26

      I was half expecting the obligatory "ThEn BuY aN iPhOnE!!1!1!!" comments…

  • John Kimble on 12/06/2020 - 13:47
    +1

    I'm assuming you rebooted your phone already?

    Have you tried finding Android Auto in Settings > Apps and clearing the data and cache and then trying in your car again? That helped me when I was having issues (my issue was nothing to do with Waze though).

    You could try the same with Waze maybe?

    • pegaxs on 12/06/2020 - 14:07

      Phone rebooted. (2nd thing I tried after unplug/replug…)
      Car and display rebooted.
      Cleared data and cache on the phone. No way to clear it on cars display.
      I think there is an issue with Waze, as Google maps works fine (without real time traffic/police alerts), but there is no way I can force close/reboot Waze and try opening it again. It's more if ANY apps have an issue, how does one close the app on the cars display and restart it?

      • ESEMCE on 12/06/2020 - 14:17
        +1

        Android Auto has a home button.
        Sounds like you may need to uninstall Waze and reinstall to your phone.
        That's been the historic solution for problems with Android Auto.

      • John Kimble on 12/06/2020 - 14:27

        Waze works fine when using just on your phone? Does Waze work on AA in the Corolla using another phone?

        • pegaxs on 12/06/2020 - 15:28

          @scubacoles: Yep, I am thinking that's what it is going to take if nothing else works.

          @John: Waze works without issue if used on the phone, not connected to the car and in a cradle.

  • emblurr on 12/06/2020 - 14:33

    Make sure you've got the latest version of Waze or even reinstall it.

    • pegaxs on 12/06/2020 - 15:31

      Latest version: Done and reinstall: not done (yet). Was just wanting to see if there was something I was missing in the way of a way to force quit ANY app that has issues before I go clearing caches and/or reinstalling. I didnt want to go reinstall apps if there was a way to long hold a button or something to just kill the app and try rebooting it first.

  • jimdotpud on 12/06/2020 - 15:41

    not sure, as i haven't used Waze, but i know from my experience that android auto doesn't work unless you have bluetooth on and connected to the car.

    • pegaxs on 12/06/2020 - 15:44

      It's working. I can use it without an issue with other apps. Google maps works fine, news, weather, Spotify/Tune In all work. My issue is, when an app fails to work/glitches/locks up, how do I go about force closing the app and rebooting it within Android Auto on the car's display…

      • jimdotpud on 12/06/2020 - 15:45
        +1

        yeah.. tough one.. i stopped using android auto, coz it is shit.

        • pegaxs on 12/06/2020 - 15:47
          +1

          HAHAAH! I am thinking the exact same thing at this point… Upgrading the car's media system to work with Android Auto was a WOFTAM

          • jimdotpud on 12/06/2020 - 15:57

            @pegaxs: when i was getting my car, i waited another month for the new model, which came with Android/Apple inbuilt and the 360 cams… was disappointed with AA, but the 360 cams are great so not all a loss..
            i'm just using my car's inbuilt Nav and Comms, which actually works really well.

            • pegaxs on 12/06/2020 - 16:03

              @jimdotpud: Yeah, I thought AA was supposed to mirror phone functions, turn your cars display into a virtual tablet, but it's more like a cut down version OS with zero features… It really is a terrible experience and if my next car didn't have it, I wouldn't really miss it to be honest. Had the wife's car updated for AA/AC in jan this year, and only just plugged in to actually try and use it today…

              • jimdotpud on 12/06/2020 - 16:12

                @pegaxs: yep, obviously they've had issues with the comms back to the phone via the shitty inbuilt app. They would be better off going down something like the DeX path (hardware based), where it's more like an external touchscreen which controls the phone.

              • AdosHouse on 12/06/2020 - 17:27

                @pegaxs: Android Auto cannot be more like a tablet, because it would then not be classified as a navigation/music player, which would then mean you can't use it legally while driving.

                I have AA in my Elantra, and I love it, but I only use it for navigation using Google Maps, and that works fine. Also for PowerAmp for music while navigating.

                Mine is plugged in via USB cable.

                • pegaxs on 12/06/2020 - 18:21

                  @AdosHouse: No, I agree, I don't want it to be a tablet, but I at least want a feature that when an app does play up, I can just force close it and restart it. I thought I was missing how this was done, but from my hours of searching today and replies in this thread, it seems that if an app glitches out or has some form of issue, there is no way to force close it and restart it.

  • keejoonc on 12/06/2020 - 16:12

    It's not just AA issue. Waze itself is buggy as hell. I had issues with Waze on AA when Google Maps would work perfectly fine.

    • pegaxs on 12/06/2020 - 16:17

      Oh yeah, I have no doubt that it's a stupid, buggy Waze app, but the mere fact that there is no way to force close apps on AA is just stupid. The fact that resetting the connection (unplugging, rebooting both phone and car, etc.) does nothing to the app, and as soon as you plug the phone back in, it just takes up where it left off, glitching or bugged out.

      I'm starting to think that the reason I cant find a way to force close apps in AA is because that function simply doesn't exist, and that's just stupid.

      • keejoonc on 12/06/2020 - 17:16
        +1

        Well, AA is designed so that you are concentrating more on your driving rather than fiddling around with your phone etc. Force closing apps doesn't exactly fit into that concept. You will just have to force close the app on your phone for it to flow through to AA unfortunately.

        What I find annoying is that Google Maps on AA still doesn't show speed cameras and current speed despite the fact that it's now on Google Maps app for the phone. How hard can it be to implement the same feature on AA?!

  • Baa on 12/06/2020 - 17:35

    I haven't read all the comments, but from my perspective, I have found waze can be hit and miss.

    I had a few months where it worked 50% of the time with issues similar to what you describe when it pops up I just switch back to google maps temporarily.

  • No Username on 12/06/2020 - 17:54
    +3

    Things to try

    On the phone:
    * Uninstall and Reinstall Waze
    * Check Power Settings
    * Check Location Settings and Permissions
    * Go to the settings app > apps > Android Auto | Then clear data and cache
    * Unpair Device from car

    In The Car:
    * Check For Vehicle Update
    * Unpair Phone
    * Disable Android Auto in Vehicle Settings
    * Turn Engine off and on. (Make sure to open drivers door then close it.)
    * Turn on Engine
    * Enable Android Auto
    * Pair Device To Vehicle Using Cable First

    NOTE
    You can also try and use another cable as the cable could be restricting the bandwidth. Common with cheap cables.

    • pegaxs on 12/06/2020 - 18:11

      Cheers. A few things on that list I have not tried. I was kind of hoping for an easier option to just close the app and open it again if it’s having issues. I don’t want to have to do this every time and app glitches. I would just sooner not to use that app or AA if it’s going to fail that readily without some way of being rebooted.

    • John Kimble on 12/06/2020 - 18:43

      (Make sure to open drivers door then close it.)

      But why?

      • No Username on 12/06/2020 - 18:52

        Don't know how to explain it but it puts the car into a different power mode. For example, if you just had the engine turned off and you haven't opened the drivers door you should still be able to get power from the USB and 12v socket. Where as if you open the drivers door, the power gets cut to those components to save the batteries life.

  • Caped Baldy on 12/06/2020 - 18:31

    Are you using a cable or bluetooth?

    Also, I had a issues with AA with my xiaomi phone's dual apps feature. Disabling the dual apps fixed the issue.

    • pegaxs on 12/06/2020 - 18:52

      Woooo… it is a Xiaomi phone. That might be worth a try. Where is that setting?

      And it’s connected by cable. I don’t think the Corolla supports wireless AA/AC

      • Caped Baldy on 12/06/2020 - 20:20

        There was two in my phone. One per app or one accessible by typing a second pin code which was essentially a second user.

        Last I checked AA was cable only, but that was a couple of years ago.

      • ESEMCE on 13/06/2020 - 17:04

        My Mi9T (running stock Australian MIUI) occasionally has issues disconnecting from my Wife's Elantra.
        Seems to be unable to recognise that it has been disconnected and it never wakes up. I have to force reboot.
        Her Galaxy S10e has no such issues. So definitely possible that MIUI is causing some random conflict.

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