Photo: Google
The experience with Android 11 is based on a series of massive upgrades in all key areas, and as far as Android Auto users are concerned, there’s no doubt that the wireless mode now available on all devices is the main highlight.
But at the same time, Android 11 also comes with a series of bugs of its own on Android Auto, and as we told you earlier this week, one of them concerns phone calls.
More specifically, after updating a smartphone to Android 11, making phone calls from Android Auto no longer works correctly, as the UI just shows up but without anything happening after that. In some cases, Google Assistant looks like it’s starting the phone call, but in fact, it returns to the previous screen in Android Auto.
For other users, a phone call started on Android Auto is then routed to the mobile phone directly, so you can’t hear what the other person is saying in your car’s speakers but on the smartphone.
The workarounds are as easy as they could be.
First and foremost, the generic trick that involves clearing the Android Auto app cache and data seems to restore the phone call experience for some users at least temporarily.
Then, it appears that just re-pairing the phone and the car’s head unit is enough to make phone calls work correctly in some cases, as the connection somehow ends up corrupted after the update to Android 11.
Others have reported a rather awkward workaround. Simply unlocking the phone and only then starting the call seems to work, which seems to suggest that the whole thing only happens when the device is locked. Of course, doing this while driving isn’t by any means recommended due to obvious reasons.
At this point, Google is yet to acknowledge the bug and provide a fix, but the company is already investigating reports, so more information should be provided rather sooner than later.
More specifically, after updating a smartphone to Android 11, making phone calls from Android Auto no longer works correctly, as the UI just shows up but without anything happening after that. In some cases, Google Assistant looks like it’s starting the phone call, but in fact, it returns to the previous screen in Android Auto.
For other users, a phone call started on Android Auto is then routed to the mobile phone directly, so you can’t hear what the other person is saying in your car’s speakers but on the smartphone.
The workarounds are as easy as they could be.
First and foremost, the generic trick that involves clearing the Android Auto app cache and data seems to restore the phone call experience for some users at least temporarily.
Then, it appears that just re-pairing the phone and the car’s head unit is enough to make phone calls work correctly in some cases, as the connection somehow ends up corrupted after the update to Android 11.
Others have reported a rather awkward workaround. Simply unlocking the phone and only then starting the call seems to work, which seems to suggest that the whole thing only happens when the device is locked. Of course, doing this while driving isn’t by any means recommended due to obvious reasons.
At this point, Google is yet to acknowledge the bug and provide a fix, but the company is already investigating reports, so more information should be provided rather sooner than later.
Google News