[jeffreywilens]

We have both Android and Apple charging cords plugged into the USB ports so depending on which person is using the Bolt, they can plug their phone in. Most of the time, upon plugging in the appropriate cord, the Android Auto or Carplay appears on the screen immediately. Infrequently, nothing appears. Plugging and unplugging does not help. Even rebooting the phone may not help. On one occasion, I had to uninstall and reinstall Android Auto.

Anyone else experience this phenomenon? The cords are reliable IMO, the ports work, the phone ports work. It has to be a software problem and since it can occur with both Android Auto and Carplay, I assume it has to be something common to the interface of both with the Bolt's screen.

Note: Even when Android Auto is not being transmitted to the screen, it is working on the phone.

 

[Usain]

I have the same problem.

Just recently, Android Auto stopped working for a couple of days. Nothing I did helped the problem. I tried all the usual rebooting, looking for software updates, etc. Then suddenly, it started working again.

It's very annoying. Android Auto is one of the best features of the car, but only when it works!

 

[BLULIGHTNIN]

We've had this issue since we've owned the car over the past 3-months.The Android Auto issues we are having (with intermittent connectivity) seem to be related to the fact that some charging cables are more loose fitting in the car’s USB ports than others. We’ve tried more than one of the OEM cables for our phone without much consistency … in our case, we discovered at times the slightest movement of the cable near the USB port resulted in disconnection from the Infotainment screen. Since then, I’ve given up on using OEM charging cable and tried a cheaper after-market cable we purchased from Walmart a few years ago when my son left his OEM cable at his college dorm room while on a visit home. Anyways, I dug that cable out of our ‘junk drawer’ and tried it – it has a tighter fit into the car’s USB ports and has been working great (knock on wood) for about 3 weeks now! So, it almost seems to be ‘luck of the draw’ concerning what cable you use and how tight the connection is. Just thought I share my experience and to let you know you're not the only folks who have noticed this.

 

[jeffreywilens]

Not sure if a cable is the only cause because we had this fail for both cables (the one for iPhone and the one for Android) phones. So not just Android Auto. Also, I have unplugged and plugged back in and wiggled, etc. If it were just a loose connection, that tactic should fix it immediately but it does not.

 

[banksdad]

Yes, it has happened to me multiple times. In general, when it is that bad, a reboot of the infotainment (holding home / forward) AND a reboot of the phone, AND moving it to the other USB port usually resolves the problem... until it happens again. Rinse, repeat.

 

[LooseBolt]

CarPlay used to work pretty well. Some time in the spring (of 19) it went haywire. It’s very unreliable. Sometimes won’t connect. Sometimes drops connection. When it connects it always freezes for a while about 30seconds after connecting. Sometimes it comes back by itself, but I usually have to do something to fix it and what that is varies.

I assume it’s some software update from Apple as nothing has changed in either of my Chevys with CP and they are both borked up with 2 different phones and different cables. The only good thing I can say about CP is that having it is better than not having it. Apple should be embarrassed. I’m hoping IOS 13 will fix some things, but it’s probably a vain hope.

 

[Henk]

We have both Android and Apple charging cords plugged into the USB ports so depending on which person is using the Bolt, they can plug their phone in. Most of the time, upon plugging in the appropriate cord, the Android Auto or Carplay appears on the screen immediately. Infrequently, nothing appears. Plugging and unplugging does not help. Even rebooting the phone may not help. On one occasion, I had to uninstall and reinstall Android Auto.

Anyone else experience this phenomenon? The cords are reliable IMO, the ports work, the phone ports work. It has to be a software problem and since it can occur with both Android Auto and Carplay, I assume it has to be something common to the interface of both with the Bolt's screen.

Note: Even when Android Auto is not being transmitted to the screen, it is working on the phone.

It could be the same or similar problem that I was able to fix on my Bolt. I Love the Bolt but the software sucks. Yes I like being complementary.

 

[Henk]

It could be the same or similar problem that I was able to fix on my yellow Bolt. I Love the Bolt but the software sucks. Yes I like being complementary.

You can PM me on Facebook Henk Wondergem

 

[klzig]

After months of successfully using Android Auto, I just finished a long weekend trip where it failed in all the ways described in this thread. It worked normally at the beginning of the trip, then while driving AA just disappeared from the center console. Unplugging / plugging the USB cable sometimes brought it back, sometimes didn't. After awhile, nothing brought it back. Tried different cables, rebooting the phone, a different (Android) phone, rebooting the infotainment system, nothing worked. While sitting in the driveway after returning from the trip, I began scrolling through the infotainment settings and noticed that Android Auto was turned off. I turned it back on and AA immediately began working again. This of course makes no sense given the intermittent behavior just a few hours earlier.

I deliberately turned Android Auto and Car Play on in settings when I bought the car (used 2017 Premier) a few months ago. And significantly, Car Play was still enabled when AA was not (we haven't connected an iPhone since acquiring the car). It's difficult to tell where the actual problem lies, but I'd place it in the Bolt's infotainment system. That said, I've had plenty of problems with Android Auto before ever acquiring a Bolt.

Phone integration with the car is important enough to me, and flaky enough with Android, that I'd consider switching to an iPhone just for this issue. But from everything I've read and experienced I'm pretty sure I'll have similar problems with Car Play, another reason I believe the core problem is Chevy's.

Whoever is to blame, it's all a frustrating mess.

 

[MichBolt]

...noticed that Android Auto was turned off. I turned it back on and AA immediately began working again. This of course makes no sense given the intermittent behavior just a few hours earlier...

Once in a while, when I plug in, AA doesn't start up automatically and the infotainment screen stays on the regular home screen. Rather than going to the Apps screen and pressing the Android Auto icon, I just use the home button shortcut to switch to AA (hold down the home button for a few seconds). There have been a couple of times using that shortcut that I've gotten the privacy warning about "activating Android Auto" - as if AA wasn't turned on in the settings.

It's weird that AA turns off at all, but apparently the home button shortcut (holding the home button for a few seconds) will automatically turn on AA if it's not already turned on in the settings. It's still a bug, but at least it's a quick solution.

 

[Sean Nelson]

...I began scrolling through the infotainment settings and noticed that Android Auto was turned off. I turned it back on and AA immediately began working again. This of course makes no sense given the intermittent behavior just a few hours earlier.

Every once in a while when I long-press the "home" key to switch to Android Auto I get a pop-up message saying that Android Auto is not enabled, do you want to enable it" - so I say "yes" and it comes up. Just seems to be one of those things...

 

[klzig]

the home button shortcut (holding the home button for a few seconds) will automatically turn on AA if it's not already turned on in the settings.

Thanks for the tip, I'll try that next time this happens.

Rather than going to the Apps screen and pressing the Android Auto icon...

However in the failure mode I experienced, the Android Auto icon never appeared in the Apps screen. And usually (but not always) the phone showed the notification "Connecting to Android Auto" even though it wasn't...