Has anyone figured out how to use Android Auto AND listen to audio from their phone?

[Deaston]

I've got a T6.1 with the standard touchscreen infotainment system.



When I plug in my phone to use Android Auto (AA), the van won't then allow me to listen to music from my phone. I can select "Radio" and listen to the radio, but if I select "BT Audio" the unit tells me my phone is already connected via Android Auto. But I can't select "USB" as a media option as it's greyed out. So I can't figure out how I can listen to the audio being output by my phone/AA.




Within AA, I can choose to listen to music via Google Music (of which I am a subscriber). I can select a track and see that it's playing, but can't find any way of actually getting the music to come out of the van's speakers - there's no input option to select. If I turn the volume knob, the volume bar appears and will move down, but not up.



Anyone with a T6.1 have this same issue? Any solutions?!

 

[Jay]

May be something simple. Make sure you have the media volume up on your phone

 

[RedUn]

If you open the Google music app on your phone while it's supposed to be playing in the van does anything happen?

 

[Deaston]

If you open the Google music app on your phone while it's supposed to be playing in the van does anything happen?

The music app opens automatically on my phone when I get it playing in Android Auto. If I unlock my phone, I can see that it's playing. If I disconnect my phone from the van and open the AA app, the song immediately starts playing through the phone's speakers.

I think the issue is with the van.

If I press "App" on the van to open AA, Google Maps displays on the van's screen and I can see Google Music is playing. If I then press "Radio" the van's screen shows the radio presets and the radio will come on. If I press "App" again, the van screen goes back to Google Maps and I can still hear the radio.

The issue seems to be, how do I tell the van to listen to the phone's audio?!

 

[Deaston]

May be something simple. Make sure you have the media volume up on your phone

All volumes are up. I've exhausted all the audio settings for both the van and the phone.

 

[Deaston]

Surely I'm not the only person on this forum to use Android Auto in their van...?! Does anyone else have this issue?

 

[RedUn]

I use it but on a kenwood headunit over WiFi but mines fine, it has the odd moment but it's been reliable since the latest android auto update

Hmm what version of android auto have you got? Some were quite buggy!

 

[The Bear78]

Long shot but what happens when you press the media button?

 

[Deaston]

Long shot but what happens when you press the media button?

It brings up the media menu, but the USB option is greyed out so can't be selected, and if I press "BT audio" it just says it's already connected via Android Auto (see the photo in my first post).

 

[Pete C]

On my Skoda, as soon as you select Apple CarPlay, the system says you can’t use Bluetooth to play audio direct from the phone.
But I can use the Apple Music App within the Carplay environment to play the music on my iPhone.

I assume your media system Is working the same way, but I am at a loss to understand why you can’t hear music from an App.

Pete

 

[Steve Hales]

Have you checked you phone is up to date?
Google web site has some details to set up AA.
Looks like initially you set up via usb cable and your phone needs internet connection (WiFi or mobile data).

 

[Lukavell]

Surely I'm not the only person on this forum to use Android Auto in their van...?! Does anyone else have this issue?

You're not. I bought a 128 Gb SD card and copied all my music onto that to get round it. I update it every month or so, depending upon how many times I've purchased, which can be a pain in the arse but it works.

 

[Pete C]

Why not try another App to see if that plays audio. A podcast app would be easy and free.

Pete

 

[Deaston]

Have you checked you phone is up to date?
Google web site has some details to set up AA.
Looks like initially you set up via usb cable and your phone needs internet connection (WiFi or mobile data).

Hi - thanks for all this info. Yes, my phone is up-to-date. And in fact, with Android 10, Android Auto is part of the phone's OS, so it all works automatically.

I have read through all that though, and I've done all I can.

I still think the problem is the van - I can't select the audio from my phone on the van's head unit.

 

[Deaston]

You're not. I bought a 128 Gb SD card and copied all my music onto that to get round it. I update it every month or so, depending upon how many times I've purchased, which can be a pain in the arse but it works.

So you're having the same problem as me? You can't use AA and listen to audio from the phone?

If so, I need to take this further within VW, because AA was a big selling-point for me to upgrade from the T5.1 to the 6.1.

 

[Deaston]

Why not try another App to see if that plays audio. A podcast app would be easy and free.

Pete

I have tried this, but no joy. I often listen to LBC on catch-up, but I couldn't get that audio either. I then downloaded Google Podcasts as LBC put their shows on there, but that wouldn't work either.

The van doesn't even have a 3.5mm jack, so can't even use the phone's headphone jack.

At the moment, the only option is to listen to live radio if I want to use Android Auto. There is an SD card input, but I have no idea how to get music onto an SD card plus it kind of defeats the object of having a "smart" head unit whereby I should be able to stream music.

 

[The Bear78]

I think you'd need to ask friends/family etc (difficult at the mo...) to try their phones. VW will obviously say it's the phone at fault so you'll need to go armed with proof to the contrary.

 

[Deaston]

I think you'd need to ask friends/family etc (difficult at the mo...) to try their phones. VW will obviously say it's the phone at fault so you'll need to go armed with proof to the contrary.

YOU'RE A GENIUS!

I just tried my partner's iPhone - worked perfectly.

I then plugged in my Android phone to show them the problem and have a big Android vs iPhone moan and suddenly there was audio! No idea what happened or why it's changed, but plugging in a different phone (iPhone?) seemed to jog the van into realising there was music to play.

I owe you a beer!

@Lukavell You might want to try this and see if it works for you?

 

[Lukavell]

YOU'RE A GENIUS!

I just tried my partner's iPhone - worked perfectly.

I then plugged in my Android phone to show them the problem and have a big Android vs iPhone moan and suddenly there was audio! No idea what happened or why it's changed, but plugging in a different phone (iPhone?) seemed to jog the van into realising there was music to play.

I owe you a beer!

@Lukavell You might want to try this and see if it works for you?

Will do, I need to find a iphone user now. Will update the thread when I do.

 

[The Bear78]

I'm glad it worked but I was only suggesting getting proof that the van is at fault! Perhaps it just needed to connect to another phone first so that a fresh connection could be established with yours.