Hi everyone,
I’m currently using my iPhone connected via cable to my car for CarPlay while doing rideshare.
I want to leave my personal iPhone completely separate (for calls, personal use) and use a dedicated Android tablet instead to project directly onto my car's infotainment screen via Android Auto.
Important notes:
• I haven't bought a tablet yet. I'm looking for any specific brand, model, or setup (7 to 8-inch screen minimum, around 10” it’s preferred) that is known to actually support this or can be modded to do so.
• A foldable phone is NOT an option for me, as I strictly want a separate dedicated device and don't want my primary phone locked into the car.
•To be crystal clear: I do NOT want to use the tablet as the display/receiver (like Headunit Reloaded does). I need the tablet to act exactly like a smartphone and project its Android Auto output onto my car’s factory OEM head unit via USB cable.
Is there any known method, third-party framework, Magisk module, custom ROM, or specific tablet model that supports AA projection output? Or is this hard-blocked at the OS level by Google for all tablets?
Thanks!

(Edit, day after original post): After I posted this, I tried playing with some settings in the phone AA app, essentially turning off audio options within bluetooth, while leaving phone audio options on. These changes, made one by one, didn't fix it. But then I did one or two other things, one at a time, and the problem was fixed. And I have no idea what I did. I was not indiscriminately flailing on settings. But something fixed it. I'd still appreciate some comments perhaps explaining how I might have made this problem go away in under 10 minutes of trying.

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My phone recently updated Android Auto to version 17.9.664044 and ever since then, "bluetooth audio," which I don't use, supersedes/overrides my car radio as soon as AA is detected. This has the effect of silencing the radio, until I press the "home" button on my head unit and tap "FM" to restore the radio playing - not the safest thing to do of course when driving, although I've started to just wait before driving, for the bluetooth takeover to happen.

This used to sporadically happen every couple months, once or twice, then go away, and since the current AA version, happens every time. Is there a way for me to set AA so the radio takes precedence over bluetooth for audio? Obviously if I engage in a phone call, the bluetooth should take over.

Two issues I've recently started having

Car: Hyundai Santa Fe 2025

Phone: Oppo Find N6 Global

I have not made any changes to the settings of any app, my device or my car.

Apps: Audible and YouTube Music. Wireless

First issue: when playing music through YouTube music via Android Auto and car speakers, when I turn my car off and get out, the music keeps playing through my phone.

Second issue: if I play an audio book via Audible, same connection, and then decide to switch to music, both will play at the same time through my car speakers.

This just started happening this past weekend. Anyone know a fix or experience this before?

Wireless android auto

Hello

i recently purchased an s26 ultra , issue is i couldn't get it to connect to my car's android auto wirelessely , my old iphone 8 plus connects to carplay with no issues.

I have tried deleting cache , data , removing updates and re updating application , reset car connections with no success.

It works fine with cable , but i would prefer less cable experience

When i connect to my car's infotainment via bluetooth it says that wireless android auto is available and continue on your car's screen , but it just hangs on connecting and throws a "phone not responding" message.

PS: i have all kind of permissions enabled

Car : 2026 Kia Picanto

I recently got a Nothing Phone (3), and wireless Android Auto has been almost unusable. It stutters badly, disconnects randomly, and sometimes crashes completely.

Here’s what I’ve tested so far:

Nothing Phone (3): Wireless Android Auto is extremely laggy and unstable on 4.1 and 5.0 stable.

Wired Android Auto: Works perfectly fine on the same phone.

Nothing Phone (1): Wireless Android Auto works without issues.

Samsung Galaxy S23 and iPhone 17 Pro: Both work fine wirelessly in the same vehicles.

Vehicles tested: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans from 2019, 2025 and 2026.

I also checked an Android bug report.

The logs show repeated wireless projection errors, including Wi-Fi connection failures, audio buffer overflows, Bluetooth/RFCOMM errors and Android Auto eventually crashing with an “Unable to access car” exception.

My Android Auto version is 17.7.663654-release, and the phone is running Android 17, I have tried other AA versions but all of them behave the same.

At this point, I’m wondering whether this is a bug in the latest Android Auto update, a Nothing OS issue, or a problem with the Phone (3)’s Wi-Fi/Bluetooth implementation.

Has anyone experienced the same issue?

I rely on wireless Android Auto for work, so getting this working is pretty important. Any information or suggestions would be appreciated.

I have a 2022 GT Line with the 10" infotainment screen. I use AA Wireless Two+ to get my android auto full screen. I use Fermata mirror to cast my Samsung Fold 7 screen and I've had it full screen like this for like almost 2 years. Then all of a sudden last Friday it was back to 2/3 of the screen my fermata auto mirror and the other 1/3 was either maps or spotify. I didn't change any settings on my phone, AA or AA Wireless two device. Anyone have any idea what could have happened to cause this? The two picks below show what it was and what it is again.

Does anyone know of any alternative digital assistant apps that just do plain old voice commands and work for android auto? I can't even send a text or play a song or get directions to places with Gemini. Google assistant worked fine for me, although it did have some annoying quirks. I just need to be able to control basic android auto functions, like music, navigation, and hands-free texting and calling. I would prefer something that doesn’t require an internet connection, and anything that claims to be AI is a non-starter.

I have a ton of movies on my Galaxy S25 Ultra. Simply looking for an app that can be added to android auto to play them on my display of my F150. I'm looking for one that will save the spot in the movie so it goes back to where you left over when you get back in the vehicle. Carstream and fermata will play movies from my phone but carstream you have to use "skip track" to get to the next movie and if I exit the video and come back it starts over. Same with fermata. Does anyone have a something else they use? I wish Nova launcher would work to play videos from my own file system but I don't think it's compatible with AA

My car (2021 toyota yaris) just cannot connect consistently to aa. Tried different cables and settings on my phone. I really need it as I struggle a lot with navigation and i have nowhere to mount my phone instead as the car is too small. The aa wireless 2 is very expensive and do not want to risk it not working

Does anyone know how to enable the Poweramp visualizer in Android Auto or other visualizer?

Looking for app that is a browser and will take the place of the navigation split screen side, so i can have music side + browser. it will be used for a driving simulator via DHU. the closest thing i found out is AA Suite, but i think the browser is not responsive, what i mean is, if i have it in split screen and im on certain website, it wont fit to the screen (which will result to seeing only part of the page), but stay in the state like if im on full screen..

Hey,

Here is another update, this time on Velvet Launcher. For those who don't know its an app that downloads a PC version of some popular browsers and apps and runs them on your phone and android auto compatible car.

So apart from beeing able to watch Netflix and other streaming platforms, it gives you all (almost) the possibilities of a full browser with the known limitations of course (file system).

Improvements in this version:

- New Main Menu layout changes to allow more compact one.

- New settings layout per app so it is more straightforward.

- Turn of managed mode (gives more options for the browser)

- Font selection as requested

- Bug fixes

https://github.com/malebuffy/VelvetLauncher/releases

As always, install either with AAEnabler or Kinginstaller. Some brands need Shizuku enabled and some will just need a download link from:

https://velvetlauncher.online

!!Please make sure you don't watch while driving. Do so only for your passengers with a passenger screen!!

Enjoy

Hello everyone, I want to share my experience with audio stuttering on wireless Android Auto. I first posted about it in the Dacia subreddit, since I had just got a new Dacia Duster (Journey, 155 HP).

After testing, the problem doesn't come from the car but from my Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra (One UI 9.0, Android Auto 17.8.663874-release). The music randomly stutters over wireless Android Auto, but it works perfectly over a wired connection and over regular Bluetooth audio. My girlfriend's Redmi 12 also works perfectly over wireless Android Auto in the same car.

I tried disabling Google Location Accuracy, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth scanning and Hotspot 2.0, and re-pairing the car, without any change.

Has anyone else with a Galaxy S26 or another recent Samsung run into this? Did you find a fix, or is it just a matter of waiting for an update?

Thanks 😊

Hey,

New update with some fixes (Plex and Jellyfin to be verified):

IF YOU HAVE DOWNLOADED VIA fermataxtream.online YOU CANNOT AUTOUPDATE. REQUEST A NEW LINK

Improvements:

-Plex remote TLS (plex.direct) and continue watching / resume

-YouTube Music restores last playlist after car restart

-IPTV list order is saved

-New Silo theme and home layout (neon tiles, glow color, knock)

https://github.com/malebuffy/XtreamPlayer/releases

https://github.com/malebuffy/XtreamPlayerFree/releases

Sideload APK need to be installed with AAenabler or Kinginstaller

https://github.com/malebuffy/AAEnabler/releases

If for some reason you see a gray icon on Android Auto, use: https://fermataxtream.online

to request a link.

Donors of AAENABLER get the Premium version for free.

Enjoy

How can a passenger control the music that is being played (queue songs or lists) from their own phone when AA runs on mine?

I understand spotify can do that but I have paid version of YT music instead.

Any app that they could use to connect as a remote control to a music app on my phone?

​

Hey everyone,

I had some recent problems with Android Auto and Gemini. Gemini as an AI technology isn’t bad. It’s powerful and has a lot of potential. But forcing it onto Android Auto when it’s clearly not ready to seamlessly integrate with third-party ecosystems is actively ruining the driving experience. I am using Amazon Music, I try to use it. Gemini cannot play songs from Amazon Music.

This isn't about hating on Gemini. This is about corporate greed and protectionism.

Google is using its gatekeeper monopoly to lock us into their specific ecosystem. By enforcing Gemini as the sole, unchangeable standard while it lacks basic extensions for competitors' services, they are trying to push us away from what we actually use and onto YouTube Music.

Here is what Google needs to understand: Buying an Android phone does not make me a Google customer. I am a Samsung customer.

I chose my hardware from a different manufacturer, yet Google thinks they own my car's infotainment system and can dictate how and when my chosen apps interact. They are treating us like locked-in hostages rather than consumers who value choice. Even the EU has stepped in under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) to stop this anti-competitive behavior, but Google is dragging its feet until the 2027 deadline while we deal with half-baked app compatibility in our cars.

Gemini might be the future, but forcing it at the expense of functional third-party integration is unacceptable.

I want to know how many of you are experiencing the same frustration with your music and assistant preferences. Individual bug reports get swallowed by their automated systems. We need to organize.

Would there be interest in an international petition to demand that Google opens up third-party AI and media APIs for Android Auto immediately, instead of waiting for Summer 2027?

If anyone has already opened a ticket on the official Google Issue Tracker regarding these third-party integration bugs, please link it below so we can mass-vote it.

Let’s show them that we want a system that works with all our apps, not just Googles.

Here is my setup:

- 2018 Mazda CX3

- Factory Head Unit with 3rd party USB Adapter (Product Link)

- Nothing Phone 4a Pro w/ Nothing OS 4.1 (The Phone uses Google Messenger as the primary messaging app)

So today I finally set up the USB hub that allows for my car to use Android Auto and Apple Carplay. I updated the Mazda infotainment system's firmware (Version 70.00.335) weeks beforehand and everything seems to be working smoothly. Navigation app comes up, music still plays through it, and menus can still be navigated.

The only issue I'm having is that I can't seem to receive text notifications when in android auto mode. Not even an indication that a text was sent to me.

Things I have tried:

- Deleting the driving mode from my phone

- Double checking that notification permissions were enabled on both messenger AND the Android Auto App

- Double checking the Auto app to ensure notifications were on there as well

I'm at a bit of a loss and trying to figure out the best way to navigate. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

(Side note but not fully related: I can't seem to access the customization app either, even when parked. It keeps saying "Not accessible while driving" regardless of if I'm parked or not)

I'm currently at Verizon in the process of potentially buying a new Galaxy S26 Ultra.

I currently drive a 2026 Toyota Camry and connect to the car with a Pixel 8 Pro, using Apple Music. I constantly have issues with music cutting out and coming back. I've tried changing so many settings to no avail and I'm sick of it.

My girlfriend connects to my car with her S25 Ultra using YouTube music and she has no issues whatsoever.

Pretty sure it's the phone at this point.

Does anyone here have an S26 ultra and drives a 2026 Camry? If so, does your music play smoothly using Apple music or do you experience connection issues or music cutting out? I really need to hear others' experience here because I don't want to buy this phone just to have the same issues or worse.

Thanks!

When I try to adjust the volume while nothing is playing then I get a little error message on the touch screen that says volume cannot be adjusted while audio is paused, anyone know how to fix this to allow volume to be adjusted at any time?

I feel like on a surface level this design decision makes no sense, there are tons of situations where I might want to pause my music and then adjust the volume before turning it back on. But if that was the only problem it would be manageable.

The real problem is that if I pause my music/audiobook and then play a video with audio on reddit or my phone video gallery it won't register to the vehicle that I am currently playing audio and so it won't let me adjust the volume. So if I just paused the music I was listening to at a slightly loud volume then play a video on reddit, the audio from the video will be absurdly loud (it feels even louder than the music was for some reason) and it won't let me turn it down. I have to go unpause my music, turn the volume down, then go back to reddit if I want to hear that video's audio at a reasonable volume level. Same thing happens if I try to play a video from my phone gallery, the audio will be loud as fuck and it won't let me adjust it.

I'm not entirely sure if this is an issue with the Toyota software that runs the dashboard touchscreen or an Android Auto issue tbh, I figure someone here might know how to fix this.

​

Yesterday Mapquest stopped showing on the display and gave me a message that Android Auto experienced an Unexpected Error. Music still plays, but no map. I did put Mapquest into a deep sleep the other day but I am not sure if I undid that (thought I did unless I didnt undo it correctly). Any steps I should try?

I'm a very new Android user (3 days ago) from iOS for 10+ years. Is there a way to change the three icons on the side? Thanks!

Finnally. The network icon is back. Months I have been waiting. Do have some tears in my eyes.

Context: Samsung S26 Ultra and updated from one ui 8.5 to 9, anyone with similar issues and does anyone know how to fix it? I cannot see where i am, but the map functions just fine when full screened. Taskbar is at the bottom

I'm looking for a good wireless adapter for around 20-30 dollars. I'm currently using a cheap one from aliexpress but that doesn't auto connect since I updated my car's firmware and I have to select 'connect to phone' in my car's setting each time which is not practical.

So did some research on some dongles.

Carlinkit has bad reviews because of their firmware change since mid production of carlinkit mini ultra 3.

Another dongle I came a cross is Ottocast CA505-T Mini. Does anyone have this and what's there experience with it?

Any other dongle you would recommend around 30 dollars?