Android Auto Update Causes Widespread Crashes and Disconnections in Cars

A recent update to Google's Android Auto app (version 17.2.662404) has caused widespread crashes and continuous disconnection loops, severely disrupting navigation and music playback in vehicles. The issue affects a broad range of devices, including the latest Samsung Galaxy S26 and Google Pixel models, and occurs with both wireless and wired connections. Users report that the app crashes immediately when audio playback starts, such as when Spotify plays a song or navigation apps like Waze or Google Maps provide voice directions, resulting in the system disconnecting from the car.

The problem is particularly severe for drivers using wireless Android Auto, where the system is more prone to frequent disconnections. Google has acknowledged the issue and opened a dedicated thread on its Issue Tracker but has not provided a timeline for an official fix. It is expected that Google will halt the rollout of this update to prevent further user impact.

In the meantime, developers and user communities recommend downgrading to earlier stable versions of Android Auto (17.0 or 17.1) by uninstalling the current app and manually installing the older versions from trusted sources like APKMirror. Users should also disable automatic updates to avoid reinstalling the faulty version. Another suggested workaround is disabling battery optimization for Android Auto and Google Play services by setting their power consumption to "unrestricted" in device settings, which may stabilize the connection but does not fully resolve the audio crash issue.

These interim solutions aim to restore functionality until Google releases a corrected update to resolve the crashes and disconnections affecting drivers worldwide.