Connecting Android Auto in a 2015 Hyundai Sonata

One thing is for certain. Android Auto should work reliably by plugging in your phone to your car's USB port. It doesn't and that is a problem for mainstream adoption. However, there are some things you can do as a consumer rather than simply waiting for Google to fix the problem.

I'll say one thing right off the bat. Don't get mad at Hyundai for this. Hyundai stepped up and was the first US car company to provide Android Auto to us. The problems with Android Auto are certainly not Hyundai's fault and we shouldn't discourage them from being progressive in the future by blaming them for Google's issues.

Here is how I've been able to get a fairly reliable connection of Android Auto in my 2015 Hyundai Sonata. These steps assume that you've already made the initial Android Auto connection to your car and your car and phone have Bluetooth setup as well.

Android Auto / 2015 Hyundai Sonata Connection Steps

• Enable Developer Mode on your phone. This is a ridiculous step to have to take, but nonetheless it is where we find ourselves. To do that:
• Open your phone's settings.  You are looking for a piece of information called the Build Number. Depending on the brand of your phone, it could be found in a couple of different places. Try:
• Settings then About Phone
• Settings then About Device
• Settings then About Phone then Software Information
• Settings then About then Software Information (and then More possibly)
• Click on the Build Number at least 7 times in rapid succession. You're looking for a message that says "You are now a developer."
• Upon completion of this step you will now find a Developer Mode menu in your phone's Settings.
• In Developer Mode settings click USB Debugging.
• DO NOT CONNECT YOUR PHONE TO YOUR CAR.
• Start your car.
• The Android Auto connection is extremely unreliable if you connect it to your car before the car and your phone have completed their communications over Bluetooth. This includes the initial Bluetooth handshake, the exchange of data between the car and phone and can also include an updated download of the phone's contacts. Unfortunately, this exchange of information occurs every time you start the car and it take a couple of minutes. You can tell when this exchange of information is occurring by watching your car's screen. The phone symbol with the arrow on it shows that your car and phone are actively exchanging information.  Don't connect your phone to the USB cable as long as this symbol or similar is on the screen. 
  

• A blue colored Bluetooth symbol wrapped in a headset icon with a musical note icon next to it is the symbol that you want to wait for! Once you see that, only then do you stand a chance of starting a reliable Android Auto connection.
  

• At that point, plug your phone in and hope that you have an Android Auto connection. Even after waiting for this symbol there are times where I have to unplug and plug the USB cable back in 3 or 4 times (yes I've tried multiple cables) before I will get an Android Auto connection. However, if I don't wait for this symbol then there has been no instance of getting an Android Auto connection ever.  This is your best shot.

The downside of this process is that you have to wait, often for several minutes before you can connect your phone and begin navigation with Google Maps. It doesn't take very many days before waiting 2 or 3 minutes every time you want to drive somewhere get really old. Read on:

How to being Google Maps Navigation before you have an Android Auto connection

• Connect the USB cable to your phone but connect the other end to a USB charger plugged into the DC power port in your dash. Do not plug that end into the car's USB port!
• Enable "OK Google" functionality on any screen of your phone.
• Open the Google app from your app drawer.
• Go to Settings, then Voice, then OK Google Detection and turn on the "From any screen" functionality.
• Start your car and begin your drive at your leisure.
• Activate your Google Maps navigation session by saying "OK Google, Navigate to ______."
• Google Maps will open on your phone and your navigation session will begin.

• As driving conditions allow, keep an eye out for the icon discussed above. Upon seeing the icon, unplug the car's end of the USB cable from the DC power adapter and plug it into the USB port in your car.
• With some luck you will have a reliable Android Auto connection and can activate Android Auto from your car's touchscreen.
• The Google Maps navigation session that you started on your phone will remain active when you switch to Android Auto! Your phone's screen will go blank and your navigation instructions will resume on your car's screen.

Two Weeks With Android Auto - The Good & The Ugly

I've only been an Android Auto user for a few weeks but in that short time a few things have become clear.

• Having Google Maps in-dash is fantastic.
• Google Maps volume control isn't fantastic.
• Google Music through Android Auto is a mess.
• Podcast apps are a great example of what's been missing in-dash. 
• The initial USB connection is finicky.

Background
My setup is a 2015 Hyundai Sonata with the LG G4 on the Sprint network.  It is hard to express how much better the Hyundai infotainment system is (even without the Android Auto functionality) in comparison to my 2012 Toyota with Entune.  I couldn't wait to get rid of Entune and I thought that Android Auto was the answer. What I've learned in a short time is that Android Auto is great, but I'm using the very-well-thought-out Hyundai system more than I ever thought I would.  The Hyundai navigation system is very feature rich. I love the Bluelink cellular-powered, voice-activated Google Search feature. However, the Hyundai navigation solution uses the yawn-inducing SiriusXM traffic service which leaves a lot to be desired.  In hindsight, my urge to switch cars was more rooted in how bad Entune was and not in how good Android Auto is.

Google Maps
Having Google Maps in-dash is fantastic and by itself a reason to get Android Auto. When I expect traffic on my route I turn to Google Maps. I find it to have very accurate ETAs. The micro-rerouting that results from the traffic content is unparalleled and the machine learning predictions related to navigation that appear through Google Now are great.

The biggest issue with Google Maps through Android Auto is the inability to control the volume of the navigation instructions independently of the media audio. When you have to turn up the volume of a news podcast in BeyondPod, prepare to be blasted deaf by the navigation instruction from Google Maps. That has to change.

Google Play Music
Google Play Music. Wow. What a mess. My Library in Google Play Music (all of which are cached offline) consists of:

• Personally built playlists
• Subscribed playlists created by others
• Stations built myself seeded from artists or songs
• Stations that originate from the "Play music for..." section (the Songza functionality)

The only two things that work reliably through Android Auto are 1) personally built playlists and 2) stations built myself seeded from artists or songs.  The other two scenarios are a mess in Android Auto.

Stations that originate from the Songza functionality portion of Google Play Music are completely non-functional through Android Auto.  One of my stations is called Today's Biggest Hits Radio. However, in the Stations section of Android Auto there is nothing called "Today's Biggest Hits Radio."  Instead, the station is listed by whatever the first song happens to be in that station.  Try distinguishing one station from another when it displays stations like that!

Clicking on the first song in that station results in a long pause followed by the error message "Google Play Music doesn't appear to be working."  There is also a crash of the Google Play Music app on the phone though it is concealed behind the Android Auto screen saver. I've submitted this error report about a half dozen times so far, so lets hope Google gets this mess cleaned up.

Every station originating from the Songza functionality of Google Play Music has the same problem and that problem persists after uninstalling, reinstalling and clearing the cache of the Google Play Music app. It's a big no-go for that functionality.

Subscribed playlists built from others also have difficulty through Android Auto. They at least appear correctly in the station list, however starting a song in that playlist causes Google Play Music on the phone to crash and the phone's app to restart.

Google Play Music is by far the weakest link for Android Auto in my limited experience and needs lots of attention.

Podcasts
There is a very limited selection of Android Auto apps at this point but I am enjoying podcast apps immensely. Trying to use a podcast app over a Bluetooth connection while operating a vehicle was a losing proposition but Android Auto makes listening to Podcasts extremely easy.

USB Connection
This is a big area of concern. It's pretty simple: the reliable use of Android Auto should not require activating developer mode on your phone and turning on USB debugging. No mainstream Joe is going to use Android Auto unless they can plug their phone in and it works. Right now, it doesn't.  There is a way to connect the phone in the 2015 Hyundai Sonata so that Android Auto usually connects reliability. Read about it in this blog post.

Conclusion
Android Auto has tremendous potential. Having voice-activated phone calls and text messaging capability is wonderful. Having Google Maps in-dash is the ultimate for me.  However, the USB connection reliability is ridiculous and Google Play Music is a mess.  We all know as early adopters that this will evolve over time.  However, the known issues list on the Android Auto website doesn't give you a lot of comfort that Google is aware of,  acknowledging and fixing these issues.