Android Auto Issues but not with Car Play

raqball

May 28, 2024

I have/had a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra since day 1 of owning the Bronco and I've had nothing but issues with it. I upgraded from the stock 8" screen to the 12" screen and the same issues from the 8" still persist.

It's almost unusable.

I try to off-road every few weeks so onX offline maps are very important to me. I also generally use maps for regular ole' navigation in my daily life.

The issues:

Black screen, black screen, and yup, a black screen. It's an issue almost every time I start the Bronco.
- I have reset the Bronco radio, cleared Android Auto Cache and Data and even removed AA and reinstalled it. No dice!
- Hard rebooting the Bronco radio, it will most times clear the issue but then another issue presents itself.
When I do not get the black screen or when it clears via a reboot nothing is properly sized for the display. This was the case even before the 12" upgrade. After switching back and forth between Ford Nav and AA (multiple tries many times) it will eventually clear up and display maps full screen.
80% of the time onX will not load. Even rebooting the radio won't get it to work. I need onX and the offline maps. I will get a message in AA saying the app is not available even though it is listed as loaded and available.

Frustrated and at my wits end with AA, I decided to hit up AT&T for an upgrade to an iPhone 15 Pro Max. On one of my previous off-road trips, I had met up with 2 other Bronco owners who were using Car Play. I asked if they were having these issues with it, and they advised they had zero issues with car play. They were also both using onX FWIW.

AT&T offered me $1,000 to trade in my unlocked and paid off Galaxy S24 Ultra so I did the deal. I was told I have 14 days to return the phone and 30 days to complete the trade. I kept the S24, for now, just in case I had the same issues with the iPhone.

It's been a week and so far, Car Play has been rock solid! No black screen, no goofy resizing of maps and onX loads every single time w/o issue. I'll hang on to the S24 for a few more days and if all is well, go back to the store to complete the S24 trade in of it.

I am not an Android fanboy nor am I an Apple fanboy. What phoneOS I carry is not important to me at all.

Thoughts? Android Auto can't really be this bad in the Bronco can it be? I thought perhaps it was an issue with my Bronco as it happened on the stock 8" radio, but the issues persist even after getting a new 12" radio and a new APIM Module for it.

I have tried everything I can think of but what is odd is that Car Play is flawless.

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2023 Badlands 2 door in Hot Pepper Red 🌶️ 🌶️

Deano Bronc

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May 28, 2024

Interesting issue... I have a Galaxy S22 Ultra and also have issues with Android Auto. In my wife's Audi Q7 (which is not wireless) Android Auto will randomly disconnect and I have to unplug and plug it back in. Sometimes it happens every five minutes, then sometimes it will go for hours with no issue.

In my 2024 Heritage Edition, Pandora will sometimes simply stop playing the music. The song is still progressing, but there is no sound. Sometimes switching to radio and back will fix it, sometimes it does not. On two occasions, Android Auto has simply stopped working, and I have to delete the phone from my bronco, and delete the bronco from my phone and reconnect.

I've just assumed this was an issue with my phone, rather than the vehicles.

Did your phone have issues connecting to other vehicles?

May 28, 2024

5_ohBronco
Did your phone have issues connecting to other vehicles?

No issues like this with other vehicles, just the normal AA finicky stuff like you mentioned.

I've factory reset the S24 which was a PIA because I needed to reinstall all apps and then sign back into all of them in the hopes that would solve the problem. Nope.

I also tried removing the Bronco from the phone then adding the Bronco back after clearing AA cache and data. I tried this numerous times.

I tried AA wired and wireless and it was the same no matter the connection type.

I read elsewhere where some suggested the black screen issues were caused by Google Maps and others claimed the black screen was indicative of a factory radio issue.

Not buying the Google Maps argument as onX would just constantly tell me it was unavailable. Sometimes it would take multiple reboots of the Bronco and /or the phone to get onX maps to actually load. If I stopped on the trail to walk a path or take a break and turned the Bronco off, it was back to square one..

I did have issues with Google Maps as well and would get black screens and strange sizing issues when using it.

In my case, I've had 2 different factory radios, 2 different APIM modules and I've tried just about every troubleshooting process I could find.

I also forgot to mention nonresponsive screen issues where tapping on the icons within AA did nothing, like the screen was frozen. I had this issue with AA on the 8" and on the 12". A reboot of the Bronco radio generally cleared that issue.

I have no clue what is going on here but AA is an absolute no go for me yet Car Play has been flawless so far.

onX Trail Guide & Tread Lightly Member
2023 Badlands 2 door in Hot Pepper Red 🌶️ 🌶️

May 28, 2024

Well, at least the Car Play has worked for you. It's a bummer you had a to change phones, tho. That definitely shouldn't happen.

Hopefully the Car Play continues to work.

I'm planning on getting OnX this summer for my trip to Colorado. I'll be curious if I have any issues like you mentioned. Fingers crossed - it will work okay!

May 28, 2024

5_ohBronco
Well, at least the Car Play has worked for you. It's a bummer you had a to change phones, tho. That definitely shouldn't happen.

Hopefully the Car Play continues to work.

I'm planning on getting OnX this summer for my trip to Colorado. I'll be curious if I have any issues like you mentioned. Fingers crossed - it will work okay!

Maybe my S24 had some sort of internal issue/defect from day 1 when I opened the box. I could have looked into getting it checked, repaired or replaced by Samsung but I was honestly just done with constantly fighting AA.

Hopefully CarPlay keeps working as it has..

I assume, based on the lack of responses, that AA works fine for others so I am leaning more towards some sort of internal issue with my S24. It's never been dropped or submerged but I suppose it's possible it came with some sort of issue from the factory. That would be weird as everything else on the phone worked great with the exception of AA.

Maybe my Bronco and AA just don't like each other. 💀 💩

onX Trail Guide & Tread Lightly Member
2023 Badlands 2 door in Hot Pepper Red 🌶️ 🌶️

May 28, 2024

CarPlay does have issues too. I’m not sure if Ford is really allowing Apple/Android/whatever to really look at each other’s codes or the other way around. I’ve had where maps wouldn’t load right, to CarPlay itself wouldn’t, or if it did, it would be connected to Bluetooth and not directly. I’ve had less issues with the 23 vs the 21 bronco, but I keep everything including apps update and so far, just turning the vehicle on/off seems to fix most of it. So it seems maybe a boot issue with sync. Or maybe the stars and planet earth is just line up right that day

23 SAS Badlands 2D Area 51

May 28, 2024

I haven't had any issues with my AA on the Bronco, but hubby has with his 22 F150. Not to the degree noted here, but enough just to be annoying. Easy to fix so far. My note 20 and now the S23 Ultra phones both fine in the Bronco. I do have a fairly basic Black Diamond so don't know if that makes a difference.

2022 Bronco Black Diamond 2dr 2.3L manual Hot Pepper Red. Reserved 8/7/20. Ordered 1/23/21. Reordered 10/08/21. Scheduled week of January 24th 2022, delivered 2/24/2022

May 29, 2024

BadBronco
CarPlay does have issues too. I’m not sure if Ford is really allowing Apple/Android/whatever to really look at each other’s codes or the other way around. I’ve had where maps wouldn’t load right, to CarPlay itself wouldn’t, or if it did, it would be connected to Bluetooth and not directly. I’ve had less issues with the 23 vs the 21 bronco, but I keep everything including apps update and so far, just turning the vehicle on/off seems to fix most of it. So it seems maybe a boot issue with sync. Or maybe the stars and planet earth is just line up right that day

I don't mind occasional connection issues but for me it's been like this since day 1. Navigating home with AA the day I purchased the Bronco resulted in a frozen screen and a call back to that dealer the next day.

Sdakotabronco
I haven't had any issues with my AA on the Bronco, but hubby has with his 22 F150. Not to the degree noted here, but enough just to be annoying. Easy to fix so far. My note 20 and now the S23 Ultra phones both fine in the Bronco. I do have a fairly basic Black Diamond so don't know if that makes a difference.

I am just going to chalk it up to my Bronco and Android Auto (or the S24 Ultra) just not liking each other because it really makes no sense to me.

I doubt it's a radio issue as I've had 2 different radios. I doubt it's an APIM module issue as I've also had 2 of them. An issue with the S24 would also be strange since everything else worked fine and the phone had zero issues away from the Bronco..

CarPlay works fine so < shrug >

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Deano Bronc

May 29, 2024

Keep an eye on that Car Play. If you venture over to B6G, you will see plenty of posts about how both Car Play & Android Auto have been having issues for quite some time.

Personally, I'm Android all the way. And up UNTIL an update last August (2023), Android Auto was working great. Even while hearing about Car Play people having issues. Since that update, I have problems almost daily with the audio not playing, "weak wifi-signal", and the occasional freeze. I swear I reset the radio once a a day (and of course everything works perfect after that).

So I don't know what Ford is doing with their software updates, but they are doing a good job of breaking stuff that used to work!

2021 Broncos - BaseSquatch 4dr. Rapid Red V6 Soft Top
Big Bed 4dr. AMB V6 Soft Top Tow (BIL's)
Nitto tires SUCK! You've been warned.

May 29, 2024

EvlNvrDys
Keep an eye on that Car Play. If you venture over to B6G, you will see plenty of posts about how both Car Play & Android Auto have been having issues for quite some time.

Personally, I'm Android all the way. And up UNTIL an update last August (2023), Android Auto was working great. Even while hearing about Car Play people having issues. Since that update, I have problems almost daily with the audio not playing, "weak wifi-signal", and the occasional freeze. I swear I reset the radio once a a day (and of course everything works perfect after that).

So I don't know what Ford is doing with their software updates, but they are doing a good job of breaking stuff that used to work!

My AA has been a mess since day 1 of ownership. I generally spend my 1st few minutes in the Bronco trying to get the screen to register and size properly.

The Ford Sync apps, setting pages and map works just fine with no issues at all. It's just AA..

I have a camping and off-road trip planned for tomorrow - friday so I'll see how CarPlay does. If I am off-roading then every time I stop on the trail to take a hike or a break and turn the Bronco off it's back to doing the song and dance to get it working again. With onX, it's even worse and might take a phone and a Bronco reboot, many times it takes multiple reboots of both to get onX to load and then another song and dance to get it to display properly...

I'm just over it!

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2023 Badlands 2 door in Hot Pepper Red 🌶️ 🌶️

Sven

May 29, 2024

#10

Sounds like FoMoCo needs to hear some feedback about their software! I believe that the Ford Sync software is actually created by Microsoft, so it is no surprise that there are issues. Anybody ever use Windows? Hopefully there will be an update soon that will fix the issues created by the last update (typical Microsoft strategy).

May 30, 2024

#11

I have an S23 Ultra with the same issues; it randomly disconnects so I have resorted to using a cable instead of a bluetooth connection. I also get the black screen on maps when I initially connect. I've found that if I switch back and forth between AA and Nav and then click the 'Map' icon in AA it will usually start displaying the maps...until the phone randomly disconnects LOL.
It wasn't always like this so I'm thinking one of the updates 'fixed' the issue of the phone connecting correctly.

~~2022 Wildtrak 4dr Cyber Orange 2.7 Lux Leather Soft Top~~
2023 Wildtrak 4dr Eruption Green 2.7 HOSS 3.0 Lux Leather Hard Top

raqball

May 31, 2024

#12

I have a pixel 8 pro and have had no issues with connectivity in my Bronco with the 12". The vehicles I drive at work which are all 3 GM my phone has issues with 2 of the 3 vehicles? Hope you find a solution as it can be frustrating.

raqball

Jun 01, 2024

#13

So CarPlay was flawless on my trip with maps, onX, everything.. Not a single issue or glitch..

The S24 is history, toast, hasta la vista, and is outta here! Just need to decide if I want to trade it in to AT&T for the $1K or sell it..

onX Trail Guide & Tread Lightly Member
2023 Badlands 2 door in Hot Pepper Red 🌶️ 🌶️

Jun 28, 2024

#14

pixel 7 pro & pixel 8 pro & i've had zero issues. nothing more frustrating than tech not acting right, sucks you had to trade the phone in, but good to hear youre not having issues anymore

Jun 28, 2024

#15

I have the 2023 Outer Banks 4-door full size Bronco. I've had it for a year now -- At first android auto was pretty flawless but just recently it's started to have issues. My phone does not instantly connect like it should everytime to the car turns on which either requires me to hit connect or restart the car. Google maps does not always display correctly, whether it's black or re-sized, clicking to Nav and then back to AA usually fixes that. Brand new issue that's really REALLY frustrating is now when I play Spotify [per usual] the song will freeze up and make this awful glitch sound like back in the day when windows media player would glitch out on a song on desktop. It seems to happen whether I'm Bluetooth or USB connected. I thought maybe it was a signal issue but not such the case. This has been happening within the last couple weeks and I'm wondering if it's an issue with an update in the car [I did get in one morning and saw it had done a software update] or AA. Also seem to have more frequent issues of connecting via Bluetooth initially.

Jun 28, 2024

#16

I live in the Apple ecosystem and have had no issues…

Glad you found a solution that works for you!

Riding OB1, 23 4- door Outer Banks, SAS, MOD, MIC, Lux, Ordered 10/20/22, delivered 1/13/23

Jun 28, 2024

#17

raqball
No issues like this with other vehicles, just the normal AA finicky stuff like you mentioned.

I've factory reset the S24 which was a PIA because I needed to reinstall all apps and then sign back into all of them in the hopes that would solve the problem. Nope.

I also tried removing the Bronco from the phone then adding the Bronco back after clearing AA cache and data. I tried this numerous times.

I tried AA wired and wireless and it was the same no matter the connection type.

I read elsewhere where some suggested the black screen issues were caused by Google Maps and others claimed the black screen was indicative of a factory radio issue.

Not buying the Google Maps argument as onX would just constantly tell me it was unavailable. Sometimes it would take multiple reboots of the Bronco and /or the phone to get onX maps to actually load. If I stopped on the trail to walk a path or take a break and turned the Bronco off, it was back to square one..

I did have issues with Google Maps as well and would get black screens and strange sizing issues when using it.

In my case, I've had 2 different factory radios, 2 different APIM modules and I've tried just about every troubleshooting process I could find.

I also forgot to mention nonresponsive screen issues where tapping on the icons within AA did nothing, like the screen was frozen. I had this issue with AA on the 8" and on the 12". A reboot of the Bronco radio generally cleared that issue.

I have no clue what is going on here but AA is an absolute no go for me yet Car Play has been flawless so far.

No issues with the Samsung Fold in either tthe Bronco or Expedition, Bronco is slow locating/loading my watch when I leave phone at home accidentally on purpose.

Badlands, Sas, 2.7, Tow, Mod Bumper, Keyless, Wireless, Removed Rock for Step, Hot Pepper Red Met
Leather, Hardtop, Mid, High, Lux, ACC, 360*, 12", HSW

Aug 09, 2024

#18

I have found that on my 22 F-150 if the screen goes black, using the minimize/maximize button usually fixes the issue.
Have not noticed this on my 23 Badlands Lux Bronco - yet...

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