Volkswagen (20 reg) Android Auto connection woes

Edit: tell a lie, it does still pick up voice commands

I’ve found a 20cm cable which I managed to test on a couple of longish journeys and the connection didn’t drop once. Only problem is it doesn’t reach to a convenient place to store the phone itself, unless I put the phone in the cup holder. But I prefer to use that for cups obviously.

Off the back of this thread I bought a Motorola MA1 which connects pretty instantly and has solved the cable connectivity issues but now on long journeys I find the battery draining as I don’t have wireless charging in the car.

Anything stopping you from plugging it in to charge anyway?

What about a 12V USB adapter.  if you’re using the only USB socket for the Motorola thing

I have 2 USB slots in my car but I didn’t want to faff about plugging in and out when driving or have to stop. Also when I did put the phone in I started 2 sessions and ended up with a duel screen.
Works well for short journeys.

I thought the wireless charger would be a stand alone unit, and plug into that adapter. If not, the the phone, when plugged into that, probably won’t connect to the HU, as there’ll be no direct connection to it like the USB sockets 

Ah got it. I’ll try that.

The Motorola MA1 appears to work for me too at the moment.

Apart from not charging (fixed using the cigi lighter) the only issue so far is when you have two phones getting in the car. Apart from turning Bluetooth off I’ve not sussed how to switch between the two 

when I did put the phone in I started 2 sessions and ended up with a duel screen.

Charging-only USB cables exist, if that’s your issue.

Come to that, assuming your phone supports it, USB wireless charging pads exist too… 😁

After this thread, I bought a dedicated VW usb cable – no connection drops since.
Also the wireless dongle on page 1 from AliExpress – works perfectly.

So seems like problem solved with options now for wireless or wired.

Thanks all.

Just wanted to resurrect this thread in case someone comes across it in the future and finds it useful…..

I’ve had the connection woes as described, Google pixel 7a in T6.1

Recently got this cable

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0CNP6NQTH?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Android auto has since been working no problem, including on several long journeys.

Although…. Get in the van this morning and will it connect!? No it bloody won’t. Phone charges but otherwise will not connect and start AA.

Was just about to hit buy on a wireless dongle, but thought why not try a restart of the phone and hey presto, everything working fine again. Bloody technology.

I think the key thing is the data transfer rate, but anyway, can confirm this cable supports rapid charging and AA (for now) in a VW van. Or my van at least…. Maybe it won’t work in yours (disclaimer)

Pixel 6a and a decent cable never had any issues with AA. It would seem buy cheap buy twice.

Not exactly – I tried 4 different cables in the van, all of which gave iffy connections, but all of which worked absolutely fine in my Skoda.

I now have another relatively cheap cable which actually works in the van.

The cheap cables aren’t the problem, it’s the bloody van!!

If it makes you feel any better, it’s absolutely shiiite on my Ford Kuga as well.   Probably a 30% chance it works on a given start-up.

Ford double-down on this because when AA won’t work, the car’s own GPS doesn’t start up properly either, so using the onboard mapping is useless too.

It needs the driver’s key to be taken outside the car, the doors shut (engine off)  and locked, 5 minutes waiting for everything to actually shut down, then re-open the car and start it up after no more than about 20 seconds.

And again if it helps my Cupra has days when it will only connect with a Blue cable, then days when it really dislikes Blue and will only use Red….when it’s feeling purple and my kids have taken the cable out of the car is really annoying.

I have purchased cheap cables and expensive, it decides each morning as to what mood it’s in and only the correct cable for that day will work.

When it’s in a really bad mood it lets out an ear shattering scream and carries on until I’ve rebooted the head unit.

No idea how VAG have been able to get away with it. My dealer told me “it’s a known issue and a software update will fix it soon”; 3 years later and no update.