I have a Pixel 8 with a very new iodéOS 6.6 load. I have enabled Android Auto as one of the preinstalled apps and have installed the indicated Google modules as indicated on this page.
Android Auto seems to work very well as long as I am connected to the main USB C interface port in my vehicle (very recent Mazda). With one exception, I cannot get the microphone to work on the head unit. I have verified that all the component apps that I want to use in AA have microphone access enabled and when I use these apps directly on the phone, the microphone works.
I’ve recently loaded 6.6 on my Pixel 8 and have successfully gotten Android Auto to work to about a 90% working level.
I have two issues. The first is it only seems to work if I have my phone connected to the USB port for the head unit in my vehicle (a very recent Mazda). This seems to be a fairly common issue so I am not concerned with it.
The biggest issue is I cannot do any voice commands. If I hit the microphone button on the screen or attempt to use a voice search in my navigation app (Waze), I get a message that voice commands are not available at this time. f I use voice commands with Waze when the phone is not connected to the car (and Android Auto), the commands are executed perfectly.
I followed the methodology outlined in the iode.tech Android Auto page to configure Android Auto on my phone
If this is something I have to live with until a future version of the software, I can do that. I just prefer to do as much as possible in a hands free mode while I’m driving.
Thanks in advance for any responses and/or assistance.
@oldguychuck just confirming: you are using the official Google components? Did you give microphone permissions to the “Android Auto”, “Google app” and / or the “Google Speech Services” app? Not certain which would need it, but if some don’t have it then give to all 3, later turn off to see which ones may not be necessary.
UPDATE: @oldguychuck I just merged your separate topic on microphone access here. Not certain if you added microphone permission for AA and Google apps or only the maps app etc?
@Guardian24 sorry to ping you again, but you seem to be my “go to person” for Android Auto questions: do you have any issues using voice commands (or have you tried it)?
My apologies. I thought I had posted it but when I searched for it, I couldn’t find it. Thanks for merging them together.
Yes I added the microphone permission to Android Auto and all the other modules as referenced in the iodeOS article on AA. And I tested it on the navigation app to make sure that the voice commands were allowed, outside of AA.
A couple of additional data points:
The voice commands work with this vehicle and my stock loaded Pixel 5. So I suspect there is something going on in my Pixel 8.
The vehicle is almost brand new (purchased new in April 2025) and Mazda introduced the specific model in the last 18 months or so. So it could be something specific to the manufacturer. It is possible that this issue is dependent on how the specific head unit works. My son has a 2023 Toyota Rav4 with AA and I could try it with his vehicle, if you think that would be productive.
I want to stress that outside of these two issues (voice commands and having to USB connect the phone to the vehicle), AA is working perfectly and I will happily use it as is.
An update. I found that there is a way to get Waze to run on your phone at the same time the navigation route map is displayed on your vehicle’s head unit. I was able to do a change in destination via a voice command, but on the phone and not using the vehicle’s microphone.
I’ll play with it and try to produce a draft of instructions on how to get it to work.
Secondly, a request for @Guardian24 Are you familiar with using the non-Google stubs with AA? This is personal as I kinda really hate Google and would like to cut them out of whatever Im using, if at all possible.
I can help there a bit (but I don’t use it regularly). On this other thread I tested with a device with the “AA Google Stubs” (and I consolidated them for download from my personal Github account), and another with the “full Google apps”. My testing showed that AA wireless was equally “buggy” but also was equally usable (light testing) when using wired mode.
For the voice commands, it is a “not ideal workaround” but keep trying! You may want to look broader at the aa4mg repo or with other de-Googled microG projects (/e/OS, lineage itself, maybe Calyx reddit even though they are now inactive, etc.)
All are slightly different but may give some perspective on if others are using voice commands or not.
I just posted that in case there is someone who really has to rely on voice commands while driving. You could theoretically keep a microphone widget on top so all you have to do is to keep the phone unlocked and tap the microphone button. But we are in agreement that it is totally “not ideal”.
I’ve looked at the aa4mg repo Github page and I think I’ll need to do some serious and thoughtful research on how I would attempt to try it. I am specifically concerned about item number 5 under Installation
I’ll work on this for a bit more and post back later.
As always, thanks (both in the present and f the future).
Chuck
Sorry I wasn’t clear, but I would NOT recommend you install that, as it requires root, etc. I was only suggesting you trawl through their issues or documentation to see if they have working voice commands or not. Same inquiry at /e/OS forum, LineageOS issues repo, Calyx reddit, etc. Just seeing if anyone using AA that does not have full Google Services is successful with voice commands. Then, if so, we try to narrow down if it is us or if there is a broader association to help identify where the issue may be.
Sorry misread your intent in responding the way you did.
The more I consider the issue I am seeing the more I am becoming suspicious that there is something being kept private between google and the phone manufacturers on one side and the automotive manufacturers on the other side. There is some authorization and/or API that enables the use of the vehicle’s microphone and speakers. I have no documentary evidence of this. Just a hunch.
Just FWIW I am at the point of having a look at that as one last way to get AA to work without using G apps. But not confident. Details in the other thread:
FWIW (as I wasn’t sure if @oldguychuck or anyone else actually did do this a few weeks ago), I’ve had a look today and search through that GitHub repo and the issues (sees there are no closed ones, only the 15 open ones), and nothing about speech or TTS or anything similar I could find.
I will look to trawl a bit through the other forums @rik suggested tonight or tomorrow morning (my time) unless anyone jumps in and says they already did that…
My issue is why Android Auto doesn’t seem to recognise any TTS or STT engines as a valid digital assistant? So they can’t be selected in the AA settings on the phone. Is this hard coded to only recognise (and accept) Google Speech Recognition & Synthesis app - thereby preventing any other software providing full 2-way voice assist functionality in AA?
(P.S. I’m sure Apple would be doing that in CP for Siri for certain).
I found a thread on the exact same issue over at the GrapheneOS support site.
If you go to the end of the thread, you will find a post created on 19 August where a user indicates that installing a back level module “16.26.71.ve.arm64 (301550874)” partially corrected his issue with voice commands on the vehicle’s head unit via AA.
I searched for the string (listed above in quotes) and found only two hist. The first was the GrapheneOS discussion site and the second was an APKMirror page for an older Google app site. I removed my Google stub installed form the Aurora store and installed the APKMirror downloaded install file and I can use the voice commands on mu head unit. Not with Waze bit with Google Maps.
I think I need to rebuild the whole AA bundle of modules and only use the back level Google app and hopefully it will work.
Does this mean you can tap the microphone icon in your display and execute a command? Like “Call xxxx”. And In apps as you tap on a search field, see a microphone icon so you can use voice entry?
Yes - although you can’t tap the screen literally as that’s disabled in moving vehicles for safety - but yep, via the car nav controls (in my case in the Mazda it’s a large dial know that also does 4-way tilts, and push to ‘enter’ to navigate the system screen).
Frustration level with Android Auto in iodéOS with stubs extremely high right now - constantly crashes or stops working for no reason, I unplugged and replugged in something like 7 times on my way to work this morning before I got a stable connection that kept the AntennaPod app podcast playing for the remainder of my journey…
My car has this annoying thing that the phone must connect to the car via Bluetooth as well as USB for AA to work - it won’t run on USB if you don’t have a BT connection… …could half my issues be a flaky BT link with phone that’s dropping in and out??? And not because I have stubs installed…?
Never had any issues with Car Play and my iPhone with same unit (but never realised it needed the BT for USB to work either until recently)!
Am getting close to putting G Voice App in instead of Stub, but really don’t want to… and no point if AA is unstable for other reasons. Given other people report seemingly using AA happily (albeit without STT and possibly also TTS voice).
I feel like you are on the front lines here: as you mention others seemingly are using AA happily, but often after it works we don’t get the details from them: maybe they only play audio, don’t try or bother with TTS and STT, etc. so knowing the scope of their usage remains unknown.
I think comparing with the stock Google apps (with network disabled for them) would be a good compare contrast, as this would be with the same car and same phone so are only changing the single “companion apps” variable.
About BT needing to be active, I don’t get it either. With a wired connection what is really needed from BT?? I don’t really get it (but again also don’t have an AA capable car to regularly test with)
If you have enough patience you may sort this out for others, but understandable if you are fed up and just want it to work
Yep - and there often is confusion I think about what each person is talking about when they say it’s working…
Yes. I am hoping to try swapping out 1 stub (the voice recognition and synthesis one) this weekend and test that first. Then add additional apps if needed, etc… All subject to Aurora Store behaving of course (I couldn’t get in for 3 days earlier this week - longest lock out I’ve encountered to date - so G must have been really active).
Yeah - it would be good if others tested this and verified it. It’s definitely my vehicle and/or the unit installed as it specifically puts up a standard message when it detects a phone on the USB Cable asking you turn on BT to enable AA. Choosing no then results in the phone not getting connected at all via USB. If I connect the phone separately by another USB port (that isn’t have the AA input, as I’ve discussed elsewhere) in connects to the infotainment system fine via USB and there is no pop up message - but I may retest this to be certain.
As I said elsewhere I installed my unit when the vehicle was about 1½-2 years old (i.e. a few months after I purchased it), but the vehicle was designed to have it installed if desired from new (basically it would be included in new vehicles at the time of original sale if you purchased an upgraded version of that vehicle model through the dealer, e.g. a variant with fancy running lights, leather seats, spoiler, etc). So I don’t know if it’s:
(1) an idiosyncrasy of the Mazda Infotainment System used in their vehicles around 2017-2019 (I don’t have another non-Mazda vehicle with a CP/AA unit I can test to compare it’s behaviour); or
(2) it’s just because I had the Car Play/Android Auto module was retrospectively installed so isn’t as fully integrated as it would be from the factory (but I suspect not, as I can imagine it’s just a card in a slot so to speak, and if not installed just has a dummy bypass card or cable installed for the USB in it’s place); or
(3) Android Auto always requires BT active even when using USB (and I could imagine this is true as I’ve seen this ‘dual connection required’ behaviour before in the past with something - just can’t recall what it was. But I can imagine it suits Apple & Google to force that type of connectivity - especially as BT in vehicles is extremely open and insecure…
But thinking about it I might just reconnect my iPhone one last time and see how it behaves…
Well, I am starting to get frustrated… but not give up as yet. However my fiancée has had it and hates my ‘new phone’, etc; because we regularly communicated by iMessage (via Car Play) when in our respective vehicles, and now we are reduced to SMS and I have no ability to respond safely while driving due to AA - and now there’s a new issue this week with not being able to answer calls or hear people and some other things that I haven’t identified cause/reason (although it’s suspiciously started since I updated to latest version of OS a few days ago)…
So I will keep at it for a bit longer, but really need to get AA working this weekend or next (or a workaround using the basic Car Infotainment system, as at least that does Calls, SMS, and Music and has built in maps - even though SMS is not voice enabled), otherwise I need to rethink…
