2016 VW Golf Android Auto won't work with LG G4

[Dylan Pedersen]

Dylan, have you added your car's Bluetooth to Smart Lock? This is a bit tricky because when you connect to Android Auto, it disconnects and then reconnects the bluetooth before your screen goes dark.

So get into the can and don't connect it to Android Auto. Wait for the BT connection to work, and then it should prompt you to add the cars Bluetooth as a Smart Lock device. This will ensure that your phone doesn't lock as long as you're in the car.

Torbach1 -
Didn't know it existed, thanks! I'll set it up and test this afternoon. I bet you are right on that one. I was able to watch the lock out happen at the 10 minute mark twice yesterday. this morning, as long as I tinkered with the phone every few minutes AA stayed connected.
D

 

[chezm]

So are things working better these days with G4 and your VW 2016 AA? Considering moving from an S6 to a G4 but want to make sure I'm not setting myself up for upset.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Dylan Pedersen]

Hi All -
I'm still in the testing phase, but I think I got things moving in the right direction. to re-cap:
2016 Passat SE with AA 1.6.240030
Samsung Galaxy note 4 with Android 5.1.1

Last I was \in, AA would load if the car was off and the phone hooked up before turning on. The connection worked great, for about 10 minutes then it would disconnect and not reconnect saying the device was locked. I'd have to close apps, reboot the car and clear the AA cache.

I went back to the basics, the cable. I've been religiously using only Samsung cables purchased with their fast charger, in fact several of them. I swapped out to a Logitech cable that came with my Harmony hub (trying every cable in the house) and after 3 days and 3 hours driving, I have yet to experience the issue. The reconnect issues seems to have been resolved as well, as long as I'm at the home screen, no app running on the screen when I reconnect.

AA is working wonderfully and I'm really enjoying it, thanks everyone for the thread, your suggestions and experiences. I'll check back in in a couple of weeks with an update. I hope this helps, and with all things, your mileage may vary.

 

[chezm]

Traded my S6 for a G4 yesterday due to lack of storage, was originally worried I'd suffer what people have battled on this thread. I have a G3 (running 6.0) for work and used it for Google Maps in Android Auto to meet the guy (an hour away), half way through it kept disconnecting/reconnecting automatically no idea why. I have a passcode on the phone and suspected this may be the case but after i rebooted it, used it heading home it was fine.

Today I used my G4 with Android Auto to work, its currently running 6.0...i enabled Debugging from Developer settings (otherwise when i didnt I had to click on Devices/LG on the MIB2 interface under App Connect). Worked perfectly, no flicking or disconnecting so far. I am not using the official cable (wasnt provided), the same cheap 4" cable i used with my S6. I did factory reset the device before doing this since i wanted to start from scratch (selected new device on initial boot up). Ill keep posted but so far MTP is auto configured as default for me, no major problems...G3 had many more issues with connectivity. Also note i am not using a lockscreen pin or passcode, that may also have to do with lack of problems.

 

[chezm]

Ok, actually, it didn't stop the prompt, but if I ignore the prompt, it still connects me to Android Auto, so +dgiaffe, your idea sorted it out for me. Thanks!

I get this prompt everytime as well with my G4... I clicked on allow notifications for Android auto but as soon as I back out and go back into that setting it's removed. Weird...i can't ignore it, it waits for me to allow access before booting up.

Update: ok odd after 5 attempts it finally stuck...stubborn thing.

 

[chezm]

To avoid opening a new thread, ill post the question here.

Does anyone else find the audio quality to be less than that produced by CD/SD card? Unfortunately i cant get the EQ on Google Play Music to come up on the G4, i have the exact same music files (320kbps mps) on both my phone and the SD card, and the audio processing in the car system is MUCH better than whats coming through my phone. For the general music listener who plays audio at 192kbps they may not notice the difference but im certainly noticing it at the higher bitrate.

 

[torbach1]

Funny you should ask that. I was just pondering whether ultimately moving back to SD cards would be the solution for me this morning. I find that the quality is a lot better when connected through Android Auto than with Bluetooth. But its still lacking compared to what I would expect. I tried an HD version of a song from Tidal through BT (since Tidal doesn't work on Android Auto), vs. the same track on Google Music, and found no discernible difference. I did the same with headphones and found a major difference.

So I don't know what the answer is, but I think you're right that SD card is better. I guess our phones DACs are not that great. The LG G4 in particular though has a terrible DAC... The S7 is a bit better - the V10 is fantastic as is the HTC. I've got a spare HTC One M9 right now that I may try to make my primary music device for the car before moving to SD card...

 

[chezm]

I keep going back and forth between SD and AA. While the quality isn't bad via Android auto...when I listen to the SD card it's just got much more clarity, each high/mid/low is sharper and more pronounced. I can even hear certain minor details on the SD card I can't hear via AA. Thanks for your feedback, at least I know to keep my options open when I do a hardware upgrade in a bit. Which phones in your opinion have the best DACs?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[torbach1]

I keep going back and forth between SD and AA. While the quality isn't bad via Android auto...when I listen to the SD card it's just got much more clarity, each high/mid/low is sharper and more pronounced. I can even hear certain minor details on the SD card I can't hear via AA. Thanks for your feedback, at least I know to keep my options open when I do a hardware upgrade in a bit. Which phones in your opinion have the best DACs?

Posted via the Android Central App

I'm not sure. I'm going based on what I've read here. All I know is that the difference between my daily driver phone, the Samsung S7 Edge, and the HTC One M9 is night and day when played over Android Auto. The HTC One M9 has a dedicated high quality DAC, and quality of Google Music is noticeably better. Since I get most of my music from Google Music and don't have it SD card ready unless I use something like Sound Recorder Pro, which is very time consuming, I'm considering keeping the M9 for music... In every other area, the S7 Edge is the best phone I've ever had.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[chezm]

I'm not sure. I'm going based on what I've read here. All I know is that the difference between my daily driver phone, the Samsung S7 Edge, and the HTC One M9 is night and day when played over Android Auto. The HTC One M9 has a dedicated high quality DAC, and quality of Google Music is noticeably better. Since I get most of my music from Google Music and don't have it SD card ready unless I use something like Sound Recorder Pro, which is very time consuming, I'm considering keeping the M9 for music... In every other area, the S7 Edge is the best phone I've ever had.

Posted via the Android Central App

Interesting, i appreciate the feedback...I was eyeing the HTC 10 but in Canada is stupid expensive....hopefully the new Nexus will be built off the HTC 10 and utilize the same High Quality DAC (presumed its as good as the M9, im assuming).

 

[torbach1]

Interesting, i appreciate the feedback...I was eyeing the HTC 10 but in Canada is stupid expensive....hopefully the new Nexus will be built off the HTC 10 and utilize the same High Quality DAC (presumed its as good as the M9, im assuming).

Yeah, from what I've read, the HTC 10's DAC is easily as good as the M9. An HTC based Nexus with the DAC and improved camera would be cool.

 

[Z10KW]

I started having this issue for past few weeks ago, tried all suggestions in this thread with limited success. I have a BlackBerry Priv running marshmallow, bought new cables nothing really worked , AA would take forever to load, same the google maps and would finally connect for a few minutes and loose connection, I removed Spotify as I read thatau be causing the problem, that didn't help. So I thought maybe waze may work. So before I installed waze, I noticed I also had Nokia HERE maps, which I have never used, so I decided to uninstall it and install WAZE, as soon as I did that , AA connected instantly by just plugging in the USB, without doing any work around solutions, and it was quick, pressed the directions icon, and it asked ifbi wanted google maps or WAZE, chose WAZE instantly, no freeze or disconnects so far for past two days, and both naps work. My feeling is that Nokia HERE caused an issue it may have had some conflict or resource issue. Hope this helps have a 2016 jetta

 

[Ali Kay]

Hello Gents,

Great news!

I could finally fix the "connection failed" when connecting my LG G4(H812) to my 2017 Jetta infotainment system.

I tried every trick I read online to no avail until now. Here is what the problem was:

AA was easily setup and used with my LG G4(marshmallow) when I first got the Jetta last year, but out of nowhere it suddenly stopped connecting yesterday. I poured my brains out but none of the tricks online worked.

Here is what worked for me so I am sharing it with you. Hopefully it can resolve your problem too.

1- I factory reset the Jetta infotainment system.
2- I installed a fresh copy of AA from Google Play
3- I did not run the app!
4- I connected the phone to the Jetta using the original USB cable.
5- I ran the app for the first time while connected to Jetta, giving all the permissions and agreements.
6- Voila! The app immediately started working on the Jetta again.

I turned the car on and off and tried connecting the phone a couple of times. It connected everytime with no problem at all.

Cheers,