While Android Auto provides a lot of different functionalities to the car, a lot of the appeal of the apps are the voice commands. According to a number of users around the web, however, Android Auto voice commands currently aren’t working.
The problem with Android Auto voice commands seems to have come from a recent update that broke something internally. Regardless of whether owners are using the car or the app, they get an error that states “voice commands aren’t available right now.”
There are other errors that are showing up regarding the Android Auto voice commands as well, with reports that some are seeing another error upon quickly opening and exiting Android Auto that states ‘Google Services have stopped working.”
The problem seems pretty widespread, and Piunikaweb has compiled some examples of Android Auto voice commands issues from around the web.
“When Android Auto is started I get the message “Voice commands aren’t available right now” and the microphone crosses out. After a few seconds the microphone goes back to normal only to repeat the “Voice commands aren’t available right now” again after 4-5 seconds. It will repeat this a couple times then just stay with the microphone crossed out. Sometimes when I exit AA I will get the google services have stopped working error. This occurs both with the phone by itself and when plugged into a Pioneed NEX 4200”.
“When I start it or plug in my phone to the car, the mic icon goes from normal to having a line through it multiple times, and each time it posts a toast message saying the “voice commands aren’t available right now.”
“My phone keeps repeating voice command are not available even when not connected to the car. I have tried disabling the “ok Google ” command trigger but still I am unable to use andriod auto.”
“Same problem here just started this past week. Keeps cycling between voice command not available then available then not available. 2018 Kia soul with Verizon Samsung Galaxy S8. The phone and car are not modified or rooted in any way.”
“I’m having this problem, too. Fully up-to-date pixel 2 and 2017 Honda pilot. I don’t know exactly when it started, but until very recently everything worked.”
In any case, it seems like a number of different phones are affected – leading us to believe that the problem is on Google’s end rather than it being a problem with the phones themselves. Google is reportedly looking into the issue, but until we get more of a confirmation of what is wrong, we’ll probably be dealing with Android Auto voice commands moving into the next few weeks at least.
Some users are reporting that uninstalling the Android Auto app and then installing it again followed by plugging the phone back into the car fixes the issue, so if you’d like to give that a try there’s a possibility you can address the Android Auto voice commands issue on your own and get your car’s audio system back to tip-top shape.
