Android Auto is broken for Samsung Galaxy S26 and Pixel owners after latest update

If you just upgraded to the Samsung Galaxy S26 and are now experiencing issues with Android Auto, you’re not alone. In fact, some Pixel owners are also experiencing the same problems after a recent update that Google pushed out earlier this month.

As reported by Autoevolution, several users on both Google and Samsung’s support pages have revealed that their phones connect correctly at first but fail to maintain a persistent connection due to a new bug.

At the moment, it appears that the majority of people experiencing this issue are using Android Auto wired. However, some users have also reported experiencing issues when connecting wirelessly, but only on the Galaxy S26.

In a post on the Android Auto Help page, one user with a Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra described the issue in more detail, saying: “AA will connect, then disconnect, then reconnect again moments later, then disconnect. The connection is not persistent.” They also noted that with their previous phone, the Galaxy S25 Ultra, everything worked perfectly.

The problem is so bad that over on Reddit, some Galaxy S26 owners are considering taking back their new devices before the 15-day return window closes.

One theory as to why this is happening is that the Advanced Protection security feature on these phones is blocking the Android Auto connection. However, at the time of writing, neither Google nor Samsung has said anything about the problem.

Potential workarounds

If you own a Galaxy S26 or a Pixel phone and are having problems connecting to Android Auto, there are a few potential workarounds that might fix the issue.

In a Reddit post, one user revealed that they were able to get their Galaxy S26 working by initiating Android Auto through their car’s infotainment system. Likewise, another user reported that after factory resetting their phone three times, the issue went away.

Samsung’s Smart Things app could be to blame too. For instance, one Galaxy S26 owner turned off everything in the app’s Easy Connection section and that seemed to fix things. Then another Samsung user experiencing problems found that outright deleting the Smart Things app fixed the problem.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on this one and will update this story when and if an official fix is pushed out by Google or Samsung.

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