Android Auto: Issue with speech recognition and media

Sierra

Hi all,

first of all, i searched the forums and github already as well as other boards but i can't find anything which could help me here.
Although i found this thread here in the GOS forums which i followed but this did not resolve the issue:
https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/19629-android-auto-voice-commands-not-working-with-waze-or-making-calls

I switched to a new Pixel recently since the screen of my 7a is cracked but i still wanted to use the 7a as a navigation device in my car (Ford Focus 2023 station wagon with Ford Sync 3, device connected through USB-C if this is relevant) since Ford Sync 3 is a pain to use.

Now, i reinstalled the 7a and installed this apps aside from the software which comes with GOS by default:

Android Auto through GOS App Store
Google Playstore through GOS App Store
Google Play services through GOS App Store
Speech Recognition & Synthesis through Play Store
Google App through Play Store where I created a new google account for and logged into it

And for the apps i intend to use inside Android Auto alongside phone and SMS functionality:

Waze through Play Store
Amazon Music through Play Store
Audible through Play Store

Navigation, Media and phone calls work fine, now for what is not functioning:

when i try to use the speech input i get the message "Speech recognition not available at the moment", doesnt matter if i use the microphone button in AA or the button on my steering wheel
SMS can't be read by the system
no pictures (album covers) are shown alongside Amazon Music and Audible

And last but not least a list of what i enabled for the apps needed for AA to function:

Android Auto: I checked all boxes inside the sandboxed AA settings (wired, wireless, reroute audio, handling phone calls)
AA Notifications: Everything except silent
Google Play Store: Internet
Google Play Services & Google app: Call logs, Contacts, Microphone, Network, Phone, SMS, Sensors
Speech Recognition & Synthesis: Microphone, Network, Sensors

Location and Microphone access are enabled in privacy settings

Is there anything else i need to check / activate so the issues i mentioned above can be resolved?

Kind regards & thank you for your answers!

Byku

Sierra when i try to use the speech input i get the message "Speech recognition not available at the moment", doesnt matter if i use the microphone button in AA or the button on my steering wheel

Regarding that one, it broke with one of Google app updates. I doubt there is anything on the user side that can be done.

mapiualuta

Byku Do you know if that is something that the GrapheneOS team will try address in an update, or is it just not going to work anymore?

This particular function is more of a driving safety issue for me, so I'd probably set up a different stock android phone just for Android Auto if it's not likely to work in the near future.

Sierra

Thank you for your answer!

Oh well, would have been convenient but i can live with typing especially since i did it all the years because Ford Sync 3 sucks so much :)

Sierra

Small update to the other issue mentioned above, that pictures / album covers won't show on the cars display:

After uninstalling the Google app since i don't need it if the speech recognition does not work, covers from Audible and Amazon Music are shown properly.
I also tried to use NewPipe and Kreate, which works also like a charm now.

So apparently the Google App breaks a few things here, i could verify this by installing it again which results in a completely grey background and grey album cover panel again

Byku

mapiualuta I doubt the GOS devs can do anything about it. From the reddit posts it seems not only GOS is affected. People have circumvented this by installing an older version of Google app that's known to work, but that would probably be frown upon on this forum.

Magical-Botanist

Byku Do you know which version is the best one to be using?

st0106

Magical-Botanist
Maybe try 20250529.00_p1.766399069. I don't use this app but I only update it when someone online describe updates & there's no on-going discussion on issues if the latest version was published before the red flag was revealed. Update descriptions are often missing or low-quality on Google Play Store. (No clue about Galaxy though.) I decided to update it on June 23. Try even older versions if this one has a deal breaker.