You can listen to Apple Music in your car and control what’s playing from your car’s display panel using Android Auto. But sometimes, Apple Music is not working on Android Auto.
Whether Apple Music is not working or showing on Android Auto, here are some of the things you can do to get your favorite music streaming app up and running in no time.
Make sure Apple Music is not hidden
When you open the Android Auto interface in your vehicle, you should see the list of apps on your phone. If you don’t see Apple Music, then the app might be hidden.
Open Android Auto on your smartphone and select Customize launcher under the General settings. You should be able to see if Apple Music is selected or hidden.
If the Apple Music app is hidden (not selected), then the app won’t show up on the Android Auto interface. By default though, it should be showing via the menu interface in your car.
Check the box beside the Apple Music app, and it should now appear on your car’s display screen when you’re using Android Auto. It’s as simple as that.
Disable the “Do not disturb” mode on Android
When you use Android Auto on your phone screen, your phone will be set to “Do not disturb – Priority only” mode that’s specific to Android Auto.
I used to be able to listen to music from my phone using Bluetooth while Android Auto was running. Now, my phone turns on “Do not disturb” mode and allows only calls, no audio.
Open your phone settings and search for “disturb” and you’ll find “Do not disturb” under Notifications. Disable the toggle so it doesn’t block sound output through Android Auto.
Reinstall the Apple Music app on your phone
If Apple Music is not showing on Android Auto, I would chalk it up as a temporary malfunction. Often, a simple reinstallation of the app would solve the issue almost immediately.
There was a time when the Apple Music app on my phone didn’t show up as a selectable music option on Android Auto, but the Apple Music app worked on my wife’s phone.
Mind you, we both use the same phone (Galaxy S23 Ultra) so it’s weird that only the Apple Music app on my phone didn’t work on Android Auto.
I ended up uninstalling the Apple Music app, restarting my phone, then reinstalling the app. After the installation was complete, it finally showed up on Android Auto.
Clear the Android Auto app cache
Along the same lines as reinstalling the Apple Music app, you can also clear the cache of the Android Auto app. You can easily do this on your Android phone.
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap on Apps.
- Tap on See all apps.
- On Samsung, you might need to tap on Show system apps.
- Search and select Android Auto.
- Tap on Storage.
- Tap on Clear cache.
Once you’ve tapped on the button, your Android phone should clear the cache and junk files from the device. Clearing the cache often solves common problems with the app.
You should expect bad behavior
Apple is known for not playing nice with others, and it’s definitely the case with Android Auto. Obviously, Apple Music is going to work better with Apple CarPlay, not Android Auto.
For example, when playing Apple Music on Android Auto (from an Android phone), a song will play for a few seconds before going mute (although the status bar indicates it is still playing).
The only workaround I’ve found is to pause and play the song. Only then the audio comes back. This happens about 50% of the time, other songs play just fine
And to make things even more confusing, there seems to be no pattern on which songs on Apple Music go silent when I’m using Android Auto. Go figure.
If I were you, I would expect bad behavior, especially when you’re trying to make Apple Music, which is an Apple product, work together with Android Auto, which is an Android thing.
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