Some very familiar-sounding problems for a very familiar-looking phone
Samsung’s latest set of flagship smartphones is set to hit store shelves this week, and so far, they’re sounding like a big — if boring — success. While our reviews of the two smaller phones are forthcoming, the Galaxy S23 Ultra impressed us with its speedy performance, 200MP sensor, and long-lasting battery life built to get you well beyond a full day’s worth of use. Unfortunately, no smartphone launch can arrive without a hitch or two, and it looks like a familiar Android Auto bug to Samsung fans is once again rearing its ugly head.
As Galaxy S23 units slowly make their way into the wild ahead of an official launch on Friday, fans have taken to Reddit and Google support forums with an early complaint. As spotted by 9to5Google, S23 devices and Android Auto aren’t playing well with each other, with drivers complaining of issues syncing with cars wirelessly, Bluetooth pairing automatically failing after the vehicle is disabled, and missing permissions that keep the phone from properly connecting.
Speaking from personal experience, I didn’t have any issues with Android Auto on my own Galaxy S23 Ultra, though I did need to manually pair my device with my car’s Bluetooth, something Auto usually takes care of on its own. That said, this is nothing new for Samsung. Last year’s Galaxy S22 series spawned similar complaints at launch — issues with wired and wireless connections leading to a black image on in-car displays. Although a fix rolled out on beta channels in May, it took until August for the patch to reach all affected devices.
With any luck, this year’s headaches won’t take six months to see action from either company. It’s unclear exactly what the issue at hand is here, but if you find your brand-new S23 failing to connect to your vehicle, make sure to submit a report on Google’s support forums.
