If your car radio’s playlists seem to be on a short loop, you’re not imagining it. Drivers are describing incredibly common music stuttering when using wireless Android Auto, which results in skips every few seconds for some and every 15-30 seconds for others. Early reports suggest Google’s navigation apps as a likely catalyst, and users say switching to standard Bluetooth streaming often solves the hiccups.
Several posts on Reddit and support forums detail the same pattern with various handsets in different cars. One user with a Galaxy S23 Plus claimed playback was perfect until the end-August update of Google Maps (25.34.05), temporarily fixed with 25.35.00 and corrupted once more by 25.36.02 in September’s first week, briefly better with… you get the point! Another Moto G Stylus owner saw skips even over USB, but turning off Maps’ location access instantly cleared up the audio.
This follows a separate bug that was freezing Android Auto in some Pixel models, which Google has since fixed. Indeed, the new audio issue serves as a reminder of how fragile the in-car software stack can be when foundational apps “move fast.”
What’s probably happening: the audio skips
Wireless Android Auto uses a dedicated Wi‑Fi access point between your phone and the head unit sinc this isn’t possible over Bluetooth. For music, the decoding is done on the phone then it is buffered and streamed to the car. Anything that starves that pipeline — CPU spikes or aggressive background tasks or network contention can result in buffer underruns and stuttering, when you don’t have enough data for the audio hardware to play.
Navigation apps are prime suspects. Maps and Waze always chew up GPS, sensor data, traffic overlays and voice guidance while redrawing the map. It’s also possible, that a bug or resource-peak in the newer builds is just high enough to steal from processing / i/o to interrupt the audio stream. One user claims some success by turning off location for Maps, pausing live navigation within the app, or disabling turn-by-turn voice prompts in general – suggesting an interaction between the navigation threads and audio transport.
Then there’s the wireless connection to take into account. Android Auto generally operates on the 5 GHz frequency band, where crowded channels and interference from hotspots or aggressive Wi‑Fi roaming can disrupt streaming. That being said, the volume of reports linked to specific Maps versions indicates this time it’s a case of software being the larger culprit.
Who seems to be vulnerable
The reports cover hardware from Samsung, Google and Motorola, along with a variety of car systems — Factory head units in popular models from Toyota, Hyundai, Honda General Motors and Volkswagen as well as aftermarket units made by Pioneer and Kenwood. The majority of the complaints relate to wireless projection, but some also claim they still have glitches when plugged in, further suggesting that app and not radio only behaviour is at fault.
Since Maps and Waze ship regular updates, the experience may vary from what’s described below. Some users reported that updating to a newer build relieved the issue; others said it reappeared in the next rollout. Such a zig-zag pattern is typical when some server-side configuration or small point release enables behavior for different subsets of users.
Practical fixes you can implement now
Stream Bluetooth directly from your phone to the car audio instead of using Android Auto. You’ll give up on-screen controls, but many users find playback seamless this way.
Update both the Google Maps and Waze to their latest available builds in the Play Store. If you only started having this issue after a recent update, some-users have solved it by upgrading to the next version when it’s released.
Clear cache (and, if you’re able to re-sign in, storage) for Maps and Waze along with Android Auto and Google Play services. Then restart the phone and car head units, and re-pair Android Auto.
Temporarily disable navigation extras: turn off turn-by-turn voice guidance, close Maps/Waze if you’re not currently navigating or just toggle the location access of the app when you want only music.
Do this only when it is safe to — there should be no fiddling with settings while you are driving.
Try a wired USB connection. It won’t work for everyone, but it eliminates the Wi‑Fi link from the equation and has stabilized playback for some drivers.
Avoid interference: Disable your phone’s hotspot, don’t connect the car to house Wi‑Fi while parked and keep busy 5 GHz devices at home when driving.
What to expect from official remedies
There’s no official word from the Maps or Android Auto teams at time of writing about a widespread outage, but app update cycles might put a prompt resolution in order.
Navigation apps frequently include server-side changes in the backdrops of their app releases, so your reprieve might arrive without a full version bump. And simultaneously, some automakers and head-unit manufacturers once in a while ship firmware updates that improve the wireless stability of connctions, which may help but almost certainly won’t correct an app-level regression.
How to report the bug correctly
Provide feedback in Android Auto and in Maps or Waze. Include your phone model, the version number of Android it’s running (check under “About phone” in “Settings”), car or head unit model, version of Android Auto, and versions of Maps/Waze that you’re using along with whether the issue happens when you connect wirelessly or via USB and how often. Like I keep saying in my other posts, easily human readable reports gives faster debug time for the engineers trying to pin point their regressions.
Until there's a fix, the easiest way to get around the problem and keep your groove on is either stream via Bluetooth or just stick with wired Android Auto.
It’s not a great solution, but it will be enough to keep your commute sounding like it should — no skips included.