Some Android Auto drivers can’t place hands-free calls by contact name anymore. Gemini keeps asking who they want to call and never dials. Pixel and Galaxy owners report the same loop when sending texts. Google’s Android Auto team is asking affected users for details, and as of November 5, no fix had been announced.
When the Android Auto Gemini call loop started
9to5Google says the current reports began showing up in early October, with more arriving recently. SamMobile links them to a recent wider rollout of Gemini. Gemini replaced Google Assistant on Android on September 29.
One Galaxy S24 owner posted on October 24 that the problem began three days earlier, after a phone update. SamMobile, citing forum reports, also names the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S26. 9to5Google says the issue isn’t limited to any particular phone or Android Auto build.
There is an older report with the same symptom. A Google forum thread from August 25 describes the loop after a Pixel 7a updated from Android 16 to Android 17. The poster used a wired connection to a 2022 Ford Maverick with Sync 3. They never mention Gemini, and they call it a safety problem because they have to pick up the phone. It’s unknown whether that report and the current ones share a cause.
What the Android Auto team has said
Android Auto team members have replied in the current forum threads. A reply from Deepika of the Android Auto Team, posted on November 4 US time, opens like this:
Thank you for reporting this issue. The following information will help us with our investigation, so kindly help.
The same reply appears in an earlier thread from October 22. It asks affected users to share:
- Phone model and mobile build number
- Car or head unit, and whether it connects wired or wirelessly
- Android Auto app version and Google Play services version
- How often the problem happens and when it started
- Country
That is a request for information for an investigation, not a confirmed diagnosis or a fix date. On the August thread, the team replied on August 29 that it had forwarded the issue to the rest of the team.
What affected drivers can do now
The most useful step is to add the requested details to the Android Auto Help Community thread. One poster there says reinstalling Android Auto and clearing its cache did not help. Another says calling works if they say the phone number aloud. That is one user’s report, and it only helps if you know the number by heart.
This is separate from two other Android Auto problems we’ve covered. One blocks outgoing calls on closed flip foldables. The other stops some Galaxy phones connecting after One UI 9.
Google made Gemini the only assistant on Android, with no way back to Assistant. Calling a contact by name while driving is one of the most basic things that assistant needs to do. For some drivers, it has been failing for weeks.
Source: Android Auto Help Community, Android Auto Help Community (August thread), 9to5Google, SamMobile
This post was written with AI assistance from public sources and published under the editorial responsibility of AndroidPure’s editor. How we work.
