Android Auto and Hotspot

rio · Mar 1, 2023

I've been using the 3-month trial AT&T hotspot, which I actually really like and might consider paying for it in the future (I have a very cheap by-the-gig family phone data plan, so this actually would make sense for road trips). Yesterday I finally came around to setting up Android Auto, and noticed that in order to connect, my phone has to disconnect from the hotspot and connect to some new WiFi signal. Is there any workaround to this? Or do I have to choose between having AA vs being able to connect my phone to the hotspot?

wighty · Mar 1, 2023

I think if you plug your phone into the data port (left most USB-C below the screen) it will use the cable for android auto and that will leave you free to enable the hotspot.

TaxmanHog · Mar 2, 2023

Cable tethering is what I do, I'm finding the onboard hot spot useless in my use case, so I am letting the trial expire.

rio · Mar 2, 2023

Ok, thanks. I'll try the USB-C port.

mr.Magoo · Mar 2, 2023

So the whole AA, stream and hotspot is less than ideal.
Another day thread about it: https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/ford-streaming-vs-hotspot-vs-wifi.13012/

Hotspot is only for "passengers"
In other words, the phone connected (wirelessly)to Android Auto can't use it AND the truck itself can't/won't use it. Also note that if you use AA and stream any of the music apps, it will use your phones data and not the hotspot plan.

The workaround is to get a WiFi travel router.
They can be had for around $30-40, your router connects to the hotspot and the truck now thinks your router is just any regular wifi network and this way the truck can connect to the hotspot.

This does not solve the Android Auto issue, the only way to get around that (so that your phone can use the hotspot plan) is to connect your phone with a USB cable as others have suggested...
So much for wireless. If you do this, you're probably better off just using the phone as a hotspot (instead of a travel router). If you use Android you can use Tasker to automatically connect to the truck hotspot and enable the phone hotspot (so the truck can connect to it as well) whenever your phone is connected to the trucks bluetooth (which in turn is a forced connection as soon as you plug your phone in).

I didn't like this option either, so I'm currently using a separate phone as my android auto device and this is always plugged in to the USB port. The only downside of this is that apparently Ford can't have two phones connected (even though a recent software update claimed otherwise), so once you connect BT on your phone it'll disable AA from the one that's connected via cable and vice versa. But at least you have Android Auto and the truck itself utilizing the in-truck hotspot / plan, so no need for a separate streaming plan.
Partial reason for this was that I also wanted to tinker with a rooted phone and try and run various mirroring apps (none of which worked all that great) in the hopes of being able to run a browser (to display statistics) directly in AA - but that's a whole separate story.

But yes, the way it is right now is a really a-- backwards implementation.

ytwytw · Mar 6, 2023

why two phones?
Disable Android Wireless connection in the Settings, and only use USB for android Auto
Then you can connect to hotspot and use android auto, with one phone only

rio · Mar 6, 2023

ytwytw said:
why two phones?
Disable Android Wireless connection in the Settings, and only use USB for android Auto
Then you can connect to hotspot and use android auto, with one phone only

Are these settings in the phone, or in the truck?

Zprime29 · Mar 6, 2023

Just checked my phone, couldn't find any settings that said it would disable wireless connection for AA. Must be on the truck. I've had a very inconsistent experience with the wireless connection, works maybe half the time. I also have trouble when I just want it to be paired for calls/music and it won't play anything via bluetooth. I think the phone is still trying to connect to AA despite it failing and me turning WiFi off.

ytwytw · Mar 6, 2023

rio said:
Are these settings in the phone, or in the truck?

https://9to5google.com/2023/01/24/android-auto-wireless-turn-off-setting/

it's gone now

ytwytw · Mar 6, 2023

Zprime29 said:
Just checked my phone, couldn't find any settings that said it would disable wireless connection for AA. Must be on the truck. I've had a very inconsistent experience with the wireless connection, works maybe half the time. I also have trouble when I just want it to be paired for calls/music and it won't play anything via bluetooth. I think the phone is still trying to connect to AA despite it failing and me turning WiFi off.

same here... plug in USB sometimes does not work, disable wifi sometimes works but wifi may be re-enabled by android auto when entering the car