Barneyboy48

I've had the car for three years from new. I don't recall renewing any subscriptions that may have come free with the car for the first year or so. Although there was an app that I remember that was really of little use which allowed me to lock and unlock the doors from the other side of the world, (if needed!) and I think flash the lights and sound the horn if I couldn't find it on a multi-story. It was something like £40/year so I didn't bother. I don't need any of the internet facilities like Google Maps or Sat-Nav. I have the built in Sat-Nav which I find alright for my purpose. Music, apart from that on the radio, comes from several USB-C flash drives I keep in the car on which I have stored a load of my ripped CDs. I have disabled Android Auto (AA) but when I did this and attempted the pairing again it didn't work. I re-enabled AA and it paired. So far, my successful attempts to pair have all been done on my drive. My house router has a strong signal, so I don't know if this has anything to do with it. I had to go out a while back and where I was parked up I tried again, (although I was in a bit of a rush), and I was unsuccessful. On all attempts, I have had my Mobile Data switched off, my Wi-Fi switched on and my Bluetooth also switched on. I'm a one for persevering. So I'll keep going until I hopefully understand it. I have sent a query off to the phone manufacturer. Hopefully they will get back fairly soon. Do you know what a direct connection with a USB connection gives? I don't really want trailing wires all over the place - it seems a retrograde step to me, but I'm prepared to try it as long as it doesn't mess things up further. All help is appreciated.

OK - I've been down to the dealership and had a conversation with three blokes who all have Apple phones which is unfortunate! I don't know if there setup is different with their phones, but certainly there is one fixed variable and that's the car. So logically it's a phone problem. My concerns in the main are that connection using the Android Auto app that is now widely available on smartphones, will at some measure eat into data. I have a small data package with my phone contract. I rarely use it and prefer to keep it for possible emergencies. Mobile Data is therefore invariably turned off on my phone. What I have found out this morning, with a Skoda guy watching over my shoulder, is that: a) When Wi-Fi is switched off on my phone, I cannot make a pairing with the car. b) If I disable the Android Auto app, using the method kindly offered by @Rbz5416, I definitely cannot make the pairing/connection. c) I can only make a pairing between phone and car if both Android Auto is enabled and Wi-Fi is switched on. Regarding the latter, (Wi-Fi), I am still trying to understand what the Wi-Fi has to do with it at all, because my Mobile Data is switched off so where is the Wi-Fi connection? I'm doing all of this in the middle of a vast car park where there is no Wi-Fi. My phone is telling me there is no Wi-Fi connection but the system demands that I still turn it on. Is there something I'm missing? So it seems that there is no way you can connect a modern phone up wirelessly to a car without having to use Android Auto. This is not Skoda's problem. This is a phone issue, so I am going to have to get some clarification from the manufacturer. Thank goodness they are pretty quick in coming back. One thing the lads at Skoda seemed to concur on was that if my Mobile Data is switched off, and unless by magic it can be switched on remotely without me knowing, my data will not be eaten in to. The system is only using what is in the phone, (ie the contacts, phone call history etc., and any downloaded information that is offline such as music or photos or the like, so that is sort of reassuring. If I felt the need to start surfing the internet whilst tootling along in the traffic, risking the wrath of the overhead CCTV cameras, passing policemen and general busybody whistleblowers, I's need to manually turn the Mobile Data back on - which ain't going to happen! The other thing that interests me that I haven't tried yet is that I'm given the option in set up of hard wiring the phone via the USB-C ports in both my car and the phone. What does that give you? It sounds to me, like you have to have the phone hanging on one of those fixtures that fits in the air conditioning vent and you are back to time when you had to press things on the phone - or am I looking at this wrongly?

You should be given the choice, no doubt about it. But I have tried several times in a few different ways. I just haven't found it yet. Maybe after my visit to Skoda tomorrow I'll get the epiphany! Either way, I'll be posting my findings tomorrow when I return. Watch this space!

Thanks for this. What effect does this have? Before I commit, I am going to have a trip down to Skoda tomorrow and check things out and see what they have to say. There must be others who have queried it.

I'm a total pleb as regards all of this! Not my area of expertise by any stretch! So, will someone please clarify things for me. My new phone, when pairing with my Karoq Amundsen goes off on one and leads me down the path of Android Auto. It appears there are no options or choices in the matter. I can't just pair up, like I did with my previous phone of four years unfettered use, and just go hands-free and have all of my contacts and phone related information at my finger tips. I've tried turning off all the settings on my new phone that are anything to do with Android Auto in the hope my phone returns to some sort of basicallity and just pairs normally but doesn't seem to want to know. I live in hope, but I can't help but feel that hope is fading with each small realisation. So, instead, it seems that I am expected to have a complete extension to all the capabilities of my smartphone installed on my infotainment system. God knows how I'll get to use them when I'm driving down the M56 at 70mph, or dodging the school run and all the kids and prams thereof but there you go! The disturbing thing is, and I'm confused as to whether it's true or not, is that even though I have my Mobile Data permanently turned off, (I tend to use this valuable commodity very sparingly), I am still incurring charges for data usage, whereas before, with my previous brick, (phone), all charges were taken care of via my phone contract allowing unlimited calls, (and texts, but that is a no-no when driving isn't it!). Evertime a new car is launched with even newer technology, it makes me wonder how these minds work. I am still trying to fathom why the Columbus system in my old L&K Yeti, which I traded 3 years since, could play not only acceptable CDs, which aren't so much of a distraction when running, but also DVDs. And you could play them whilst driving. There's nothing like watching Die Hard, (which is a Christmas movie despite what they are saying), when your driving down the M6 at 70mph on a snowy winters evening! Thank goodness I'm not that stupid. I'm going into the main dealers tomorrow to try and get a handle on all this, but if anyone can enlighten me, on anything to do with this, in a simple way for my sake, I would really appreciate it.

I'm very close to your exasperation level! I have a Karoq 1.5 TSi SEL (2022) with Amundsen. My previous phone obviously didn't have Android Auto so the connection, just to be able to use my phone hands free, (which is all I want apart from the car having all the contacts in place), was simple and straightforward. Not so now. I've bought a new phone that obviously has this complication. I can't seem to just connect it using Bluetooth and using it as a hands free. I have to have all of my apps and everything else there too. I spend a lot of time in the car actually driving it so I really don't need all of this distraction. All I want is the phone with all of my contacts and when I open the door and climb in I need it to connect automatically as soon as I switch the engine on. I've tried several times now. I've paired and unpaired and tried again but I haven't so far found a work around. I can't work out if I have to switch Android Auto off from my phone. I don't seem to be able to switch anything off in the car settings. Why oh why do they make things so complicated. Any way, did you find any answers?