HTC Car doesn't always start automatically

helpwithmy8525

Senior Member
Aug 16, 2007
64
3
0
Hello,

I have the HTC EVO 4G LTE and the official car dock that I purchased from the Sprint store. If I understand correctly, this dock should automatically send my phone into the HTC Car app when plugged in. This happens sometimes, but not all the time--it's hit or miss. I haven't been able to pinpoint exactly why it won't go into HTC Car mode sometimes, and it's becoming frustrating after only a few days. Usually I can just unplug it and immediately replug it--I do that once or twice, and then it works.

Does anyone know how/why this is? I read somewhere that the connectors on the dock are somehow different than the "standard" micro USB connectors, which is what alerts the phone that it is in a car dock. I really would like this to work automatically, 100% of the time, because I absolutely LOVE the HTC Car app. It blows away Garmin and TomTom GPS. And it automatically turns on bluetooth and connects to my bluetooth headset for any calls, and to my HTC Car StereoClip and resumes playing the last music or radio station.

Must fix this. :(
 

hshshawn

Senior Member
Jul 26, 2010
230
45
0
Columbus, Oh
plus.google.com
When in the car app click on the bottom bar with the white arrows and Bluetooth symbol to launch settings and make sure that auto-launch is selected and auto-connect if you want to connect to Bluetooth as well.

Also I have found you have to click it in all the way to get it to launch. Once the charge light comes on it does not necessarily mean it is completely docked. I was running into this problem as well but these 2 things have it working great for me so far
 

helpwithmy8525

Senior Member
Aug 16, 2007
64
3
0
I have triple- and quadruple-checked...and yes, I have the option set to automatically go into Car Mode when docked. I have found myself pushing the phone down rather "hard," to ensure it connects "all the way." But yea, this is a very annoying little glitch. Last week, I found myself playing with it waaaaay too much, as far as taking it out and putting it back in to see if it would go into Car Mode. 1) This is dangerous, and I probably shouldn't be doing that much while driving. 2) In some instances, by the time I got it to dock automatically, I was just a block or two from where I was going. SMH...

I know you can always start car mode manually, but it's so inconvenient. If you weren't aware already, when car mode works automatically, it automatically turns on bluetooth and connects to my bluetooth headset for any calls, and to my HTC Car StereoClip and resumes playing the last music or radio station. And when you take it out of the dock, it turns off bluetooth and disconnects from your devices...saving you time and just making things more intuitive.
 

hshshawn

Senior Member
Jul 26, 2010
230
45
0
Columbus, Oh
plus.google.com
I have triple- and quadruple-checked...and yes, I have the option set to automatically go into Car Mode when docked. I have found myself pushing the phone down rather "hard," to ensure it connects "all the way." But yea, this is a very annoying little glitch. Last week, I found myself playing with it waaaaay too much, as far as taking it out and putting it back in to see if it would go into Car Mode. 1) This is dangerous, and I probably shouldn't be doing that much while driving. 2) In some instances, by the time I got it to dock automatically, I was just a block or two from where I was going. SMH...

I know you can always start car mode manually, but it's so inconvenient. If you weren't aware already, when car mode works automatically, it automatically turns on bluetooth and connects to my bluetooth headset for any calls, and to my HTC Car StereoClip and resumes playing the last music or radio station. And when you take it out of the dock, it turns off bluetooth and disconnects from your devices...saving you time and just making things more intuitive.
I do know what you mean it still doesn't launch automatically for me as well sometimes. I was just suggesting those if you hadnt known or tried them. I am not sure if it is a software issue with the phone or a hardware issue with the dock connections? Hopefully they can fix it with an OTA but if not I will be expecting a replacement dock for sure.

For now I solved the issue by making an NFC switch to turn on bluetooth and car app along with a few other things like turning my media volume up and turn off wifi if I forgot to leaving the house or work. Then getting out of the car a second tap reverses everything.
 

wvufan

Senior Member
Mar 13, 2006
60
13
0
I've noticed this too and was just getting ready to search about this issue when I see it at the top of the list. I've seen it work about 1/3 to 1/2 the time, and if it doesn't, if I undock, turn screen off/on then unlock and try again, it seems to work most of the time (could be fooling myself, though).

I thought Locale could address, but problem is that phone is not recognizing the car dock, not that it fails to launch the app. I'd hope this is fixed in upcoming release if one of the awesome modders doesn't figure it out first.
 

TheDoctor1971

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2008
104
5
0
Definitely hit or miss. Most of the time car mode doesn't launch at all. It is detecting the dock though or the screen wouldn't turn on like it does. Normal charging doesn't make the screen turn on. I'm still stumped though.