android auto false moisture detected

[useryRPlrgiVwd]

Purchased a new RAV4 almost a year ago and now find when I connect my Samsung S10+  to the car using  a short USB cable android auto keeps screaming moisture detected and to remove the phone. If I take the same cable and plug into house no problem at all it charges. I have never had it near water or moisture. 

Unable to find a permanent work around and seems no one has been able to fix the problem since 2019.

Some say its an app Problem others to clear the cache in the phone, but all seem to have the problem return after a while.  So frustrating. Is Samsung or google going to fix the problem or do we just stop using android auto or maybe buy a different brand of phone as it seems to only be Samsung that has this problem that I have read.

Any helpful information would be great.

[AricR]

I recently purchased a 2018 Jeep Renegade with Android Auto.  My Galaxy S10+ also has this issue. At first, I thought it was an issue with my Jeep due to the fact that Android Auto works flawlessly on my wife's 2018 Hyundai Kona using the same cables and Galaxy S10+. I have literally never had this issue with Android Auto in that car before.

Every time I plug my phone it into the USB port on my Jeep in an attempt to activate Android Auto, I get the "moisture detected" error pop on my phone.  Over the last few days I have used different cables, purchased a brand new cable, tested in the Kona as well as the Jeep I have found the following symptoms:

1. I have never been able to re-create the issue in the 2018 Hyundai Kona at all

2. Android Auto will SOMETIMES work and the phone will start charging as well. However, If I pull out the usb cable and plug it back in 2 to 3 times, the dreaded "moisture detected" error will return

3. Wiping the cache partition on my phone makes Android Auto start up successfully, but then if I pull out the USB cable and plug it back in the issue will return as in point #2.

4. All of my USB-C cables will charge the phone from a wall outlet without ever triggering the moisture detected issue at all.

5. Goes without saying, but my phone has NEVER seen water and never had this issue occur prior to plugging my phone into my new 2018 Jeep that I purchased a few days ago.

Due to the fact that I have never experienced this issue in the 2018 Kona but seem to be able to re-create this issue reliably and predictably in the 2018 Jeep leads me to think that there must be two reasons for this issue:

1.  A discrepancy between the Android Auto interface APIs in the Hyundai Kona head unit and the Jeep head unit.  Maybe they are  running different versions of the android auto interface? I have no idea how to check this, or if it's even possible to check?

2. There is something wonky with the electrical signals being sent between the USB ports in the Hyundai vs the Jeep.  Maybe the Jeep is sending some type of signal that's triggering the moisture detection sensor?

I think that if either of those two issues are the culprits, I think from Samsung's perspective it should be relatively easy to code around. If the Android Auto interfaces in the head units have some type of discrepancy in the version or another attribute, Samsung SHOULD be able to tell the moisture detection sensor to ignore it or treat it as normal. Same goes if the signals sent from the USB ports are different between the cars.

Another solid test would be if someone had a newer Galaxy phone. Perhaps and S20, S20+, or even a newer A-series phone and an android auto head unit to test with and see if the issue is resolved in those phones?  Then back-port whichever software fix resolved the issue, assuming the moisture detection sensors are the same between the phones.

I would gladly volunteer to provide to Samsung any debugging details they might need to diagnose the issue on their side.  If there's some logs I could grab from my phone, or any debugging apps or tools I can install please let me know. Especially because my situation has an android auto head unit that consistently works and another which consistently does not work.

[Members_jMb6hMn]

I have a 2021 Honda Passport and a Galaxy S20. I've had this issue with a 2020 Passport and a Galaxy S17 as well. It is immensely frustrating. I may have to switch phone brands since my car is new. I agree with the wonky USB theory. I drive rentals for work and only have this issue with my own Honda.  I have used several cords. It seems if you even touch the usb cord android auto resets. The stop feature for the android system occasionally fixes the issue for a short time. 

[AricR]

I am very surprised that Samsung hasn't publicly acknowledged this issue as of yet. It doesn't seem to be difficult to re-create as so many people appear to be having similar issues. I'm very surprised that the QA teams at Samsung haven't discovered it yet. Unless they aren't testing Android Auto across a variety of head units?

Aside from not being able to use Android Auto, it's even worse that I cannot even charge my phone from my car. It makes me worried that I might become stranded somewhere and risk running out of battery. Even if Samsung allowed you to "turn off" the moisture sensor so you could plug your phone in for basic charging, I would feel a lot better. I know it would be "at my own risk", but at this point I'm going to have my car longer than my phone.

This is an incredibly frustrating issue not being able to use functionality promised from a smartphone we have paid good money for. If it's something that cannot be acknowledged and/or resolved, I will have to buy a different phone brand on my next upgrade.

However, I would like to reiterate that I would love to volunteer to submit any data I can gather from my S10 to Samsung to diagnose the issue.

[userB2BHCdtpt7]

Glad to see I am not the only one having this issue as of late. I was using my Samsung S20+ with Android Auto on my 2017 Chevy Cruze while on a road trip last weekend. I updated my phone before leaving that morning. Halfway through the drive, the 'moisture detected' alert began blaring and I disconnected the cable immediately, despite there being no liquid anywhere near the device. The phone worked and charged normally after getting home, the alert disappeared as well. But when I went to use Android Auto the following day the same alert came up and has not gone away in a week. I am now unable to use any cable with my device and am stuck with wireless charging. All of the tips to fix it (wiping the cache, rebooting in safe mode, cleaning the port, etc) have not worked at all.

Samsung Support directed me to send my phone in for repairs (and pay for it) which seems a bit absurd considering this seems to be a software issue at fault. Some Googling revealed that issues with the moisture detected message seem to be quite common on Galaxy devices. Google seemed to be aware of an issue with it directly related to Android Auto last year: https://support.google.com/androidauto/thread/55360097/samsung-note-10-gets-a-moisture-detected-erro... 

Any help from Samsung would be great, but we shall see.

[useryRPlrgiVwd]

First off I would like to thank everyone for their comments and support. As you say Samsung is trying to keep away from answering this problem and even making some people pay to have their phones checked. Just a disgrace and needs to be addressed. Has anyone got recommendations of phones that work with your car without faulting like Samsung's? I also have a new car and do not intend to replace it in the near future. Much cheaper to get a new phone. Seem Samsung sales must be going well if they want people to move away from their phones, they are sure showing the way.

I also have an a new 8K TV and Sound Bar with problems no one can fix so I guess it looks like Samsung is losing the race so to speak. 

An answer from Samsung would be nice, even to say they don't understand the problem??

[AricR]

So I may have discovered another work around for the android auto issue. Browing various articles about Android Auto integration, I discovered that some Android ROMs allow you to change the USB settings under the developer options to allow "File Transfer/Android Auto". Although, on the Galaxy Android ROMs this simply says, "File Transfer". I thought perhaps this enables some type of USB optimized mode for data transfer vs traditional charging? Yesterday, I enabled this setting and was able to successfully use Android Auto in my 2018 Jeep 4 times consecutively. Previously, I might be able to get it to connect once before triggering the moisture sensor. Here's what I did:

1. Enable developer mode via this guide: https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/activate-developer-options-your-galaxy-s10-0194524/ this might be slightly different if you don't have an S10+

2. Under settings -> developer options -> Default USB configuration, check the box for "Transferring Files".

3. I then turned off my phone, wiped the cache partition, and rebooted (not sure if this was necessary, but I did it anyway).

It seems stable so far, I'll post here again if hit any more moisture sensor issues in the coming days. See the attached screenshot for what it looks like on my side.

[useryRPlrgiVwd]

Many thanks for the reply. I do hope it works. I will wait for a few days to see if you have had success and then I will try it as well. Will also let you know if it comes back again. 

Not an expert in these things I am afraid, but so good to find some who is.

Kindest Regards

[AricR]

Update #1 - I am optimistically cautious that my fix may have corrected the issue if not SEVERELY minimized the number of occurances. Since yesterday, I have taken 6 total drives in my Jeep. On each of those 6 trips I was successfully able to use Android Auto without any hiccups at all.

This morning I decided to sit in my car and give it a real test. On battery-only mode, I plugged my phone in, started a song in pandora and unplugged my phone. I did that 4 times in succession. Each time, android auto started without a hitch and resumed playing the Pandora song.

A few minutes ago during my lunch break I repeated the test again. This time, on the fourth time, I finally got a "moisture detected" alarm. However, as soon as the screen went black, it went away. 4 times after that I repeated the test again with zero alerts.

I am wondering if that one instance of the alert was a fluke? I'll keep everyone posted if I see it happen again. However, this is a giant improvement over how it was a few days ago. I would be lucky to get Android Auto working at all, or even my phone charging.

Has anyone else tried this with any level of success on their side?

[useryRPlrgiVwd]

Ok Just went through the instructions you gave, but did not clean any cache. So will keep you posted in the next few days and see if it worked for me on my S10+. I am moving  at the moment so if I disappear for a day or so I will be back.. Maybe Samsung might give you a job....if all goes well.