Have you checked that you can do other things with bluetooth from the phone, like phone calls? It may be a setup thing involving volume controls....

I'd then find a friend with an Android phone and check that works OK before buying.

But if you then buy a new phone, avoid the obviously Chinese brand names (the ones you hadn't heard of 5 years ago, as they report what you do to Red Army Central, no kidding), and avoid Samsung (which is chock full of bloatware and also unavoidably reports back to base, but the hardware is good).

Generally, Android seems to work better with Blutetooth than Apple, possibly because the latter is obsessed with forcing you into spending money solely in the Apple Universe - they love "proprietary"....

 

 

Have you tried adjusting the settings in Google maps whilst the Bluetooth is connected to the car?
At risk of asking a noddy question are you listening to audio from the phone? If Bluetooth isn’t the audio source in the car then you won’t hear anything from the phone.

 

I thank the responders, but I was really interested to know if UP owners with Android phones get non-music/phone calls—specifically Google Maps—audio on their car speakers, connected/paired via Bluetooth.

I have only seen others UP-ers with iPhones post the same problem: no audio directions—neither on the car speakers nor from the phone. Apple music and phone calls work as expected, but audio directions from Google Maps only from your iPhone if Bluetooth is turned off.

UP-ers with Android phones using Google Maps, pl respond.

 

Not an android user but had a play this morning with Google maps on an iPhone XS in a 2020 e-up!, audio was a podcast playing from the phone via Bluetooth. Without adjusting the settings Google maps would play the first couple of seconds of any direction before going silent then the podcast would come back on, eg “in 300yds ___”
Went into settings and selected play as Bluetooth phone call and I got the full directions but it came through the stereo as a phone call. This seemed to take a bit longer to come through the stereo as it had to launch the phone call, I’d stopped at this point so I wasn’t able to tell if this delay would effect the timeliness of the instruction. I’ll have a bit of a play later when I’m driving again but I think if I’m playing the instructions as a phone call it should be able to interrupt another audio source…
Might be a bit cheaper than changing phone, unless you’re due to do that anyway

 

Had a further play, with Google maps set as per my screenshot the directions come through the car stereo as a phone call, they interrupt the radio and they are timely enough to be useful. No need to go android to solve this problem.

 

Thanks again, Cornish Expat.

The "workaround", of playing Google Maps sound as a phone call, does work, as you say (and as others in the past have blogged/said). I also found I had to select "LOUDER" on the G;Map setting and had to crank up the volume control on the Infotainment volume knob. I'd say turning off Bluetooth and getting audio from my iPhone is a less unsatisfactory work around—but unsatisfactory nonetheless.

The ideal would be to be able to use the (Lightening) connector supplied to keep the phone charged, play FM Classic on the radio and have the phone's G.Map app mute the radio and come over the speakers!! I'm hoping to get all this with a cheap (second) Android phone, connected via a "data blocker" (power supply only for charging). [Samsung Galaxy A32 5G, iD Mobile SIM deal.]

VW "Digital Services Team" (after phone calls and emails) simply said "WeConnect is not compatible". The local VW dealer suggested "turn up the volume control".

I will try my one of my grandkids' phones, maybe this weekend if don't hear from an UP-er with an Android phone in the meantime.

 

When I first took a call via Bluetooth it was really quiet, IIRC somewhere in the car stereo settings is an option for Bluetooth call volume, I turned this up and the next time I took a call it was as loud as the radio. The Nav volume today was ok when it was coming through as a call. I would assume that any Android device that’s sending its audio directions as a phone call would be just as quiet if this is a setting on the car.
If this is the case then a data blocker for an iPhone has to be cheaper than getting a second phone! I’ve attached a wireless charger to the vw phone mount which effectively does the job of a data blocker.

 

Many thanks, Cornish expat! I tried an Android phone and it seems less troublesome.
Howecer, I persevered with your advice, and now I've got all I wanted. Goggle Maps prompts "as a phone call" now comes through lud and clear, muting the music from the radio, all as I wanted, with a data blocker USB connecter between the VW provided connector (USB female-Lightening male).
Incidentally, the rate of charging seems quite surprisingly ferocious and my iPhone gets noticeably warm! It's like using my new Apple charger with the iPhone 12: "fast" charging as Apple puts it. I wonder what the VW phone charge voltage is?? A 15 minute drive was enough to charge from about 50% to 80%.