Any decent cable should work. Chances are the cable you were trying to use at first was cheap and didn't have the data bandwidth for Android Auto.1) I found that only the original usb cable that came with my Samsung Galaxy S6 would have the Android Auto work. At first, I used a cable that came with an adapter / cable bought off of Amazon (a second "backup") and Android Auto would not work. The backsplash would change but none of the buttons were responsive. The phone did say to use the "original" cable that came with the phone but I obviously shrugged that off. It worked right away with the original cable and when I switched to the other one it again did not work. I don't know how the heck the system can distinguish the proper cable from the "impostor." Not really a question, I guess, but has anyone else had this happen?
2) After I plug my phone in and Android Auto is engaged, I cannot use my phone at all (hitting home button, swiping does nothing, just stays on the Android Auto screen). Again, is this normal? I mean I understand not using the phone while driving, but sometimes I need to access the phone and as of now, I have to pull the cable to use it. Is there a workaround?
Kev
If you hit the "recent apps" button and then the home button, it should return to your actual home screen. It does for me, at least. Otherwise you can just switch to another app using the recents menu and use it.