One big question connected cars still need to reckon with is what happens when things go wrong? In the past, an infotainment malfunction usually involved replacing hardware on the car or flashing software via a USB stick, but in an age of connectivity, some infotainment problems may be out of owners’ hands. As of last week, 2023 and 2024 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring owners are reporting widespread internet outages that are preventing them from using infotainment features their cars came with.
For the 2023 model year, Honda announced that Google Assistant, Google Maps, and Google Play would be built right into the native infotainment system of the Accord Touring Hybrid. In theory, this should work great as all of those Google apps are quite good. Hell, Google Maps is the most popular navigation app in America because it just works. As a bonus, Honda throws in a three-year unlimited-data plan for these Google apps, using AT&T as a cellular network.
However, last week, Accord Touring Hybrid owners started to report network connectivity issues well within the period of Honda’s included data plan. All of those Google apps just aren’t working, which is a problem as Honda promised these features. So what’s going on, and what’s being done to fix this?
Around February 16, Accord Touring Hybrid owners started to report that they couldn’t use their built-in Google apps. A rush of forum, Facebook, and Reddit posts poured in, which isn’t surprising considering how frequently drivers rely on in-cabin technology. Interestingly, limited connectivity seems to manifest in different ways for different owners. The Facebook user above can access Google Maps but reportedly can’t get traffic information to show. The forum poster below reports that “none of my apps worked… iHeartRadio had errors, Google Maps wouldn’t work but I could get all my HondaLink apps and notifications to work.”
While it’s easy to assume that this may be an error relating to subscription length, that might not be the case. While the owner above reports that “I kept getting errors until I finally purchased a data plan for the car and everything is working now like it should,” Some Accord Touring Hybrid owners report splashing out on a plan with AT&T and still not having a functional data connection. As the owner below put it, “I purchased it and it still doesn’t work.”
Interestingly, we haven’t found any reports of failed internet connections from Canadian Accord Hybrid Touring owners, which may be due to Canadian models using a different cellular provider. American models use AT&T, while Canadian models use Bell Canada. This seems to suggest the issue may lie somewhere between Honda and AT&T. Needless to say, we’ve reached out to both the automaker and the telecommunications giant to see what’s going on, and will update this article as we receive more information.
Above all the frustration, it’s a huge problem that Accord Hybrid Touring owners can’t access included functions as they may have been a key selling point for that particular trim level. Honda ought to extend everyone’s trial periods by the same length as the outage period once issues are resolved, as every Accord Hybrid Touring owner paid for three years of app functionality when they bought their cars. Just because it was rolled into the price tag doesn’t mean there isn’t a total cost attached.
Interestingly, this isn’t the only time in the past few years that a Honda product has been affected by software issues. Back in 2022, owners of older Honda and Acura vehicles with factory navigation systems had their internal clocks stuck in 2002 due to a GPS rollover error.
This aggravating issue with fully-loaded 2023 and 2024 Honda Accord models highlights a greater fear of connected cars: If a car is dependent on any outside factors for a feature to work, you may not get that feature all the time. The taps can be shut off remotely, whether due to a bug or due to a manufacturer reset. It’s been previously reported that Tesla has removed downloadable features from cars after ownership is transferred, which is far more insidious than a mere glitch. Prompt, continued automaker support for connected features is necessary for sustaining a connected car ecosystem, and given that this issue’s been going on for days with no immediate suggestion of resolution, it’s hard to find confidence that all manufacturers will provide the same level of software support for their cars as some cell phone companies do for their devices.
(Photo credits: Honda, Facebook, Reddit, Thomas Hundal)
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How did Honda manage to break AT&T.
Good timing, appears to be some issues nationwide with AT&T this morning (2/22).
Ah, AT&T: Fewer bars in more places.
It’s interference. Caused by the Jewish Space Lasers. Google it.
Most likely ATT is just prioritizing Cell phones for data and “connected devices” get throttled to all hell. There probably is not fix unless honda can bribe ATT to give these devices more bandwidth which they won’t.
The current generation Honda Accord also has connectivity issues with the souls of its ancestors.
well DUH, it’s AT&T! What did you expect?
AT&T has the worst coverage of any cellular provider. They refuse to enter sharing agreements with anyone to maximize profits. I was a prisoner of them in my supplier provider network. When submitting internet orders twice a week I couldn’t transmit an order within 10 miles from my house. Honda using AT&T was a horrendous decision akin tofull steam ahead command on the Titanic.
AT&T seems to get all the corporate deals somehow. A bunch of manufacturers use them for their connected crap
Because they are in the major population areas where businesses are. Not where xars are.
My car also lost Internet connectivity. It didn’t care.
Troubles with using AT&T?
I’m shocked, shocked I say.
We’ve been having issues with our phones on AT&T recently. Before that generally those of us in my area with AT&T had better connectivity than the other carriers, but now I have 1 bar in most of town. Somehow I’m suspicious that the new wireless internet service in town is messing it up but seems unlikely from a technical perspective.
Why don’t these damned infotainment systems just work through my phone where I already pay for a huge amount of data? There really is no need for another cell modem in the car, wifi in the car, and YET ANOTHER SUBSCRIPTION.
There are some cars that do just this, have an option to connect to wifi and you can tether. Or, you know, the huge number of vehicles that have CarPlay or AndroidAuto which essentially achieves the same result.
Good to know since I don’t actually own a car with “infotainment”, Carplay, or Android Auto. I just use my phone on a magnetic mount.
I did the phone mount thing for years- the integration is a lot better. For one, sound quality is better than Bluetooth can manage, and just the overall usability is nice. It’s a low priority upgrade but I wouldn’t buy a newish daily driver without it.
Using up bandwidth and dealing with blips when you fall out of range is not something I want to live with, so I just have a tiny USB drive filled with FLAC files in the head unit.
This is a fine solution. Also since most phones have plenty of space nowadays, it’s easy enough to have all your music downloaded on there à la iPod. I believe many cars also let you put music on the navigation SD card.
GM decided it didnt need any of the tech world gimmicks. Yeah.
Welcome to my first year of ownership with a Polestar 2, the TCAM (Telematics Module) was a big issue that they fixed with software but took a while. You will be driving and suddenly sorry, no more google maps (GPS location gone), no more spotify, no more phone connectivity to unlock-lock the car, charging schedules gone, calling to the equivalent of OnStar was useless since you needed connection to get started. Sometimes a 12V battery reset worked but if that didn’t fix it, trip to the dealership. That was when they didn’t have Apple Car Play as workaround.
The funny thing, one time the loaner provided had the same issue… the nerve
I never considered how much it would suck for your car to be tied to one carrier and whatever technology/issues they have…. What happens when everyone finally realizes 5G is being used by China to control our brains and we have to switch to something else? does that mean all cars with only a 5G radio will no longer have service? Or if ATT coverage actually got worse (somehow).
This has actually already happened, early FCA Uconnect vehicles had 2G Cellular radios in them that are now long-dead. FCA tried to offer a 3G ODB-II Dongle to provide upgraded connectivity for those vehicles, pretty sure the take rate was negative on those.
Well, even 3G is gone now. My 2014 Elantra GT doesn’t keep time properly anymore, despite having a GPS built in which could just as easily provide accurate time. But somehow they set it up to hit an NTP server over the 3G and without it, it displays the wrong time unless I put it into manual mode, in which case it just doesn’t keep time very well.
I still get spam to upgrade the 3G on my Charger to 4G.
Honda didn’t pay the cellular bill after adding so many people to their plan?
I’ve seen this on Judge Mathis. Several times. They will definitely clear it all up with their tax refund check.
Car companies have been software-driven for well over a decade now. Why do the all still suck so much at integrations and UX? They seemed to understand analog UX most of the time in the before times; the long-ago. What happened?
I suspect a lot more thought was put into the UX of physical controls because it was so much more costly and time-consuming to change them. When it cost you thousands of dollars in tooling to add a button you made damn sure that button was a) needed and b) in the right place. Now that any code monkey can add a new button to the screen in 30 seconds there’s a lot less need to think about it as carefully so they don’t.
What’s especially amazing is that not only did the calendar date get stuck in 2002, but the calendar design itself appears to be from 2002. Technology is a dark magick indeed.
That shot appears to be of a ~2007 Acura CSX (fancy Canadian Civic).
It restarted in 2002. Now those nav systems are into 2003 (ask me how I know). You literally can’t reset them to the current date. They will never be correct again. At least the time worked…after a 6 months wait for the next gps cycle reset.
just wanted to commend you for the top shot – definitely made those modem noises out loud.
Me too, including the parenthetical “modem noises”.