Credit: Google via Android Blog
Three years after Google first introduced the Android Auto app, the company this week announced major car manufacturers Audi and Volvo will use the OS as the native user interface in their next generation of vehicles. According to Google, that means users will be able to control their air conditioning, sunroof, and windows; search for restaurants and get directions on Google Maps; stream music; and ask Google Assistant for help all from their car’s infotainment system.
“Where cars are going, everything is integrated into one display,” Android’s President of Engineering Patrick Brady told Bloomberg. “We think the future is much more a seamless, integrated system.”
The Android Auto app enables similar capabilities by projecting content from a smartphone to a car’s touchscreen, but Google indicated a standalone version of the software will come baked into the new Audi and Volvo cars. As with the phone version of its software, Brady said Android Auto will be customizable, allowing the vehicle OEMs to tweak the interface, controls, and preloaded apps included.
A preview of Audi and Volvo’s Android Auto systems will reportedly be available this week at Google I/O.
