On mobile phones there is no problem with applications, but this is not the case in cars: Android Auto is not full of applications. And it's even worse in the case of Android Automotive, it's not for nothing that the software ready to be installed in the car is much less. Faced with this lack, Google is launching a program to improve embedded applications.
We like Android Auto because it offers great compatibility, because everything works on the phone and, very importantly, because it allows you to equip the vehicle with entertainment without any complications other than maintaining the link between the vehicle and the smartphone. This simplicity is amplified in the case of cars with pre-installed Android, as is the case for automobiles: They don't need a phone to work. However, they are at a disadvantage.
Google wants Android Automotive to speed up
Polestar 4 with Android Automotive. Image of the Polestar
The smart vehicle ecosystem has a bit of a mess when it comes to Google. On the one hand, there is Android Auto, the infotainment system projected into the car and running on the mobile phone; Then there's Android Automotive, a complete operating system installed in the vehicle itself. And there is a third variant closely related to automobiles: cars with Google Built In. They have a Play Store and Android applications, but with a very limited number.
Android Automotive and Google Built In are closely related: the second includes the first. This is something similar to what happens with Android AOSP and Google Apps: while Automotive is the base of the operating system, Google Built In are the Google services and apps that run on top.
Because the execution environment in cars is very different from that of mobile phones or tablets, all applications for vehicles require very specific requirements. and a approval processn that Google is relaxing: starting in February, the Car ready mobile application program will facilitate the development of software in the video, games and browser categories.
As Google confirms on the developers page:
The Car-Ready Mobile Apps program delivers eligible applications in the video, games, and browser categories to cars with little or no additional development work. From February 2025, eligible apps can be downloaded from the Google Play Store on cars running Android Automotive and Google Built-in.
Easing application eligibility criteria will allow many more software to make it onto vehicle dashboards and screens. Just as was the case with Android Auto and its relaxation of criteria, Automotive will see its ecosystem of compatible applications multiply throughout 2025.
Cover image | polar star
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