For as long as we’ve had Android Auto there has been one question above all else that has plagued users: Why oh why doesn’t it work with ‘OK Google’. Surely their in-car preferably hands-free interface is the number one place to have OK Google detection?
Well, whatever the reason it seems Google is finally rolling out OK Google hotword detection to the Android Auto App, for both standalone and in-dash systems. Unfortunately, it seems that the update is either US only, has a server side component or perhaps even both.
Despite sideloading the latest version of the app, none of the Ausdroid staff could get it working. The way to tell if it’s “worked” is to go into the voice settings in the Google app and check the working for “While driving”, if it says “Works in Google Maps” you’re not upgraded if it says “Works in Google Maps and Android Auto” you are. See below.
If you’ve got the update or you just noticed you’ve got the new functionality let us know, we really hope it’s just a normal Google slow rollout.
