Android Auto has been around for a while and of recent, undergone some significant transformation. We’ve seen the new interface added in July last year. We’ve also seen limited availability of Wireless Android Auto in November. It now seems that the official availability of wireless Android Auto has expanded further.
The new regions and countries where wireless Android Auto will now be officially supported are:
- Australia
- Austria
- Germany
- France
- India
- Ireland
- Italy
- New Zealand
- Philippines
- Singapore
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Spain
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- United Kingdom
This does not mean that all phones will be compatible and it does not mean that all head units will be compatible. There is still a limitation on which phones are officially supported and having used and tested quite a few phones on a wireless Android Auto head unit the experience differs from one to another. For your knowledge, at this stage Pixels and Samsung Galaxy phones work best (and they are about all that are officially supported anyway).
| Phone Make and Model | Android Version |
|---|---|
| Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL | Android 8.0 or higher |
| Pixel 4 or Pixel 4 XL | Android 10.0 or higher |
| Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8+ | Android 9.0 or higher |
| Samsung Galaxy S9 or S9+ | Android 9.0 or higher |
| Samsung Galaxy S10 or S10+ | Android 9.0 or higher |
| Samsung Note 8, Note 9 and Note 10 | Android 9.0 or higher |
| Other Samsung models | Android 10.0 or higher |
At this stage there are very few Android Auto head units on the market in Australia that support wireless Android Auto. We do know that Kenwood have a model or two that support it and we know that Kenwood are looking to introduce some more advanced ones into our market this year.
The problem of course is that many car manufacturers make it difficult to install after market head units these days. The best bet for these is for the manufacturers to support it with their hardware — but given how resistant so many in Australia were to Android Auto I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for that.
The continued development of Android Auto, its connectivity and functionality is significant. It’s come a long way and will continue to progress, whether the wireless connectivity is a big winner or not remains to be seen.
