The time is up for Google’s Android Auto for Cellphone Screens app. It has stopped working as of this week. In case your automotive lacks a show, you’ll now should depend on Google Assistant Driving Mode for navigation, media controls, and different obligatory usages throughout driving. It’s not a like-for-like alternative however does an honest job. There are a number of third-party options as properly.
This shutdown of Android Auto for Cellphone screens has been coming for a protracted
Launched again in 2015, the telephone model of Android Auto turned your smartphone right into a driving companion with an optimized UI that includes bigger contact targets and different components. It was fairly helpful, significantly if the automotive didn’t function a display or the pinnacle unit was not appropriate with Android Auto.
Google needed to enhance the telephone expertise and developed Assistant Driving Mode in 2019. The plan was to exchange the telephone model of Android Auto with the brand new answer. However the rollout of Assistant Driving Mode was delayed and the corporate as an alternative made a devoted telephone app referred to as Android Auto for Cellphone Screens.
The app served the aim effectively however Google saved pushing for Assistant Driving Mode. Regardless that many individuals didn’t like the brand new answer as a result of it wasn’t a great alternative, the corporate began forcing it final yr.
If the launch of the Assistant Driving Mode was the primary nail within the coffin of the Android Auto app for telephones, the arrival of Android 12 put one other nail in it. Google dropped help for the app on the brand new Android model. It left fewer appropriate gadgets for the app — solely these operating Android 11 or older. Customers with newer gadgets had to make use of Assistant Driving Mode or Android Auto on the automotive show, or swap to an answer from different manufacturers.
However a number of weeks again, these nonetheless accessing Android Auto for Cellphone Screens additionally began seeing warnings that the app will cease working quickly. Google didn’t specify when the app will chew the mud. However the suspense didn’t final lengthy. As of this week, it’s formally lifeless, despite the fact that the brand new answer has but to see a common adoption.
You should now swap to Assitant Driving Mode or another answer
Opening the Android Auto for Cellphone Screens app now redirects you to the Android Auto settings web page. It accommodates a discover that reads: Android Auto is now solely accessible for automotive screens (via). Whether or not you prefer it or not, you will need to now swap to Assistant Driving Mode or another navigation app for Android.
