Since Android Auto was released, and we are now talking about the distant 2015, smartphones have evolved with it and as is usually the case in this segment, the older ones have become incompatible with the passage of time. We started with the minimum requirement of Android 5.0, and then asked for the next version of Google’s operating system as a minimum requirement, and so on until the beginning of this year, when Google changed the basic requirements for a smartphone, requiring at least Android 8.0 (and later versions).
So far no problem for those older and unable to be updated to the required versions, however now Google has now begun to enforce its latest policy by preventing incompatible phones from accessing Android Auto. Of course, we are talking about the version for connected displays and compatible cars, not the one for smartphones which has long since disappeared. In the past few weeks, people running Android Auto 7.0 to 7.7 on their smartphones have noticed a pop-up in the app asking them to make an update in order to use the feature.
However, people with a smartphone running Android operating system prior to Android 8.0 cannot update the app, because Android Auto 7.4 is the latest version of the app compatible with these devices, so they cannot access the app or update it. to the new version. Said plainly and simply, Smartphones with an Android version installed prior to Android 8.0 will no longer be able to access Android Auto.
If you are within the 15% that still uses Android 7.0 and previous versions of the operating system, there are basically two solutions: update if possible, or change smartphone with a newer one and compatible with the latest versions of Android.
The percentage should actually be much lower since it is very difficult for a car owner compatible with Android Auto to use such an old smartphone, nevertheless it is not impossible and therefore it is good to point this out. Meanwhile, Google is working on the “Coolwalk” project for Android Auto which is a significant redesign of the platform and is expected to arrive soon.
The most recent version of Android Auto is 8.0 and was released in August of this year, however there is already talk of a major redesign codenamed Coolwalk, which should lead to a complete overhaul of the platform. The timing of arrival is not known, however it is rumored that the development work is already well underway and therefore it should not pass too many months before knowing something more.
