It’s only coming to certain models to start
Most drivers with Android phones are probably relying on Android Auto these days — assuming, of course, they have a car that supports it. There’s a big difference between projecting your smartphone to your car’s built-in display and a vehicle that actually runs on Android, though, and that’s where Android Automotive comes in. We’re finally seeing more vehicles running on Google’s full-blown OS over the last couple of years, and starting in 2023, BMW will be the latest company added to the list.
This week, BMW confirmed that some of its future models would run on a next-gen version of its in-house operating system built on top of Android Automotive. It’s a big change from previous Linux-based versions, though the company says some of its cars will stay on its legacy build. So far, the automaker has yet to confirm which of its models will get Automotive support, though work on supporting it won’t begin until March of 2023.
Automotive’s biggest selling point for car manufacturers is its flexibility and customization options. Outside of some built-in Google apps — Assistant, Maps, the Play Store — don’t expect to notice these BMW cars running Android immediately. Instead, the company will almost certainly rely on a skin to make the experience feel more in line with previous vehicles, as well as that Linux-based OS the company plans to keep developing.
It’s the latest partnership for BMW, a company that was initially slow to work with companies like Google. It was the final holdout of major automotive companies to support Auto, only bringing that feature to vehicles in the summer of 2020 after offering CarPlay for years. Announcing a shift to Automotive just two years after resolving that debacle shows a much closer partnership with Google on the horizon, but with supported models more than a year away, we’ll have to wait a while longer for more definitive details.
