Car Manufacturers Are Ditching Android Auto In 2026: Here’s Why

Since 2015, consumers and automakers have had a handshake agreement: We’ll buy their cars if they’ll let us connect our smartphones to Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. For almost ten years, it has worked like a charm. We get uninterrupted access to our music, maps, and communications, while carmakers sell off major infotainment system technology to Google or Apple.

However, that equation has changed recently. General Motors, one of the world’s largest automakers, has announced that it is removing Android Auto from its EVs, and plans to remove it from all of its vehicles in the near future. In its place, GM will introduce its own conversation-based system that will employ Google’s Gemini AI.

Other manufacturers have never offered Android Auto, notably Rivian and Tesla. And while the vast majority of 2026 car models still offer the technology, that could soon change for a number of reasons – and you might not like any of them.

To understand how Android Auto came to dominate the dashboards of cars, a brief history lesson is necessary. Android Auto started out as a simple projection system, just like CarPlay, that let you connect your phone and car via USB to get a driving-friendly version of it on the infotainment screen. Manufacturer adoption was not immediate. Toyota and Ford tried building their own systems and BMW even tried charging users $80 per year for CarPlay (while not supporting Android Auto at all as of 2020).

Car buyers didn’t want any of this. Rather, they liked the idea of ​​plugging in their phone and having all their songs, contacts and addresses available to them without any hassle or cost. Gradually, automakers started offering it as an option with their in-house infotainment systems. Google made it as easy as possible by not charging anything for integration.

Google created a new game with Android Automotive OS (AAOS) in 2017, which debuted with the Polestar 2 in 2020. It supports Android Auto, but also offers an Android-based vehicle operating system that doesn’t require your phone’s processing power. This came at a good time, as traditional carmakers like Volkswagen discovered that developing an in-car OS was not the same as building a transaxle. Many gave up and adopted AAOS for some or all of their models, starting with Volvo and some Stellantis and GM brands.

In exchange for the added convenience, Google helps itself to most of the data you generate while driving. In addition to the general information collected, it also takes GPS and mapping data which it can use to help advertisers target you. Since we use our cars to go places and buy goods, this information is obviously valuable.

However, none of this data goes to car manufacturers. Most people aren’t looking to sell that data to advertisers — in fact, GM is actually banned from doing so after breaking California privacy laws and paying a $12.75 million fine. Rather, some like Rivian and GM say it deprives them of valuable data they can use to improve their vehicles and retain customers.

For example, GM has claimed it needs sat nav data to improve the EV charging experience. “With an Android Auto or Apple CarPlay environment, the vehicle energy model or road segment data is sending energy use and everything related to that to the phone, and it’s quite difficult to get it off-board from the phone,” explained GM’s infotainment manager. GM authority In 2023. The company said its own system will allow intelligent EV routing that takes into account charge status, range and charging station availability, as well as integration with its Super Cruise driver assistant.

Since it will still use Google’s AAOS, GM claims it will work like your phone for things like calls and streaming from contacts and apps. You’ll also be able to use built-in assistants like Siri and Google Assistant using Bluetooth pass-through. The company says that thanks to the responsive built-in hardware, all this will be done even more easily.

GM says its own infotainment system will offer features that aren’t possible from phone launches. motortrend. It cited Dolby Atmos on Amazon Music as an example and described that experience as “impossible” with ordinary phone projection.

Rivian and Tesla are two companies that didn’t adopt Android Auto in the first place, with both saying they wanted more control over the driver experience. Rivian, whose operating system is built on top of AAOS, also believes phone mirroring systems aren’t necessary given what’s possible with AI these days. “The possibilities of such deep AI integration now in the car make the entire CarPlay debate completely obsolete,” the company explained. The Verge Last month.

However, there are some caveats. GM has also acknowledged that there are “subscription revenue opportunities” available from using its own infotainment systems. This is why BMW has gotten into trouble in the past when it tried to charge $18 a month for heated seats in select regions.

Built-in apps also require an active cellular connection in the vehicle, since your phone is no longer in use. Although GM’s latest vehicles come with eight years of OnStar connected services, it’s unclear what will happen after that. Rivian offers its own premium data service, Rivian Connect+, which costs $150 per year. Tesla, which also ditches Android Auto in favor of its own system, charges $150 a year for its Connect+ premium cellular data service. Then again, manufacturers like Kia that fully support Android Auto put features like remote locking behind trial subscriptions that eventually have to be paid for.

This can prove to be the biggest hurdle for car buyers. GM’s announcement that it was removing Android Auto from its vehicles came as a shock, with many Engadget readers, for example, saying they would not buy cars that did not have it. There’s a widespread movement against subscription services of all kinds these days, and paying for one in your car is making a lot of people nervous.

Luckily, Android Auto and CarPlay are still available in most vehicles. Traditional automakers have also shown that they are uniquely bad at building their own infotainment systems. So despite Android Auto disappearing from some brands, many others will continue to support the system, and it should keep getting better and smarter.