Android Automotive upgrade gives Google more control over your car

Google has announced the next step in Android Automotive's progress, which will see the in-car Android software able to control more than just infotainment functions.

Android Automotive was introduced in 2017, making its debut on the Polestar 2 in 2020 and going on to power a number of vehicles since. It is slightly different to Android Auto in that it's the built-in software platform in the vehicle, allowing Google's apps and services to run natively, rather than a smartphone-based system.

Google's latest confirmation outlines how Android Automotive is moving beyond just powering those customer-facing functions, like music, messaging and mapping – all ably supported by Google Assistant (and slowly being replaced by Gemini). Instead, Android Automotive will be able to control a lot more of your car.

The aim here is to provide car manufacturers with the tools they need to develop in-car systems, including the seat controls, climate control, mirrors, cameras, and telemetry.

Often, car manufacturers will be working with a number of different components with a number of different software platforms for all these features, and Google is repositioning Android Automotive – or the Android Automotive OS Software Development Kit (AAOS SDK) – to do it all.

This is about leveraging Android Automotive as an open platform to make it more useful and easier to work with, which should speed up vehicle development as the software is easier to manage.

Google's aim is to be central to the "software defined vehicle", where instead of the car being defined by mechanical systems, there's much more emphasis on how the software controls the vehicle. This allows for changes through the life of the vehicle, including things like bespoke customisation or additional paid-for options after the point of sale.

To showcase that this is more than just wishful thinking on Google's part, Renault is one of the first to be leveraging the power that the AAOS SDK offers, using it in the development of the Renault Trafic Van E-Tech.

One of the examples that Renault gives is by highlighting that, in the past, a vehicle used to have a number of different computers, but this is now centralised into one power computer to control all these different functions. This is where a brand like Qualcomm (also a partner on AAOS) comes into play.

Not only will Android Automotive support better on-screen experiences, but there's the opportunity to have Android Automotive OS monitor key component wear to better manage maintenance schedules, while also allowing things like custom software running on the vehicles display rather than on a separate device. This could be useful for delivery service vehicles, for example.

For the average customer, we could see many more car systems integrated into Google's platform in a more natural way, which might also lead to a more seamless experience when controlling your future car from the driving seat.