Project
Google's platform that mirrors phone apps onto a car's infotainment screen, supporting both wired and wireless connections.
Google is rolling out a redesigned Play Store to cars with Google built-in in the coming weeks, with one-tap installs for featured apps. Only YouTube Premium subscribers can keep a video's audio playing once the car is moving.
Reality
Google's October Pixel update patches three critical flaws in the month the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro reach the end of their five-year support window. Teams still running those phones now need a replacement date on the calendar as well as the install.
Reality
Android Auto is warning some drivers on Android 10 phones that it will soon stop working, pointing to an Android 11 minimum Google has not announced. For a phone that cannot update, the change would close wired Auto, the one connection mode it still has.
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Twelve South's AirFly Drive, a $39.99 plug-in cube, makes factory wired CarPlay wireless and swaps between two paired phones with one button. That suits a car two people share and leaves pool cars with three or more regular drivers short of a slot.
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Phone projection gets a picture-in-picture window in GM's new truck software. The native features now have to hold a driver's attention while CarPlay is already on screen, and GM's product manager makes the case for bigger tap targets.
Perspective Coverage
9 publishersReality
Last week's Silverado and Sierra software reveal got read as GM restoring phone mirroring. The eleven electric nameplates that lost projection in 2023 are still Google built-in only, and the stack underneath them is why.
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Engadget reports the swap from Google's regular assistant is rolling out to Android Auto users everywhere. Drivers who never opened the setting now get a handler that infers intent instead of matching a memorised phrase.
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GM has already stripped CarPlay and Android Auto from its newest electric models. Engadget reports gas cars follow when GM's own computing platform arrives around 2028. The replacement runs on Android Automotive.
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Google's parked-video upgrade for Android Auto is gated three ways at once: by vehicle motion, by the automaker, and by subscription tier. No ship date came with it.
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Google lists Bluetooth Diagnostics for Pixel 6 and newer, with separate tests for media and calls. It tells a support agent where the link broke; the remedies are the same ones as before.
Reality