One connects to your phone and the other doesn’t.
Android Auto and Android Automotive sound like two names for the same product, which really doesn’t help anyone. Fortunately, the difference is quite simple.
The one most drivers are familiar with is Android Auto. The experience is powered by your Android phone and a compatible car display gives you a user-friendly interface for navigation, music, messaging and supported apps. It’s Google’s answer to Apple CarPlay and can be used via USB or wireless, depending on your phone and car.
Android Automotive OS (AAOS) is a different animal. It runs directly on the car’s hardware, meaning there’s no need for a phone to do the heavy lifting. It gets a little more complicated when Google Built-in comes into play (as if the name wasn’t confusing enough), but that’s another story.
Android Auto needs your phone
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Think of your phone as the brain and the dashboard as the largest, least distracting place to store everything while driving.
Android Auto does not replace the software already installed in your car. It displays a specialized interface of your phone on the car’s screen, allowing you to use compatible apps like Google Maps, Spotify and messaging services without having to handle the phone.
This phone addiction is also part of the appeal. You can connect to another compatible vehicle and take your apps, accounts and preferences with you. The car itself might run Android, another operating system, or something completely proprietary.
The concept behind Apple CarPlay is similar. Even CarPlay Ultra, which further expands to compatible vehicles by supporting more screens and bringing up some vehicle controls, still requires an iPhone.
Android Auto apps can also access certain vehicle data if supported by the car manufacturer, such as battery level or estimated range.
Android Automotive lives in the car
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Android Automotive OS is more than that, as it is the software platform installed in the vehicle itself and allows automakers to integrate it with infotainment, instrument displays, climate controls, electric vehicle information and other vehicle functions rather than just providing an interface from a connected phone.
So, is Google integrated in the same way as Android Automotive?
AAOS is open source, while Google Integrated relies on a set of separately licensed Google Automotive services. This can provide a car with native Google Maps, Google Play and Google’s voice assistant, without the driver’s phone. Google treats these services as a separate, optional package rather than part of AAOS itself.
This difference is important when reading a datasheet. For example, Rivian builds its own software experience on AAOS and does not offer Android Auto or CarPlay projection.
Polestar demonstrates how flexible things can be. It can integrate Google into its AAOS-based cars while still being compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, so it’s not a question of one or the other. In 2020, the Polestar 2 was the first production car to feature the Android Automotive operating system.
