[blackwasp]

According to a media report, Toyota will soon add Android Auto compatibility to its cars. It is reported that an official announcement for the same could come as early as October this year.

Toyota had resisted adding Android Auto and Apple CarPlay to its cars over safety and security concerns. After announcing Apple CarPlay for 2019 model year cars, the Japanese carmaker would also be adding support for Google’s mobile platform. At present, Toyota users have to use SmartDeviceLink, a telematics system from Ford, to make use of Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The solution is not the best as it limits apps that can be used with the car as well as prevents them from accessing car data.

It is reported that over 80% of smartphone users use Google’s Android while the rest use Apple’s iOS software. The move aims to target potential customers who stayed away from Toyota cars due to the lack of this mobile connectivity.



Source: Bloomberg

Link to the Team-BHP News

[hiren.mistry]

It was a daft decision to begin with, better sense has prevailed.
While going through the video reviews of the latest gen Camry and the Accord, the comments sections were littered with folks wondering why Toyota felt the need to omit Apple Carplay and Android Auto.

[GTO]

Seriously! How incredibly stupid. For a company that prides itself on its customer focus & technology (e.g. their push in fuel cells), resisting something as simple as Android Auto was outright silly.

A ready solution that makes things super convenient for your car owners. Sucks that someone who buys a 35-lakh Fortuner doesn't get Android Auto while a 6-lakh rupee hatchback customer does.

Hope we see it on their Indian cars ASAP.

[agambhandari]

Originally Posted by GTO

Seriously! How incredibly stupid. For a company that prides itself on its customer focus & technology (e.g. their push in fuel cells), resisting something as simple as Android Auto was outright silly.

A ready solution that makes things super convenient for your car owners. Sucks that someone who buys a 35-lakh Fortuner doesn't get Android Auto while a 6-lakh rupee hatchback customer does.

Hope we see it on their Indian cars ASAP.

It's not stupid and the decision made sense from a privacy and dependency perspective.

1. Google has been known to gather and export usage data and Android auto is one of the easiest way to get real time location based data. For the same reason Porsche, BMW have also stayed away from Android even though they offer CarPlay.

2. Most car markers don't want to depend on the big tech companies, Google and Apple powering their best infotainment systems. Not only does it remove any differentiation, it could lead to royalties to be paid and software that could be modified beyond their control.

The only loser of these decisions was the consumer. At least one should be given the choice.

[roby_dk]

Strange. I never knew this that Toyota Fortuner didn't have the Android Auto feature. Apart from the 200 horses 5 cylinder engine and many more creature comforts, this can be another reason to make myself happy that I went with Endeavour.

I think if you are carrying a phone or any communicating electronic device it is not that difficult to track your location. And what is wrong in that after all these are not military vehicles or spy cars used in critical missions.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by agambhandari

Google has been known to gather and export usage data and Android auto is one of the easiest way to get real time location based data.

If someone were to be using an Android phone, Google will anyway get their data...with or without Android Auto .

Most car markers don't want to depend on the big tech companies, Google and Apple powering their best infotainment systems

Android Auto isn't powering anything. It's merely a better integration. What you are talking about is something different - related link (Renault, Nissan & Mitsubishi to use Android OS for their infotainment systems). And also this (Volvo's next-gen Sensus ICE to get embedded Google Services).

And Toyota finally came around, no? Bloomberg is as reliable a source as they come.

[agambhandari]

Originally Posted by GTO

If someone were to be using an Android phone, Google will anyway get their data...with or without Android Auto .

Yes but having data, gps turned on when you are using Android auto plus linking it to the type of car that is being used, the speeds it is doing, the places the type of car goes. A lot more data is available by the way of Android auto

Android Auto isn't powering anything. It's merely a better integration. What you are talking about is something different - related link (Renault, Nissan & Mitsubishi to use Android OS for their infotainment systems). And also this (Volvo's next-gen Sensus ICE to get embedded Google Services).

And Toyota finally came around, no? Bloomberg is as reliable a source as they come.

Yes I'm aware of this thing as well, and this is what they are eventually worried of, that consumers eventually want Google/ Apple itself as the OS, not just as an accessory add on. They have given in, probably to get some better sales or satisfaction. Would be interesting to see how the Germans do in the future.

[ToyotaFan]

Originally Posted by agambhandari

Yes I'm aware of this thing as well, and this is what they are eventually worried of, that consumers eventually want Google/ Apple itself as the OS, not just as an accessory add on. They have given in, probably to get some better sales or satisfaction. Would be interesting to see how the Germans do in the future.

It has already started happening albeit starting from Sweden or should I say China. Volvo has started something on these lines with Google to create a special Android OS for cars. I believe they showcased it at the XC 40 launch and should make its way into cars very soon.

I think this trend is good in a way as it leave the software part to the experts and car manufacturers won't have to spend resources to develop their own versions such as the new MBUX ' hey Mercedes ' in the A class.

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by agambhandari

It's not stupid and the decision made sense from a privacy and dependency perspective.

1. Google has been known to gather and export usage data and Android auto is one of the easiest way to get real time location based data. For the same reason Porsche, BMW have also stayed away from Android even though they offer CarPlay.

Originally Posted by agambhandari

Yes but having data, gps turned on when you are using Android auto plus linking it to the type of car that is being used, the speeds it is doing, the places the type of car goes. A lot more data is available by the way of Android auto

I'm not really convinced by the privacy angle. Any navigation system (in-built or Android Auto) can track the users. An in-built system gives the car manufacturers the same data (and quite possibly even more) as that collected by Andriod Auto. You can choose not to connect your phone to Android Auto every time. Can you turn off tracking from an in-built navigation system? I have no idea. So, I guess the only question is who uses this data (car manufacturer or Google) and how. A cynical me thinks that now Toyota and Google have agreed on a "fair price" for the data from Toyota cars.

[avira_tk]

The reason why BMW and Porsche went with Apple and not Android auto is that apple Carplay takes only one input, whether the car is moving or stationary. Apple wants to develop the system around driver safety, android auto on the other hand is an extension of data collection that Google specializes in.

Car companies are right in choosing to stay away from potential liability in case the data is misused. Google is in the business of advertising and its effectiveness depends on the data they can collect. I'm writing this on an android phone, so, no, not a fanboy.

[vipul_singh]

I am not convinced about the privacy / tracking considerations being discussed here. If you go to accounts.google.com, you would see that Google allows you to disable virtually all location tracking, history remembrance, relevant ads, etc. So it is all user controllable.

With all that set to non-intrusive modes, Google even shows me totally irrelevant ads and general news feeds. My Youtube history, web history, location history, app usage history etc. are all blank and my phone works *completely* unobtrusively. Bliss!

The extent to which one wants google to be "helpful" can be controlled by the user, provided one is willing to setup the Google account properly.

If there is another angle to all this with Android Auto (which I have never used, to be honest), I would love to know more about it.

Adding a bit more to provide some context to my preferences. I dislike tracking , notifications etc. like the plague! The moment Google prevents me from turning all of this off, I would switch. I would even be willing to pay for Android separately, if it comes to that, provided I can avoid intrusiveness.

[Iyencar]

It's official. Toyota has announced that it will introduce Android Auto in its models.

Toyota announced on Thursday that the 2020 models of the 4Runner, Tacoma, Tundra, and Sequoia will feature Android Auto. The 2018 Aygo and the 2019 Yaris (in Europe) will also get Android Auto.

I think it's only a matter of time before Toyota gets the tech onto our shores.
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