Android Auto has slowly become a very popular offering in vehicles, but it wasn’t always that way. Back in 2017, one of the biggest car manufacturers didn’t have plans to offer Android Auto. Over 2 years later, BMW is now ready to integrate Android Auto in their vehicles, and they will start next year.
BMW announced today that they will start integrating Android Auto in cars in July of 2020. The news gets even better, though, as BMW will be using wireless Android Auto, which few automakers have adopted. As the name implies, wireless Android Auto doesn’t require your phone to be plugged in, making it substantially more convenient. When it’ll be available in any vehicle using BMW Operating System 7.0 or later. It’s a wireless connection, so you’ll initially be limited to certain Google- and Samsung-made phones, but it should save you the trouble of plugging in when you just want some quick directions home.
This won’t be ideal if you’re driving a slightly older BMW or prefer a phone that simply won’t get support. Nonetheless, it’s good news if you’d rather not switch to an iPhone just to avoid BMW’s media and navigation features. It also reflects a growing trend among automakers to offer both Android Auto and CarPlay they’re acknowledging that customers would rather not declare allegiance to a particular brand just to use a phone-based interface in their cars.
