Tech giant Google is dropping the Android Auto app for smartphones, pushing users to use the Google Assistant. As reported by The edge, the company will shut down the Android Auto for Phone Screens app starting with Android 12 and users will instead have to use the Google Assistant Drive Mode, which works with both Google Maps and Android Auto compatible maps.
“For those who use the experience on the phone (Android Auto mobile application), they will switch to the Google Assistant driving mode. From Android 12, the Google Assistant driving mode will be the integrated mobile driving experience. We have no further details to share at this time, ”the company said. The edge in a report.
Google informed users of the change through the app. Android Auto for Phone Screens app users reported that the app gave them a notification that it was now only available for car screens. It directs users to the Google Assistant drive mode instead, as an alternative.
To be clear, Android Auto for phone screens wasn’t the most widely used app for Google in the first place. The app launched in 2019 and has been downloaded over 5 million times, according to the Play Store listing, which isn’t the highest number anyway. Android Auto is designed to be part of in-vehicle systems, and Google has worked with automakers to establish the same. Cars manufactured by Nissan, Kia, Hyundai, Mahindra & Mahindra and several others already have built-in Android Auto in India.
Google also announced the drive mode for Google Assistant in 2019, but the feature didn’t start rolling out to users until last year.
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