After Apple’s Car Play, BMW is finally integrating Android Auto

BMW recently announced that it will be bringing Android Auto to its vehicles from July 2020 onwards. Its first live demo will be performed at CES 2020 after which it will be available across 20 countries with cars that feature the BMW OS 7.0. The Android Auto will be supported over a wireless connection.

“The Google Assistant on Android Auto makes it easy to get directions, keep in touch and stay productive”, said Peter Henrich, Senior VP Product Management MBW during the announcement. He further added that most of the customers have pointed out the importance of having Android Auto integrated into their BMW vehicle in order to use several Android smartphone features safely without being distracted from the road. BMW Android Auto brings your favorite smartphone apps, making it easier to access your favorite navigation, media, and communication apps on the road while minimizing distractions

Apple’s Car Play & BMW Android Auto

The German auto giant has taken quite a long to embrace Android Auto given the fact that it has been over 5 years since the latter has been released. A spokesperson of the company said that a majority of the customers were using iOS mobile devices because of which Apple CarPlay remained their key focus. The company has been offering Apple’s CarPlay for the past couple of years but it charged the car owners an extra fee to use it until recently when decided to offer it for free.

The Android Auto integration will not only work with the infotainment system but also with the vehicle’s head-up display.

Android Auto will be available in all BMW vehicles equipped with the company’s iDrive 7.0 infotainment system and “Live Cockpit Professional” hardware. It will be included in all 2019/2020 3 Series, 5 Series, 7 Series, and 8 Series sedans in addition to the latest X3, X5, X6, and X7 SUVs. Since it is supported with a wireless connection, owners will have to use Pixel, Nexus or Samsung smartphones.

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