Galaxy Tab S5e becomes an Android Automotive unit with Android Auto support

Over time we have learned to know well Android Automotivethe new version of the car operating system developed by Google in collaboration with specific car manufacturers, such as the Volvo Polestar.

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We know well that Android Automotive remains today an exclusive for a few, given that there are very few car models that integrate a unit capable of supporting Automotive. Most of them offer compatibility with Android Auto.

This, however, did not slow down Mishaal Rahmanformer editor-in-chief of XDA and now as an esper.io, from undertaking an interesting project to make an Android Automotive unit operational on a very common Samsung tablet.

Rahman has in fact put his hand to the Galaxy Tab S5e with the aim of transforming it into a working unit of Android Automotive. To do this he installed one of the first available builds of Android Automotive and has connected a smartphone with Android Auto to the tablet. The result is what you see in the pictures below.

Android Automotive seems to work well, at least in terms of graphic interface, on Galaxy Tab S5e. Clearly there is a mention of the fact that the installed Android Automotive build is intended for hardware units not yet in production.

There are also some critical issues: le geolocation does not always work properly, Google Maps crashes sometimes, the configuration of the personal profile is incomplete and the weather widget it doesn’t work properly.

The basic idea however is promising because it aims to make operational Android Automotive units using old devicesperhaps from the large display, without having to wait the availability of a unit officially compatible with Automotive by the specific car manufacturer.

Furthermore, Rahman’s project paves the way for the possibility of applying the same concept to more marketable devices, a bit like what happened for wireless Android Auto receivers. Rahman opened to the possibility of making and sharing one Generic System Image by Android Automotive for Android deviceswe’ll see if it arrives.