If you have an older smartphone, you probably won’t be able to use Android Auto anymore

In recent months, there have been signs that it is development of Android Auto (here you can find an in-depth analysis on Google’s tools for vehicles) is receiving asudden acceleration.

The farewell to the smartphone version seems to have given new stimulus to the dedicated interface for infotainment systems, which he saw the update version 8.0 and soon the new codenamed design should finally arrive “coolwalk”.

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But in the meantime something happened rather indicative. In fact, in August, Google removed support for ad Android Auto for all phones that weren’t fitted at least Android 8.0 (Oreo)a big leap from the previous prerequisite it required at least Android 6.0.

In itself the news would not be particularly serious, as a user could avoid updating Android Auto and still keep the function. The problem is that a few days ago several people started receiving a warning message which locks the interface unless you update the app to the latest version.

Basically the message is this, or update Android Auto or you can’t use it. And if you have one smartphone that mounts a version older than Android 8.0, you cannot update the app. Apparently the message appeared in versions of Android Auto from 7.0 to 7.7 and there is no way to make it go away (unless you follow the directions).

Google’s imposition may lie in theimminent arrival of the waiting interface Coolwalkwhich should represent a major interface redesign and was expected with the release of Android Auto 8.0.

Apparently, a collateral effect of this new rules concerns users Waze. For some time, in fact, the popular navigator shows one blank screen on Android Auto, an issue affecting the interface versions up to 7.7. The only solution to fix it, is to update Android Autobut obviously those who cannot do it cannot use Waze (and of course Android Auto will not be able to use it soon).

In principle, these practices are not entirely illogical, and surely app developers like Waze (but also Google Maps itself) cannot and do not even want to guarantee the backward compatibility in the event of a profound change such as that of Coolwalk. So the simplest thing is cut the media and force users to switch phones.

But it is also true that the fragmentation of android impact million of people, and if the majority of smartphones in circulation are not involved, Android 7.0 and earlier still represent something like almost 15% of the total Android distribution (as of May 2022). We are talking about approx 420 million users.