Google introduces wireless Android Auto for Pixel, Nexus phones

Google has updated Android Auto for users of the latest Nexus and Pixel devices, Now, the feature supports wireless connectivity, this means that users of the Pixel, Pixel 2, Pixel XL, Pixel 2XL, Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X can now connect their phones to an Android Auto wireless car kit.

Google lists the Android Auto Wireless car kit requirements as such:

Android Auto Wireless Requirements

• A car or aftermarket receiver that is compatible with Android Auto Wireless.
• A Pixel or Nexus phone with Android 8.0 (“Oreo”) or higher as follows:
• Pixel or Pixel XL
• Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL
• Nexus 5X or 6P
• The Android Auto app version 3.1 and up.
• A high-quality USB cable for initial setup.

It’s unclear how many benefits users will derive from this. One suggestion we’ve seen is that phones will get less hot due to using wireless instead of wired, though that has yet to be seen.

Android Auto itself has developed as a full-fledged Apple CarPlay competitor, with support for a range of apps from Waze to Google Play Music to Spotify and so on.   Google has been working on developing it further, adding in support for the Google Assistant service

Google no doubt has more plans up its sleeve for this product, and we’ll be watching Google I/O closely to see what develops.

Via XDA Developers.