Android Auto Finally Coming to Toyota Vehicles

It’s hard to give up control. I get it. And it’s not like other people are necessarily going to do a worse job than you would, but it means you’ve got to loosen your hold on those reins. As the world’s largest automaker (VW is a very, very close second), Toyota has been the most prominent hold-out in implementing Android Auto in its vehicles. The time has come.

According to a report coming out of Bloomberg, Toyota has finally agreed to add Android Auto to its cars. And all the Prius owners of the world let out a collective hurrah.

This news follows not long after Toyota said in January that it’d be bringing Apple CarPlay to its vehicles too. Like so many other auto manufacturers, Toyota was hesitant to let Apple or Google “take over” its vehicles, preferring everyone to go through their own custom UI instead. With Toyota, owners had to use the company’s SmartDeviceLink to connect their Android or Apple smartphone.

That limited how much car data the mobile device could receive and it controlled what Android Auto and Apple CarPlay actually look like to the end user. That telematics system was developed by Ford, but even Ford vehicles do the full Android Auto and Apple CarPlay thing now.

That said, Toyota has not yet made a formal announcement about this change of heart. Instead, the news only comes by way of “a person familiar with the matter.” However, a formal announcement could follow as early as next month.