Android Auto remained stagnant for a better part of its existence, but Google has started to give some attention of late. It witnessed a major redesign not too long ago and the Assistant Driving Mode is also set to replace Auto’s smartphone mode — though Google still managed to confuse us all with its bewildering implementation. Auto’s wireless connection option recently furthered its reach to select Samsung phones, and the feature is now coming to more than a dozen new countries.

Google just updated a support page to indicate all the countries where Android Auto can work wirelessly. Until recently, merely three North American nations — Canada, Mexico, and the USA — were on the list that has now been expanded to cover 15 more countries in Central and South America, taking the total to 18. These are all the markets that have just joined:

  • Argentina
  • Bolivia
  • Brazil
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Costa Rica
  • Dominican Republic
  • Ecuador
  • Guatemala
  • Panama
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Puerto Rico
  • Uruguay
  • Venezuela

A wireless connection takes away the extra step of having to plug your phone into the car’s head unit every day before driving. It’s meant to provide a seamless experience as the connection establishes automatically over Wi-Fi Direct. This capability requires new head units — which are often expensive — and cannot be brought to older units (or cars) supporting only the wired solution. Moreover, wireless Auto is currently supported by a handful of premium smartphones, despite Google’s long-standing proposal of wider availability.

Android Auto Developer: Google LLC
Price: Free
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Source: Google