What is Android Auto?

What is Android Auto?

Android Auto is Google's system for showing a driving-friendly version of your phone on a car's dashboard screen. When you connect a compatible car by USB cable or, on many newer cars, wirelessly, the dashboard shows large buttons for navigation in Google Maps or Waze, music and podcast apps, calls and messages, with Google Assistant for voice control. The apps run on the phone; the car's screen is just the display and touch input.

Google's help explains why so many people cannot find it: on Android 10 and later the phone already contains Android Auto as the part that links it to a car, so there is nothing to install from the Play Store and it may not appear in your app drawer. Its settings are under Settings > Connected devices > Connection preferences > Android Auto on Pixels, and under Settings > Connected devices > Android Auto on Galaxy phones. Phones on Android 9 and earlier use it as a regular app you download.

The package behind it, com.google.android.projection.gearhead, carries an old internal codename, which is why the name in ADB lists looks nothing like "Android Auto".

Can I disable it?

Yes, with one caveat: the phone stops connecting to Android Auto in any car. If you never connect your phone to a car's screen, you lose nothing. On many phones Settings > Apps > Android Auto offers Disable or Uninstall updates; where it does not, ADB works:

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.google.android.projection.gearhead

What stops working: the dashboard interface in cars that support Android Auto, both wired and wireless. Ordinary Bluetooth calling and music in the car keep working, because they do not depend on Android Auto. Google Maps' own driving view on the phone is also unaffected.

If you might drive a compatible car later, such as a rental, you can leave it enabled. It does nothing until a car connects.

Does it drain battery or data?

It uses almost no battery when you are not driving, because it waits idle until a car connects. During a drive it can use a lot of power and data: navigation keeps GPS and the screen pipeline busy, streaming music downloads audio, and wireless Android Auto keeps a Wi-Fi link to the car open the whole time. That use is real but limited to your time in the car, and a wired connection usually charges the phone at the same time.

Two less obvious reasons it shows up in battery lists:

• With wireless Android Auto, the phone listens for the car over Bluetooth and starts a Wi-Fi connection as soon as you get in, even before you look at the screen.
• Frequent updates are downloaded and optimized in the background, even if you have never used it.

If you see Android Auto using battery while you are nowhere near a car, check Settings for its "Start Android Auto automatically" option and turn it off, or disable the app if you never use it.

Why did it just update?

It updated because Google ships Android Auto through the Google Play Store, separately from system updates, and releases new versions often. Updates bring new car features, support for more apps and vehicles, interface changes and fixes for connection problems. Because it is built in on Android 10 and later, the Play Store keeps updating it even if you have never connected to a car.

If the frequent updates bother you and you do not use it, disabling it stops them; a disabled app does not receive updates.

Which packages are behind it?

One package:

• com.google.android.projection.gearhead is Android Auto.

It works with the apps you use on the road, such as Google Maps, Waze, Google Messages and music apps, each of which supplies its own car-friendly screens. Those are separate packages and are not affected if you disable Android Auto.

If something goes wrong

If Android Auto will not start when you plug in, try a different USB cable first; many cables only charge and cannot carry data, and that is the most common cause. Then work through these steps:

1. Update Android Auto and Google Play services in the Play Store.
2. Make sure your car supports Android Auto and that it is turned on in the car's settings; Google's setup guide asks you to park with the infotainment system on for the first connection.
3. For wireless connections, check that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are on and that your phone supports 5 GHz Wi-Fi.
4. In Android Auto's settings, remove the car from previously connected cars, then connect again.
5. Clear Android Auto's cache and storage from Settings > Apps > Android Auto > Storage, then reconnect.

If Android Auto keeps launching or showing notifications when you are not driving, review its settings for automatic start and for starting while the phone is locked, and turn those off.

To restore it after disabling with ADB:

adb shell pm enable com.google.android.projection.gearhead
adb shell cmd package install-existing com.google.android.projection.gearhead