Android Auto stops working on phones still running Android 9 and 10

Plugging an Android phone into the car no longer brings up Android Auto if that phone runs Android 9 or Android 10. Google‘s Android Auto help page now says a USB connection needs “Android 11.0 or higher and an active data plan”, the same floor that wireless Android Auto already had. Drivers whose phones never received Android 11 lose navigation, messages and music on the car’s screen.

For them, the dashboard goes back to what it offered before the phone was plugged in: the radio, the car’s own navigation if it has one, and Bluetooth for calls and audio. The group includes Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9 and Sony’s Xperia XZ2 Compact, which all stopped receiving major Android updates at version 10, along with Google’s original Pixel and Pixel XL. A phone that cannot update cannot clear the new bar, however well it still works otherwise.

Owners got a warning first. Galaxy S9, Note 9 and Xperia XZ2 Compact users began seeing an Android Auto message saying their phone would no longer be supported and that the app would soon stop working because the device could not update to the required Android version, as Android Headlines reported. Android Authority now reports that the requirement is official on Google’s page, and that affected users say Android Auto has already stopped working for them.

The cable is what changes. Wireless Android Auto already required Android 11 and a phone with 5 GHz Wi-Fi, so owners of older phones, and of cars without wireless support, relied on the USB connection. That route now has the same minimum. Google has raised this floor before, most recently when it cut off phones on Android 8.

Google has not announced the change in a blog post or a press note. The help page changed, and Google has not given a cutoff date. It is therefore unclear whether every Android 9 and 10 phone stops connecting at once or only after a later Android Auto update blocks it. Google also has not explained what in Android 11 the app now depends on. The help page lists no regional exceptions, so drivers who keep phones for years, in Latin America, India or Southeast Asia, face the same cut as anyone else.

To check, open Settings, then About phone, and look at the Android version. If it reads 9 or 10 and no system update is offered, Google offers no official way back other than a newer phone. Cars sold with Google built-in, which run Google Maps and apps on the car itself, do not need a phone for navigation and are not affected.

Android 10 arrived in 2019 and Android 11 in 2020, so the new floor falls on phones that are around six years old. The warnings reached Galaxy S9 and Note 9 owners in October, and Android Authority spotted the updated support page on November 9. The Galaxy S10, one year newer than the S9, was updated up to Android 12 and stays on the supported side of the line for now.

Tags: Google, smartphones, cars, Android 11, Android Auto, Samsung Galaxy S9