I've been thinking for a little while that automakers should abandon their effort towards improved navigation and audio. Apple and android combined with 3rd party apps are arguably better, easier to use, and faster developing. Let them do the development while automakers improve compatibility.

 

Toyota has always cited safety/privacy concerns as the reason. I would tend to disagree with the safety part, but I'm sure Google tries to get every bit of data it can from the car. Nissan has already decided to relinquish complete design of the head unit to Google.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-into-the-dash

I for one, applaud the move. With some 80% of the smart phones running on Android around the world, it was only a matter of time before Toyota caved. Alas, I'm also doubtful Toyota/Lexus will make this available in older models and I'm guessing it probably won't be until 2020 that we see this in their cars. They will have to abandon the remote touch controller and touchpad probably. Acura's new touchpad interface in the 2019 RDX has the same compatibility issues now.

 

 

If I have to give up some data to get a usable nav, I'm all for it. Toyota/Lexus sells a lot of stuff about us for marketing and such.

 

 

Since android is a very hack-friendly platform with minimal oversight over its app ecosystem, I think Toyota's concern was malware potentially taking over its vehicles, opening them up to liability for allowing such a system to exist on their vehicles. Apple is much more tightly controlled as far as its apps and security.

I do not think it was about Toyota making excuses. At corporate levels, there's always particular reasons for not doing something.

Personally it's moot for me cause I'd never touch an Android product with a 10-foot pole. And I'm a former Android hacker/rom builder from back in the day haha. Just not my cup of tea now that i've grown older.

"A pair of researchers from the Russian security firm Kaspersky found that most of the apps, several of which have been downloaded hundreds of thousands or over a million times, lacked even basic software defenses that drivers might expect to protect one of their most valuable possessions. By either rooting the target phone or tricking a user into installing malicious code, the researchers say, hackers could use any of the apps Kaspersky tested to locate a car, unlock it, and in some cases start its ignition."

 

 

It's not that they'd be necessarily throwing it out the window, it's just that it's now more mainstream in other makes setting a precedent as to whats acceptable/normal and also offers them to be more competitive in a market where everyone else is. Of course this is just speculation, as only Toyota execs would know the real reason. But money is usually a good one.

 

 

"Android Auto" is not full Android OS on Embedded system. It is simply a phone mirroring Protocol just like Apple Carplay is.
It is projection technology

 

Yeah, but understandably, there still could be some integration points with the vehicle which could be exploited by an attacker. I am saying this without any knowledge of how Android Auto works, but there must be a mechanism connecting the touch screen and other controls to the Android Auto interface.