Android Automotive (AAOS), marketed as Cars with Google built-in, is an
open-source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...
designed for use in vehicle dashboards, based on
Android. Introduced in March 2017,
it was developed by
Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
and
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
, together with car manufacturers such as
Volvo
The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...
and
Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
The origins of the compa ...
.
The project aims to provide an operating system codebase for vehicle manufacturers to develop their own
distribution Distribution may refer to:
Mathematics
*Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations
*Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...
. Besides
infotainment
Infotainment (a portmanteau of ''information'' and ''entertainment''), also called soft news as a way to distinguish it from serious journalism or hard news, is a type of media, usually television or online, that provides a combination of inform ...
tasks, such as messaging, navigation and music playback, the operating system aims to handle vehicle-specific functions such as controlling the air conditioning.
[
In contrast to ]Android Auto
Android Auto is a mobile app developed by Google to mirror features of a smartphone (or other Android device) on a car's dashboard information and entertainment head unit.
Once an Android device is paired with the car's head unit, the system ...
, Android Automotive is a full operating system running on the vehicle's device, not relying on a smartphone to operate. As such, it has access to
limited number of apps
on the Google Play Store
Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...
.
Android Automotive is an open source operating system and, as such, a car manufacturer can use it without the