Android Auto is hands down one of the best Android features, making daily commutes and long road trips much more bearable. Unfortunately, that could soon change for some users, as Google may soon end Android Auto support for many older Android phones.
Some users running Android 10 have recently started seeing an alert when Android Auto starts in their car, warning them that their phone will soon no longer support Android Auto and that it will eventually “stop working.”
Lots of Android Auto users on Reddit with Android 10 phones, including devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy S9, and Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact, have reported seeing the same alert recently, indicating Android Auto support will soon end, but not specifying when (via Android Authority). You can check out what the warning looks like below.
What’s even more perplexing is that while this alert is already going out through Android Auto, Google hasn’t actually updated its official support page with the same information yet, as it still says using wired Android Auto requires a phone with Android 9 or newer. Based on these reports, Google seems to be about to change that to Android 11, the same requirement it currently has for wireless Android Auto support.
This isn’t the first time Google has done this
There’s still a lot of people using Android 10
The last time Google updated its minimum Android requirement for wired Android Auto was in July 2024, when it moved to Android 9. However, the change didn’t actually take effect until more than a year later, when Google began rolling out Android Auto version 15.5 in the fall of 2025, bringing the Android 9-or-newer requirement with it.
So, while Google may soon announce that it’s raising the minimum requirement for wired Android Auto to Android 11, as the alerts reported by users on Reddit suggest, it could still be some time before that change actually takes effect.
What’s also interesting about this potential change is that Google could be jumping up two Android versions for minimum Android Auto support, rather than one. For reference, the last time Google changed the requirement, it went from Android 8 to Android 9. This time, it would go from Android 9 to Android 11, ending Android 10 support for Android Auto much sooner than expected.
According to the latest Android Distribution figures, 7.8 percent of users are still running Android 10, while 4.5 percent are running Android 9. Together, that’s just over 12 percent of current Android users, which means millions of phones could soon lose Android Auto support if Google changes the minimum requirement soon to Android 11 from Android 9.
If you’re still running Android 10 or Android 9 and don’t want Android Auto to suddenly stop working in the near future, your best option is to consider upgrading your device. You don’t necessarily need anything brand-new or expensive, either. Many more recent, affordable devices, such as the Galaxy S23 or Pixel 8, support newer versions of Android, like Android 16 and 17, which will last you a while, and you’ll also get the latest security updates.
