Android Auto is dropping support for millions of older phones soon

Millions of devices are due to lose access to Android Auto, as Google has started warning it will soon drop support for Android 10 and 9.

We've seen this before, and it's a natural part of how technology advances, but it's still a disappointing time for anyone who's been holding on to an older device to use it for Android Auto.

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By  Steven Winkelman

Android Auto will soon no longer work with Android 10 & 9 devices

An unfortunate fact of the tech reality

It always impresses me when someone manages to keep a device working long enough for it to drop out of official software support, and that's doubly true where this new change is concerned.

Multiple Reddit users have noticed a new message appearing on their car dashboards when they start Android Auto, warning them that their "phone will no longer be supported" — a sure sign that Google is about to push up the required Android OS level for Android Auto to Android 11.

We've seen this before, of course. It was at about this time two years ago that Google warned that any devices older than Android 9 would no longer get access to Android Auto, and now it seems the time has come for Android 9 and 10.

To put the sort of phones we're talking about into context, phones stuck on Android 10 include the Samsung Galaxy S9, Note 9, and Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact. Those phones are very old where phones are concerned — though that's not likely to be a salve for anyone who's looking at losing the phone they've hung onto for so many years.

One particularly desperate Reddit thread concerns someone who wants to hold on to their Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact, since it's the perfect size for them. Unfortunately, that sort of small phone really has died out in the time since its release, so it's not as easy as telling them to upgrade. Why should they have to abandon the tech they like in order to enjoy a service they have been for so long?

It's important to note that while this means potentially millions of devices will be affected by this loss of support, it is very much a drop in the bucket for Android's overall numbers. The latest numbers put Android 10 users at about 4.1% of all Android users, and Android 9 at roughly the same numbers.

Less than ten percent seems like a small percentage, and it is — but when you consider Android comprises almost 4 billion devices across the globe, it's clear this is still an enormous amount of people.