{"id":223563,"date":"2026-01-08T17:21:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T17:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/223563\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T17:21:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T17:21:17","slug":"android-automotive-os-just-got-a-major-update-boost-thanks-to-qualcomm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/223563\/","title":{"rendered":"Android Automotive OS just got a major update boost thanks to Qualcomm"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img class=\"e_jg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\"  title=\"Cars with Google built in hero image\"  alt=\"Cars with Google built in hero image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Cars-with-Google-built-in-hero-image.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>TL;DR<\/p>\n<p>Qualcomm has announced a partnership with Google for a \u201cunified reference platform\u201d for Android Automotive OS, starting with Android 17.<br \/>\nThis means cars with Android Automotive and Snapdragon chips should get quicker access to new Google features.<br \/>\nThe chipmaker also announced that Project Treble is coming to cars with Snapdragon chips, speeding up system updates.<\/p>\n<p>Cars with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.androidauthority.com\/android-automotive-16-3567889\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Android Automotive OS<\/a> offer a standalone Android experience without having to pair with an Android device. Now, Google and Qualcomm have announced some welcome developments in this space.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t want to miss the best from Android Authority?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/andauth.co\/AAGooglePreferredSource\" class=\"e_rm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\"><img class=\"e_jg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"  title=\"google preferred source badge light@2x\"  alt=\"google preferred source badge light@2x\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766572210_733_google_preferred_source_badge_light@2x.png\"\/><img class=\"e_jg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"  title=\"google preferred source badge dark@2x\"  alt=\"google preferred source badge dark@2x\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766572211_278_google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Qualcomm <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qualcomm.com\/news\/releases\/2026\/01\/qualcomm-expands-decade-long-collaboration-with-google-for-autom\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">announced<\/a> that it\u2019s teaming up with Google to establish a \u201cunified reference platform\u201d for Android in the car, starting with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.androidauthority.com\/android-17-3561251\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Android 17<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>This approach enables automakers to accelerate prototyping, innovation, and scalable development, allowing them to deliver higher quality, advanced automotive experiences to consumers.<\/p>\n<p>In plain English, this means cars with Android Automotive and Snapdragon chips should get quicker access to the latest Google features.<\/p>\n<p>Qualcomm also announced that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.androidauthority.com\/android-longevity-grf-3493006\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Project Treble<\/a> is coming to automakers using Snapdragon chipsets. Project Treble simplifies Android\u2019s inner workings, enabling faster, easier system updates. The initiative was originally designed for Android Oreo and announced back in 2017. The chipmaker adds that Project Treble is coming to four generations of its Snapdragon automotive chipsets and \u201cover 14\u201d individual processors.<\/p>\n<p>Do you have Android Auto or Android Automotive in your car?<\/p>\n<p>32 votes<\/p>\n<p>Android Auto<\/p>\n<p>34%<\/p>\n<p>Android Automotive<\/p>\n<p>38%<\/p>\n<p>I have Apple CarPlay<\/p>\n<p>0%<\/p>\n<p>My car isn&#8217;t this fancy<\/p>\n<p>28%<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t know what I have<\/p>\n<p>0%<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThrough this collaboration, automakers can gain dramatically simplified Android updates, streamlined integration, lower engineering costs, and faster time-to-market, supported by a robust 10-year plan for critical software updates,\u201d Qualcomm explained.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, car owners should expect faster Android Automotive OS updates. Qualcomm\u2019s announcement also suggests that Project Treble isn\u2019t widely used in Android Automotive. If that\u2019s the case, then we hope Google brings it to other partners for faster updates across the board.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you for being part of our community. Read our\u00a0<a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.androidauthority.com\/android-authority-comment-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" data-stringify-link=\"https:\/\/www.androidauthority.com\/android-authority-comment-policy\/\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">Comment Policy<\/a> before posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TL;DR Qualcomm has announced a partnership with Google for a \u201cunified reference platform\u201d for Android Automotive OS, starting&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[122512,342,111,139,69,145],"class_list":{"0":"post-223563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-android-automotive","9":"tag-mobile","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}