Google has seemingly become a lot more committed to improving Android Auto these days – with big things like widgets and work profiles already being worked on – but a new project that landed on GitHub promises something many people didn’t think was possible.
Assuming it works as expected, AARE is an open-source project whose purpose is to deliver an Android Auto-like experience without Google Play Services. As impossible as that may sound, the developer explains on the GitHub page that his implementation allows users to “run apps that Google’s Android Auto keeps out.”
For example, instead of Google Maps and Waze, you can run CoMaps and Organic Maps, while instead of Gemini – yes, the controversial Gemini that has so far delivered such an underwhelming experience on Android Auto – you’re getting another assistant.
The Android Auto experience is powered by an Android phone, and users must connect their mobile devices to infotainment screens with a cable or wirelessly. The Android Auto UI is, therefore, projected on the infotainment screen in a car by the smartphone.
AARE is supposed to offer a similar experience with an “open-source reimplementation of the phone side of Android Auto,” the developer experience. “The phone talks the Android Auto projection protocol to the car’s head unit and draws the car screen itself.”
Compared to Android Auto, AARE also promises to offer weather information powered by Open-Meteo. No account or a Google service is involved, and while users are required to provide an approximate location, those specifically interested in avoiding sharing such data can turn it off.
Android Auto still doesn’t show the forecast on all devices, though it was recently discovered that Google is developing an animated character that’d show the temperature and conditions regardless of aspect ratio and display resolution.
AARE also integrates a passenger mode, which ignores the car’s driving status and allows another user to type a destination without turning off the phone screen while the vehicle is in motion.
This project is still in its early days, and as per the list that shows what’s working and what isn’t, some of the features already implemented haven’t been tested in an actual vehicle. This is why you shouldn’t use this as your daily driver, and considering the project is being documented on GitHub, you should help the developer by reporting any bug you come across while using the app.
It’ll be interesting to see what Google thinks about this project in the first place, as such an idea would mean that users would be able to use their Android phones in their cars without being forced to rely on Google’s services. Degoogling isn’t a new concept, but vehicle cabins have more or less been excluded so far, except a few similar projects, such as Gearslip, whose adoption hasn’t necessarily been overwhelming.
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