BMW recently announced the availability of Android Auto in cars fitted with BMW Operating System 7.0 from July 2020, but it looks like MINI vehicles will have to wait a bit longer for such support, according to BMW Blog.
“MINI won’t receive Android Auto functionality at the same time as it was just announced for BMW. At this time, we don’t have a confirmed timeline of when this functionality may become available on MINI model,” said an official MINI spokesperson.
For now, MINI customers will only have access to Apple CarPlay, which has been made available in car since 2017 as part of the Wired equipment package. It’s not known why MINI isn’t following the same timeline as its parent company – MINI is part of the BMW Group – especially given that the Android operating system accounts for a large portion of the smartphone market.
Meanwhile, BMW owners will get to enjoy Android Auto wirelessly when it is launched, with a live demonstration set to take place for the first time at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in early January. This offers greater convenience than wired versions of the smartphone-mirroring technologies found in other vehicles.
The German carmaker previously faced some controversy when it introduced a subscription fee for Apple CarPlay use on its models, essentially charging customers for a function that is free to use in cars from other makes. Since then, the company has decided to forgo the subscription fee, meaning that there will no longer be a charge imposed for Apple CarPlay use on a BMW vehicle.
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What’s so hard for this man??? Outside Ah Beng accessory shop selling for 2k only. It’s not rocket science
They wanted to charge you subscription for it mah.