If you're holding on to your ancient Galaxy phone for whatever reason and want to keep using Android Auto, you're out of luck. Google has now dropped Android Auto support for smartphones running Android 8.
Many Android Auto users who are using older phones have started facing compatibility problems with the platform, and the reason is simple. Google has changed its requirements for Android Auto and now requires Android 9 or later.
Affected users are being greeted with the message, “This phone no longer supports Android Auto.”
For Samsung fans, this means if you have a Galaxy S7 or older model running Android 8, a.k.a. Oreo, you can say goodbye to Android Auto. Or you can upgrade to a new Samsung phone if you have the option. There are so many great choices.
The Galaxy S7 shipped with Android 6 but got updated to Android 8 before losing firmware support. Back then, Samsung offered only two major OS upgrades.
Today, modern Galaxy S flagships (and others) offer seven OS upgrades for seven years and many other advantages, including better screens, vastly improved performance and battery life, superior build quality, and all the latest software refinements and tools that make the current One UI experience as great as it is.
If you are using a Galaxy S7 and older phone and are looking for an upgrade on a budget, you could start with something like the Galaxy S24 FE, which is neither a mid-range phone nor a top-tier device with a high price to boot. Either way, it's way more powerful than Samsung phones built eight years ago.
If you don't like the FE phone, the Galaxy A55 is cheaper, while the Galaxy S24, S24+, or S24 Ultra offer better specs for higher prices.
Samsung is also the best foldable smartphone manufacturer around, so, you might want to look into that if you really want to catch up with the latest developments and leave your Galaxy S7 (or older phone) behind for the sake of Android Auto.
