Google Releases New Android Auto Update, And Here’s How to Download It Right Now

And without a doubt, focusing on bugs and further polishing Android Auto is critical for so many users out there, especially as the adoption of the app is on the rise. While no official statistics on the adoption of Android Auto are currently available, the most recent numbers released by Google indicate that over 150 million cars out there came with built-in support out of the box.

The actual figures related to the AA user base are definitely higher, especially considering that Android Auto can also be used behind the wheel with the help of an aftermarket head unit.

At the end of the day, all these numbers make the frequent updates for Android Auto absolutely mandatory, and this is precisely what Google is trying to do right now.

Enter Android Auto 8.3.

A new version of Android Auto is now rolling out to users. Android Auto 8.3 is, therefore, live for production devices, only a few days after the beta build was released to testers.

Unfortunately, Google sticks with its old habit of not providing users with any release notes, and without a changelog, it’s hard to tell what exactly has been refined in this update.

There are two things that you need to know about Android Auto 8.3, however.

The first of them concerns a fix that seems to be rolling out as part of this update (it was previously included in the beta build and now seems to be live in the production channel, too). Approximately one month ago, users noticed that the temperature and weather conditions icons went missing all of a sudden, and Android Auto 8.3 seems to be bringing them back.

The second of them is related to Coolwalk. Given so many people are eagerly waiting for Android Auto updates because of Coolwalk, version 8.3 doesn’t bring any news on this front. This makes sense anyway, as Google doesn’t need a new Android Auto version to start shipping Coolwalk; the feature would be activated from its own servers.

Google is rolling out Android Auto 8.3 in stages through the Google Play Store, as this approach allows the company to spot bugs in the early stages and, if needed, to suspend the release. This means that not everybody is getting the latest version of the app on day one, so some users will have to wait longer than others to download the most recent update.

The alternative is to just download Android Auto 8.3 manually using the stand-alone APK installer. This involves going to this page right here, getting the APK for version 8.3, and then installing it on your device.

Keep in mind that installing apps on your device using the APK installer would require special permissions, as most phones block this method by default – out of the box, Android only allows app downloads from the Google Play Store for security reasons. So once you tap the installer, make sure you give it the required permissions to install the latest update.

You don’t need to remove Android Auto before installing version 8.3, as the old files are overwritten automatically, so after the update, you should be running the most recent release.

At this point, I’m not aware of any new problems that Android Auto 8.3 might be causing, but again, it’s hard to tell if such bugs exist in the first place, given the rollout has literally just started. I’ll continue to monitor the release of this update and let you know if any major glitches are discovered.