Apple CarPlay beats Android Auto (again), gets Google Meet support

Google Meet support on Android Auto has been on our wishlist for quite some time. If you’ve wanted it too, your wait will be ending soon, as Google has confirmed it is making progress in that direction. But before bringing Meet to Android Auto, Google is blessing its archrival.

In a recent post on its Workspace blog, Google announced that Meet will now work with Apple CarPlay while in your car. This will allow regular users to stay in touch with their friends and family, or for professionals to attend key meetings while driving. Besides taking calls, users will also be able to review their upcoming virtual meetings.

To ensure safety, iPhone users will be able to use Meet with CarPlay with audio only while the vehicle is on the move. Google doesn’t specify whether users will be able to mount their iPhone somewhere in their car and access video when the vehicle is stationary, though we suspect that’s highly unlikely.

It’s interesting to see Google bring Meet support to CarPlay before it does to Android Auto. Thankfully, Google has confirmed that Android Auto support is coming soon, though it hasn’t revealed the specific release date.

Notably, Android Auto already supports Microsoft Teams but limits it to audio calls only, suggesting Meet would likely follow the approach.

Google says Meet will be available on CarPlay for all Workspace-managed accounts, individual Workspace subscribers, and people with personal Google accounts. It does not specify regions where we can expect the feature to be available. Even if you can access it in your region, we recommend checking local laws about making calls while you’re on the move to avoid traffic violations or, worse, safety issues.

The announcement comes shortly after Google started testing YouTube playback on Android Auto, though without video support, to prevent it from distracting users.