Android Auto sounds like it’s having a bit of a slump

Android, as a whole, has been a huge success, and the versatile platform has found a home on everything from our phones to our wrists. But there are still areas where Android’s influence feels a little shaky, and probably one of the more uncertain spaces it occupies is in our vehicles. Granted, we have Android Auto, Android Automotive, and even Google Built-in, but car manufacturers can be notoriously controlling when it comes to the experiences their vehicles are compatible with. Even as companies like Hyundai signal their support, the future of Android in cars is far from certain, and now some new statistics give us further reason to be concerned.

The information we’re looking at arrives via a somewhat surprising source, as it pops up in Morgan Stanley’s latest Audio Entertainment Survey, shared by smartphone analyst Max Weinbach on X earlier this week (via 9to5Google). We’ll circle back to some of the interesting listening trends that report identifies in a moment, but from a platform perspective the big takeaway here is that CarPlay usage is slightly up among audio streamers (to the tune of about 2%), while Android Auto’s share is down a whole 7%.