Eventually, that’s going to mean a single software stack common across VW Group’s vehicles—everything from the instrument displays and the infotainment to powertrain and chassis management (think traction and stability control or advanced driver assistance systems), plus a common connected car infrastructure and cloud. However, each brand will still get to develop its own UX in the same way that Porsche and Audi can build very different-looking vehicles from the same MLB Evo toolbox.
They’re going to base it on Android, but without much of the Google parts because of privacy concerns (i.e., VW wants that data for itself, not share it with Google). And, as always in the car world, it will be many, many years before this initiative will make its way to VW Group’s cars – the unit won’t be fully staffed until 2025.
Would be just as apt to call it ‘based on linux’?
Thom Holwerda,
It’s very difficult to cut off google (because they make it difficult). As a user, it’s infuriating to deny consent to google only to discover they’re still collecting data when you’re not paying attention. My phone recently died, so I decided that instead of getting stuck in that boat again, I was going to replace all the google firmware right out of the box. In the past I always waited to do anything like this due to warranty concerns, but this time I was determined to finally do it.
So I installed a microg fork of lineage os.
https://microg.org/
https://lineage.microg.org/
I actually advise against obtaining lineage OS directly from the lineage website because the official lineage build/devs are actively making life difficult for microg users. The thing is microg is simply indispensable if you want a truly google free experience. You technically can install lineage without “GApps”, but after just a few minutes I discovered that some of my apps break when google libraries are missing. So I could tell it wasn’t going to be a great experience. MicroG actually fixes this by implementing google’s features so that android applications will run without google dependencies!
https://github.com/microg/android_packages_apps_GmsCore/wiki/Implementation-Status.
So far I am extremely pleased and relieved to have a very useful android phone without google services. I really don’t miss them in the least. Remember though, you have to use the microg fork, it really cleans up the rough edges..Also, be forewarned that simply getting there can be a challenge due to locked bootloaders and installation pitfalls. I had to fight a locked bootloader and retry several times myself – they really do make it a pain.
I’m not sure if I would trust VW with their software.
They have kind of a bad track record 😉