Workspace accounts with Android Auto OS

Paul_BarossaCof · 12-26-2023 12:19 AM

Currently Workspace accounts don’t work with Android Auto. This means that workspace users can not connect to a vehicle with embedded Android Auto. More and more vehicles have this enabled now (https://www.android.com/intl/en_au/auto/compatibility/). Currently businesses providing fleet vehicles to employees need to ask those employees to get a free Gmail account in order to connect to their vehicle!! This means users can’t take advantage of the benefits of their workspace account being active in their vehicle. Please work with Android Auto to enable AAOS to work with Google Workspace accounts.

angelo_cabrera

Hi Paul, can you check if Search And Assistant is enabled in the admin console? https://admin.google.com/ac/managedsettings/719785517167 it seems that android auto needs the google assistant in order to work

Rebem

Have just tried this and can confirm - Search and Assistant enabled but we still can't log on to Android Automotive (AAOS) cars with Google Workspace accounts. It gives the following error : "*email address* isn’t currently supported on this car. Try signing in with another account."

johaneltes

How many decades will Google yet need to merge these to account silos?

jerry12

I have a google workspace account and android auto works for me. I did notice that I didn't seem to have calendar access and contacts didn't seem to work (call Joe Jones didn't seem to work) but I did some searches and found I needed to enable search and assistant and that seems to have fixed calendar access or at least I can now enable / set it in the AA settings on my phone. Curious to see if calling / contacts works now.

johaneltes

Thanks. Maybe I should give it yet a try no that I have upgraded the system (I drive a Volvo XC40 recharge 2024).

sivlmuse

This thread is about Android Automotive Operating System (AAOS) which is an operating system and platform running directly on the in-vehicle hardware and does not require a phone. Are you sure you're talking about the same thing? https://source.android.com/docs/automotive/start/what_automotive

jerry12

Yup you're right I'm using android auto not android auto os.

Paul_BarossaCof

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried this in my Volvo XC40 recharge and unfortunately I still get the following error : "*email address* isn’t currently supported on this car. Try signing in with another account."

Maybe the solution works on other vehicles? @jerry12 can you share your vehicle make/model and software version?

jerry12

I was mistaken I'm using android auto not AA OS. In any case my car is a
BMW i4 M50.

Rotary

So, paid for business Google accounts in business car can't access business contacts or business addresses via Google maps.

This needs fixing. Give admin ability to enable AAOS sync - although why should that even be necessary....grrrr

wohlrapp

I have the same issue in a new Volvo EX30. Any solutions in the mean time? Would be highly appreciated.

Rotary

Until they fix it, you can try:

A) giving feedback to Volvo so they talk to Google.

B) create a personal Google Gmail account and login with that. That will allow you to download and update apps in the car (there aren't many yet). Create a home and work in that personal account in g maps, then you can quickly "navigate home".

C) If you need to access contacts via Google maps by typing in names rather than just addresses (not needed for phone calls) you can share (download/upload) your contacts between the 2 accounts. May be an issue if your address book is huge or changes frequently.

D) You can add the car to your normal Google workspace Google assistant account for voice control etc - assuming your workspace admin has enabled web services and assistant.

E) Summary - it is only really apps and contacts via maps, which is why I don't understand the limitation.

dkindlund7

This is depressing but not surprising. This issue is almost a mirror image of why Google Home/Nest devices can’t work with Google Workspace accounts.

Essentially, Google has a very narrow view that “personal” devices can’t be connected to “company” accounts. It has never occurred to them that people might have a “personal” Google Workspace or that a device might be a “company” device.

This issue has been known for at least 10+ years. I’ve given up on expecting any changes from Google.

hellsop

Interestingly, the same account I'm posting from now is my main one, SEEMS to be a Workspace account (because I occasionally see the logo, and can't sign into Automotive) but is also the one that runs Home/Nest for me. So it's not even really consistent about it

stebuu

I have my new Blazer EV lease using the same throwaway google account I also use for my Nest thermometers!

OllyMUK

+1 for being able to use a Workspace account in Android Auto OS. It's madness that in 2024 I'm paying for a Google account but have a worse connectivity experience than a free account.

Backeman

I love Android Automotive but was very disappointed when I discovered that I couldn't use my Google Account in my brand-new car (well, now 2½ years old). Why am I as a paying customer treated as a lesser one than the free accounts?

hellsop

I don't think it's lesser. But rather that the Workspace accounts enable higher tiers of security than the regular ones that Automotive doesn't support yet. I was able to turn off Advanced Protection and sign in to an Automotive device. (I have not tested "sign in and stay signed in while turning Advanced Protection back on yet, as my access to an Automotive device is limited.)

OllyMUK

Can you post a screenshot of which setting exactly in the admin section you changed to make it work?

hellsop

Sure. Option is right there. After that, there's a button to enroll if you're not, and unenroll if you are.

OllyMUK

Didn't work for me alas. I disabled it on the org level and also for my user account and get the same error when signing in "your account isn't currently supported"

Rebem

Thanks for this however my Advanced Protection Program isn't enabled for my Workspace account and I am still unable to log on to my Volvo XC40 AAOS. @hellsop , could you provide details of the car you are using your account on please?

Backeman

Well, this is the first time I ever heard of a (possible) option to use my paid Workspace account for my car with Automotive, and that's from a helpful user on a forum, not an official help article or guide.

So I would call this lesser, since I can't use my account according to official resources.

You also have the case of not being able to use a Workspace account for your Fitbit devices which is a requirement to use the new Pixel Watch 2 (another scope I know, but it shows a pattern).

Thank you for your input though, I'll look into it when I have some time over.

PakmAn2007

Shame this is still a problem. Just bought a car from GM and cannot login as my traditional GM account nor my personal branded/ small business licenced Google account. Need a fix for this @googleCorp

jdppettit

Just want to add a +1 to this. Just purchased a 2025 MDX that uses Android Auto on the infotainment system and I can't use my primary account because it is a personal Workspace account. Same reason I left Nest 😞

Gearer

I assume the only option for us with the "crazy combination" of using Google Workspace and having company cars with Android Automotive just have to move to MS365?

Amazing that Google just flatly refuses to listen to paying customers and allow admins to decide if they want to enable functions like Android Automotive for their users...

icrew

The thing to realize about Google is that it’s not so much a single company as it is a collection of warring fiefdoms. When you start talking cross-product interactions/integrations, the logic frequently goes completely out the window….

jdppettit

Understanding the reasoning is helpful, but ultimately as customers, we shouldn't need to know or care about the internal struggles at Google. It isn't unreasonable to ask for interoperability in what is presented as a unified platform.

I suspect you wouldn't care much if the McDonald's worker explained the intricacies of ice cream machine maintenance and the interplay between it and the strained supply chain along with Barbara having a baby resulting in them being short staffed - empathy maybe, but ultimately you just want your McFlurry. The same is true here.

icrew

I totally agree. Note that I don’t and never have worked for Google—I’m just another customer like most folks here.

KAM

@icrew That sounds like a classic blunder. The most famous of which is 'never get involved in a land war in Asia,' but only slightly less well-known is this: 'never give a geek a fiefdom with a lawyer!'

icrew

Yeah, pretty much! 😁

Snarkbe

Just got my brand-new Volvo EV yesterday, with Android Automotive OS built-in.

I was really angry when I got the error message when logging in with my Google Workspace account (personal legacy G-Suite account with my own domain).

I created a regular Gmail account for the time being, but I don't have access to Youtube Music, my POI in Google Maps ...

When will there be an option to have the same features in Google Workspace as the regular accounts? 😑

johaneltes

As there is no response from google, it may be worth trying to report it as a car defect to my volvo dealer?

Backeman

I had the same experience three years ago, and no change since. Switching the car to a Renault in a couple of months and I'm expecting to have the same issue again. So sad that the account I'm paying for has fewer features than the free one.

cubruhr

I just got our Renault yesterday and I immediately tried to sign in with my Google Workspace account - I am sorry to tell you this, but you are going to get the same error.

Backeman

Thanks for the info. I'll try when it's time but I don't have any hopes it will work...

loundy_mark

It’s always been a bad idea to mix personal data with work accounts.

johaneltes

Yes, but many if us own workspace domains privately. As an example, my family name is Eltes and my workspace domain is eltes.se, used privately by members of my family.

Snarkbe

Indeed.

I also set it up to my family name, at a time where it was still called G-Suite and not especially oriented towards business organizations. All my family has its data in this workspace domain.