My 2025 Honda Accord Touring Hybrid came with "Google Built In". This means that Android Auto, Google Assistant, Google Maps and the Google Play Store are integrated into the vehicle's infotainment system.
After experimenting with "Google Built In", I ended up disabling it entirely. Here's why I did that, and why you may want to do that as well.
If you have an iPhone, then you have no need for GBI because you are in the Apple ecosystem. Your new Honda vehicle comes with Apple's Car Play, which includes Siri along with Apple Maps and the Apple App Store. You may not need to disable GBI, unless you find that it interferes with your use of CarPlay.
If you have an Android phone, then you already have Google Assistant, Google Maps and the Google Play Store ... on your phone. Android Auto only adds the ability to duplicate these three apps on your car's infotainment system.
What I asked myself was "why duplicate in my vehicle what I already have on my phone?" The only advantage I could find was that Android Auto makes it possible to see Google Maps on the screen of your vehicle's infotainment system. While it's nice to see a bigger view of Google Maps, and to have directions appear on your vehicle's Head Up Display, that doesn't really help you to navigate any easier than using Google Maps on your Android phone, since I suspect that most of us rely on Google Maps' spoken turn-by-turn directions, which also eliminates the need to look at your vehicle's infotainment screen.
There is also a downside to integrating Android Auto in your vehicle, actually two downsides, and here I am not referring to all the data you have to share with Google. (You're already sharing that data from your phone.)
The first downside is that Android Auto is an all-or-nothing decision. If you are using Android Auto and you want to listen to AM or FM stations - which are not part of Android Auto - you will be disconnected from Android Auto, and will need to re-connect later. (This was also true in earlier years' implementations of Android Auto.)
The second downside is that with GBI, Android Auto is no longer a choice. You can no longer decide if you want to use it. If your Android Phone has Bluetooth turned on, Android Auto will start automatically when you get into your vehicle. You cannot prevent this, and it's no longer possible (as it was in earlier years) to use Android Auto with a USB cable in order to control it.
That's not all: Once inside your vehicle, if you turn Bluetooth off in your phone, GBI will turn it on again! And if you disconnect your phone from Bluetooth, GBI will re-connect it! Your ability to choose has been taken away from you. This also means that you cannot use Bluetooth only for audio, i.e., to stream music or a podcast from your phone to your vehicle's speakers via Bluetooth, because enabling Bluetooth automatically starts Android Auto. [See my correction for this in a later reply.]
In fact, if you use GBI as Google hopes you will, you will enter the password for your Google Account to your vehicle's infotainment system, and then you can use the apps even if you forget your phone at home. Thus, what Google really wants is to replace your vehicle's infotainment system with Google's own apps.
For all these reasons, in my 2025 Honda Accord I have completely disabled "Google Built In" - which was not at all easy - and rely instead on my Android phone, as I have done in the past.
After experimenting with "Google Built In", I ended up disabling it entirely. Here's why I did that, and why you may want to do that as well.
If you have an iPhone, then you have no need for GBI because you are in the Apple ecosystem. Your new Honda vehicle comes with Apple's Car Play, which includes Siri along with Apple Maps and the Apple App Store. You may not need to disable GBI, unless you find that it interferes with your use of CarPlay.
If you have an Android phone, then you already have Google Assistant, Google Maps and the Google Play Store ... on your phone. Android Auto only adds the ability to duplicate these three apps on your car's infotainment system.
What I asked myself was "why duplicate in my vehicle what I already have on my phone?" The only advantage I could find was that Android Auto makes it possible to see Google Maps on the screen of your vehicle's infotainment system. While it's nice to see a bigger view of Google Maps, and to have directions appear on your vehicle's Head Up Display, that doesn't really help you to navigate any easier than using Google Maps on your Android phone, since I suspect that most of us rely on Google Maps' spoken turn-by-turn directions, which also eliminates the need to look at your vehicle's infotainment screen.
There is also a downside to integrating Android Auto in your vehicle, actually two downsides, and here I am not referring to all the data you have to share with Google. (You're already sharing that data from your phone.)
The first downside is that Android Auto is an all-or-nothing decision. If you are using Android Auto and you want to listen to AM or FM stations - which are not part of Android Auto - you will be disconnected from Android Auto, and will need to re-connect later. (This was also true in earlier years' implementations of Android Auto.)
The second downside is that with GBI, Android Auto is no longer a choice. You can no longer decide if you want to use it. If your Android Phone has Bluetooth turned on, Android Auto will start automatically when you get into your vehicle. You cannot prevent this, and it's no longer possible (as it was in earlier years) to use Android Auto with a USB cable in order to control it.
That's not all: Once inside your vehicle, if you turn Bluetooth off in your phone, GBI will turn it on again! And if you disconnect your phone from Bluetooth, GBI will re-connect it! Your ability to choose has been taken away from you. This also means that you cannot use Bluetooth only for audio, i.e., to stream music or a podcast from your phone to your vehicle's speakers via Bluetooth, because enabling Bluetooth automatically starts Android Auto. [See my correction for this in a later reply.]
In fact, if you use GBI as Google hopes you will, you will enter the password for your Google Account to your vehicle's infotainment system, and then you can use the apps even if you forget your phone at home. Thus, what Google really wants is to replace your vehicle's infotainment system with Google's own apps.
For all these reasons, in my 2025 Honda Accord I have completely disabled "Google Built In" - which was not at all easy - and rely instead on my Android phone, as I have done in the past.
