Vivaldi becomes the first web browser for Android Automotive. Security and privacy are always important elements.
The Android Automotive operating system is still very young, it is not yet available in many vehicles, and the choice of available applications is at least limited for the moment, but today the catalog is taken into account without a web browser. And no, it’s not Google Chrome. In recent days, the privacy-focused Vivaldi browser has become available on Polestar 2 vehicles. This is great news for Android Automotive and a company that has yet to offer its software on any vehicle.
Vivaldi becomes the first web browser for Android Automotive
Vivaldi explains that security was one of his priorities when porting his web browser to Android Automotive. To do this, you can start the session only when the car is in the parking position. And if you start streaming video and start skating again, Vivaldi will limit playback to audio only.
Security and privacy are always important
Of course, respect for privacy was also a priority for the development team. When you open a tab in private mode, the browser does not save any navigation data about the vehicle. If you want to transfer your data between multiple devices, you just need to log into your Vivaldi account. And for your information, Polestar will not have access to this information.
The Android Automotive version of Vivaldi is based on the company’s mobile version of the browser. Logically, not all features of the desktop version are available for Android Automotive. For example, there are no accordion tabs. And Vivaldi turned off some functions. In particular, it is not possible to download files and scan QR codes. Otherwise, there is no difference between the Android Automotive version and other existing versions of Vivaldi. In addition, updates will be offered regularly.