Android Auto loses its Viber app, but may only be temporary

Ben Schoon | Nov 3 2023 - 7:45 am PT

Android Auto has lost support for the calling app Viber, which is supposedly only a “temporary” measure.

Viber is an internet-based voice-calling service that has been around for ages. The service, currently owned by Rakuten, debuted support for Android Auto in recent years but has gone offline for users in the past week.

A growing thread on Google’s support forums captures several reports of the app having disappeared on Android Auto, with no explanation currently available via Viber’s official channels or the app itself.

However, Viber has apparently explained in a Play Store review reply to one affected user that support for Android Auto was removed intentionally but is only temporary and due to “technical reasons.”

Viber’s response says:

Hello! Due to technical reasons, we have temporarily disabled support for Android Auto. We apologize for the inconvenience. We will inform you when this feature will be available again in our app.

Notably, we couldn’t find the review in question on Viber’s Play Store listing, but this is the explanation that makes the most sense for the time being, and it seems believable enough given that two separate users were given the same reply.