Browser Vivaldi is integrated into the Android Automotive OS in the dashboards of the Swedish electric car Polestar 2. It is a complete web browser that allows users to browse as they would on mobile, both brands write.
The Vivaldi web browser comes as a browser in Android Automotive OS and is according to Vivaldi the first full-feature browser available in cars. The browser will be available as an app in the 11″ center display in the Polestar 2 and will work the same as the mobile browser. The browser features a built-in ad blocker, translation tool, note-taking functionality, tracking protection and encrypted browser sync.
The browser can only be used when the car is in park, although streaming content will continue to play audio-only when the driver starts driving. This implies that videos can also be played while driving, but without images. Vivaldi indicates that files cannot be downloaded. All content can be played via the browser that can also be played on another device in the browser. This is how YouTube works, websites work, and video calls can also be made via, for example, Zoom or Whereby, Vivaldi shows.
The company also says that no data about traffic in the browser is stored by the car. If the user is logged in with their Vivaldi account, data can be shared between two devices that are logged in, but the data is not shared with Polestar.
The browser is available immediately in the Polestar 2, in Europe as well as the US and Asia. The browser will receive regular updates, when other platforms, so Windows, macOS, Linux and Android, also get updates. So in the car is now Vivaldi 5.0. In a blog post, Vivaldi explains that a browser was the most requested feature from Polestar users. The Swedish company approached Vivaldi with this question in early 2021. By default, no browser is available in Android Automotive OS.