The star was discovered to be variable in 1928, with a photographic magnitude range of 14.7-15.6,
Early in the investigations leading to the definition of LBVs, AE And was identified as similar to the five Hubble-Sandage variables: Var A, Var B, Var C, and Var 2 in M33, and Var 19 in M31 (=AF Andromedae) [REF].