Photo: Google
Google has quietly released a new version of Android Auto for all users out there, as the company keeps polishing the car-optimized experience for the stable channel too.
Android Auto 7.0 originally landed in the beta testing program earlier this month, but the Mountain View-based search giant worked around the clock on getting it ready for prime time.
And this week, the first build of Android Auto 7 finally went live for all users out there, with the rollout now happening in stages via the Google Play Store – but of course, anyone can install it using the dedicated APK file on their devices.
Unsurprisingly, Google hasn’t provided any information to let us what’s new in Android Auto 7, but in addition to the typical bug fixes and improvements, this release also paves the way for the introduction of several important new features.
One of them is support for settings to configure how you want the app to launch when connecting the mobile device to a head unit.
In most cars out there, Android Auto starts automatically when the connection between the smartphone and the head unit is established. Others, however, need to manually tap the Android Auto icon on the screen to launch it.
But starting soon, Android Auto will allow users to configure this behavior right from its setting screen, as they can decide if they want the app to run automatically or not. Of course, this can’t overwrite the head unit configuration, so if drivers are required to manually launch the app, changing this setting from Android Auto won’t make any difference.
On the other hand, if the head unit does instruct the phone to run the app on connect, you can configure Android Auto to act differently.
At this point, it’s not yet known if any important bugs are resolved by this new update, but we’ll probably hear more on this as the number of people who install this version increases.
And this week, the first build of Android Auto 7 finally went live for all users out there, with the rollout now happening in stages via the Google Play Store – but of course, anyone can install it using the dedicated APK file on their devices.
Unsurprisingly, Google hasn’t provided any information to let us what’s new in Android Auto 7, but in addition to the typical bug fixes and improvements, this release also paves the way for the introduction of several important new features.
One of them is support for settings to configure how you want the app to launch when connecting the mobile device to a head unit.
In most cars out there, Android Auto starts automatically when the connection between the smartphone and the head unit is established. Others, however, need to manually tap the Android Auto icon on the screen to launch it.
But starting soon, Android Auto will allow users to configure this behavior right from its setting screen, as they can decide if they want the app to run automatically or not. Of course, this can’t overwrite the head unit configuration, so if drivers are required to manually launch the app, changing this setting from Android Auto won’t make any difference.
On the other hand, if the head unit does instruct the phone to run the app on connect, you can configure Android Auto to act differently.
At this point, it’s not yet known if any important bugs are resolved by this new update, but we’ll probably hear more on this as the number of people who install this version increases.
Google News