Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
Opening Google Maps on the smartphone when Android Auto is running on the screen in the cabin has long been a top feature request, and as it turns out, Google is quietly working on making it happen.
A recent Google Maps update allows users to open the navigation app on their mobile device even when the navigation is enabled on the Android Auto media receiver.
This has long been a top feature request in the Android Auto user base, and despite rumors that Google was working on dual-screen support similar to CarPlay, such functionality is still MIA.
The surprising debut of this feature raises more questions than answers.
First of all, it showed up in Google Maps 11.67.0701, but strangely enough, it wasn’t available for all users who installed this version. The Android Auto version running on my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra was the recently-released 9.0.1307.
Unexpectedly, the feature went away after I updated Google Maps to 11.67.0702, and despite downgrading to the previous version, it didn’t show up again.
This could mean one of two things. Google is either enabling the feature using a phased approach for Google Maps users or the company is just running an experiment and only a small set of Android Auto adopters receive it.
The third and most pessimistic scenario assumes this feature was actually just a bug and Google never intended to allow Google Maps to run on the mobile device when the navigation is enabled on Android Auto. The small version bump in the latest release could also be a sign it was released specifically to address a bug.
I couldn’t find a way to re-enable the feature on Google Maps version 11.67.0701, so right now, it is gone for me as well. Based on this reddit thread, the installation of the latest version doesn’t include it either.
Compared to Android Auto, CarPlay already allows a dual-screen mode to run navigation apps on the mobile device and the head unit in the car. The feature is also supported in Google Maps alternatives like Waze, though in this case, the application only displays the route guidance and not the full map. The approach makes sense, as having the map on both screens could increase distraction, eventually allowing drivers to look at the mobile device for too long.
For now, nobody knows for sure when Google Maps is projected to get this highly requested feature or not. More importantly, it’s not clear if the mysterious limited rollout in a recent update was the intended behavior or just an accident.
If you want to download Google Maps 11.67.0701, the only option is to sideload the APK for this particular version on your Android device. Otherwise, your phone is going to be provided with the latest build, which at the time of writing is 11.67.0702.
This has long been a top feature request in the Android Auto user base, and despite rumors that Google was working on dual-screen support similar to CarPlay, such functionality is still MIA.
The surprising debut of this feature raises more questions than answers.
First of all, it showed up in Google Maps 11.67.0701, but strangely enough, it wasn’t available for all users who installed this version. The Android Auto version running on my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra was the recently-released 9.0.1307.
Unexpectedly, the feature went away after I updated Google Maps to 11.67.0702, and despite downgrading to the previous version, it didn’t show up again.
This could mean one of two things. Google is either enabling the feature using a phased approach for Google Maps users or the company is just running an experiment and only a small set of Android Auto adopters receive it.
The third and most pessimistic scenario assumes this feature was actually just a bug and Google never intended to allow Google Maps to run on the mobile device when the navigation is enabled on Android Auto. The small version bump in the latest release could also be a sign it was released specifically to address a bug.
I couldn’t find a way to re-enable the feature on Google Maps version 11.67.0701, so right now, it is gone for me as well. Based on this reddit thread, the installation of the latest version doesn’t include it either.
Compared to Android Auto, CarPlay already allows a dual-screen mode to run navigation apps on the mobile device and the head unit in the car. The feature is also supported in Google Maps alternatives like Waze, though in this case, the application only displays the route guidance and not the full map. The approach makes sense, as having the map on both screens could increase distraction, eventually allowing drivers to look at the mobile device for too long.
For now, nobody knows for sure when Google Maps is projected to get this highly requested feature or not. More importantly, it’s not clear if the mysterious limited rollout in a recent update was the intended behavior or just an accident.
If you want to download Google Maps 11.67.0701, the only option is to sideload the APK for this particular version on your Android device. Otherwise, your phone is going to be provided with the latest build, which at the time of writing is 11.67.0702.
Google News