Photo: AndroidWorld
While Google has a lot of problems to fix in the Android Auto world, this doesn’t mean the company isn’t working on new features and improvements to further polish the experience no matter if you use the wired or the wireless mode on a standard head unit or on a wide screen.
And the most recent beta version released for testing provides us with an early look at some of the biggest changes Android Auto has received in a long time.
Discovered by Italian blog AndroidWorld, this update is reportedly called Coolwalk, and it all comes down to a new button that’s embedded into the dynamic bar at the bottom of the screen.
What this button does is launch a new overlay showing up on top of your navigation (or another app that’s running on the screen), letting you see the latest notification. Furthermore, it launches a new pane that includes playback controls along with artist information and other notification details.
At the first glance, it looks to be some sort of action or notification center that displays more information on unread messages while also providing easy access to media controls.
For some users, this wouldn’t make much sense given the bottom navigation bar also includes playback controls when a music app is running, but there’s a chance Google is planning something big in the long term and this UI could make it easier to see the essential information even if you don’t have a widescreen in your car.
The search giant has also updated the app launch icon, so it now features a whole new design, and the notification button has been moved to the left part of the screen as well.
Clearly, Google is working on big changes for Android Auto, but at this point, the implementation is rather unpolished, and it could still take a lot of time until everything becomes available for users out there.
Discovered by Italian blog AndroidWorld, this update is reportedly called Coolwalk, and it all comes down to a new button that’s embedded into the dynamic bar at the bottom of the screen.
What this button does is launch a new overlay showing up on top of your navigation (or another app that’s running on the screen), letting you see the latest notification. Furthermore, it launches a new pane that includes playback controls along with artist information and other notification details.
At the first glance, it looks to be some sort of action or notification center that displays more information on unread messages while also providing easy access to media controls.
For some users, this wouldn’t make much sense given the bottom navigation bar also includes playback controls when a music app is running, but there’s a chance Google is planning something big in the long term and this UI could make it easier to see the essential information even if you don’t have a widescreen in your car.
The search giant has also updated the app launch icon, so it now features a whole new design, and the notification button has been moved to the left part of the screen as well.
Clearly, Google is working on big changes for Android Auto, but at this point, the implementation is rather unpolished, and it could still take a lot of time until everything becomes available for users out there.
Google News