Latest Android Auto Update Gets Feature to Show Apps You Can't Use While Driving

Here's the deal. When you run Android Auto, there are certain apps that you can interact with even if the vehicle is in motion (though some come with restricted input). They include Google Maps, Waze, and Spotify.

The approach makes sense if you think about it. Waze is an application running on a crowdsourcing engine, so users must be able to send traffic reports and mark the location of speed traps, accidents, potholes, and fog. If they're not allowed to send reports when the vehicle is in motion, Waze becomes useless.

The same thing happens for Spotify or YouTube Music. These apps must let you change the song and control the playback, regardless of the vehicle's state.

However, there are apps that you are not allowed to use while driving. YouTube is the best example, albeit the app is completely banned on Android Auto, so the next good example is GameSnacks, a collection of games you can play on the infotainment screen. Like typing in navigation apps, games are only allowed when the vehicle is parked, as they would otherwise become a significant distraction to the driver.

If you try to launch a restricted app when driving, Android Auto displays a warning, letting you know that the app is unavailable until you park the car.

Google refines this approach with a new feature introduced in the latest Android Auto stable update. Android Auto now displays a small "P" label on the icon of apps that are only available when the vehicle is parked. Users can tell if they can run the app when the vehicle is in motion before launching it, so they no longer have to look at the screen to read the warning after they tap the icon.

The new icon label landed in Android Auto 11.4, and according to a recent report, the feature should be available for all users. Strangely, it's not yet live in my car, possibly as Google uses a phased rollout to enable this feature. I also installed Android Auto 11.5 beta (which started rolling out this weekend), but the new icon labels are still unavailable.

The feature makes sense from a safety perspective, but it reignites a topic that Google still seems to ignore.

YouTube is still blocked on Android Auto, no matter if you want to use the app when the car is parked. Google has already released YouTube on Android Automotive, the embedded operating system that doesn't require a mobile device to run, but it keeps the application banned on Android Auto. Users have already discovered other ways to enable YouTube on Android Auto, but fingers crossed for everybody to only watch videos when the car is parked.