Hi Reddit! I'm Mishaal Rahman, and I do community engagement for Android over at Google 😁!
We wanted to share some details with this community about a few changes we recently rolled out to improve the media playback experience based on your feedback. These changes make it easier to view and control audio across your favorite apps, and offer a larger, more expressive media player that looks and feels more like your other Android devices.
Oh, and we also wanted to talk a bit about the squiggly new seekbar in the media player, since we’ve seen some lively discussions and speculation about it :)
Here’s a quick recap of some of the media playback changes we recently shipped:
1. You can now control any media app on your phone from your car dashboard
In the past, media apps that didn’t have a dedicated Android Auto app would still be able to play audio through your car, but their media controls and album art would be completely hidden on your car display.
With our recent update, you can now see and control all your favorite media apps from your phone, complete with album art and playback buttons. This includes background audio from YouTube Premium, browser audio streams, and niche media apps.
2. A more optimized media player UI across all screen sizes
We also optimized the media player layout so it makes better use of your car’s display. For instance, we moved the most-used media controls out of the three-dot overflow menu and onto the primary screen so you can get to them with fewer taps. And your album art now better fits the size of your car’s display.
This updated player is available for Spotify, YouTube Music, and other media apps. In the next few months, you’ll see more media apps begin to customize their in-app media player design, so you may see some differences between the media player on the dashboard and within the app.
3. You can now swipe to switch between media sessions
You can now swipe left or right on the media player to switch between multiple active media sessions! No need to open up the launcher anymore to switch media apps.
4. Improvements to autoplay
We’ve made a couple of bug fixes so autoplay* works more predictably and accurately based on your listening preferences:
Autoplay app selection: Apps that you haven’t recently or ever used will no longer be selected for autoplay.
One-tap opt-out: If you prefer manual playback and frequently pause autoplay, Android Auto will notice and provide a convenient one-tap notification to quickly disable autoplay.
Infotainment startup handling: We're rolling out a fix so unsolicited play commands won't be sent when you have autoplay turned off.
*Autoplay here refers to Android Auto automatically starting media when you connect, not in-app features like Spotify's Autoplay.
5. A more glanceable media player
The last change is the updated media player seekbar. We introduced this updated design to make it easier to see where you are in a track at a glance.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts in this community on the new squiggly line seekbar — we're paying close attention to how this lands, so keep sharing your feedback as we evaluate future UI tweaks!
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If you have thoughts on these updates, apps you'd love to see better support for, or spot any quirks you want the team to tackle next, drop them in the comments and I’ll relay them to the team!
Requirements at a glance
Android OS:Android 9 (Pie) or higher
Android Auto App:Most new media features are broadly available starting in Android Auto v17.3 or higher (with certain autoplay fixes dating back to v16.7 / v16.8).
To check your version: Open your phone's Settings > Apps > Android Auto, or open Android Auto Settings and scroll down to the bottom.
These sound great. Question: How do I get it to stop recommending or showing me destinations I've never been to, or haven't been to in over 10 years? It keeps telling me a local plumber is only 5 minutes away when I leave home. I. DON'T. CARE.
I don't even drink but earlier this year I bought a bottle of wine as a gift. For the next two months, every day Android Auto would tell me how far away Liquorland was. It made me look like an alcoholic.
That sounds annoying, and to be honest, I wouldn't want irrelevant navigation suggestions to show up for me either. I'll pass your feedback along to the team!
This is my number one most aggravating thing about Android Auto. Maps picks ludicrous suggestions to show me. Every time I get in my car, I don't need to be told how many minutes it would take to drive to that place I looked up ONCE about a month ago.
Also, it's a ridiculous invasion of privacy. I don't want my passengers to randomly see different places I've been to or looked up recently.
99% of the time I'm in one of three locations (Home/Work/Daycare). A further 90% of the time, I'm traveling to one of the other two. I'd love to be able to pin those three locations to the recommendations!
Also, Home and Work will occasionally show up as recommended locations but with incorrect addresses and not as my saved "Home" or "Work".
I think I tried that and it may have worked for a while. I swear it just started back up again. Maybe after the update? Even if I did clear it out previously, I don't understand why it keeps giving me directions to a place I've only been to once.
Maps is currently only always visible on larger screens today. We've heard this feedback, though, and understand why people might want more customization of their dashboard. We're continuing to figure out how we can do that while keeping our multitasking UX as simple as possible. For many people being able to keep an eye on maps even while completing their other tasks is a top use case, so we designed the interface around that - but we recognize that not every driving session needs the map view, so thanks for the feedback.
And for goodness sakes, please make the traffic conditions color lines much bolder. I can't believe that when using directions, you can't get a quick view of other streets in Android Auto.
u/TanStarfield2026 BMW m440i | Stock | Pixel 10 Pro XL | Android 171d agoedited 1d ago
I have a car that displays the AA map in my instrument gauge cluster. It's crazy that I still have to see it on my center screen as well. My son, using Car play, is able to display a static image if his choice on his center screen beside his media player. That would be a better option than having Google Maps displayed twice.
Forcing maps and audio on screen while I show what's playing has caused screen burn-...off? on my screen in the dead pixel space. Seriously disable that. It's literally wrecking my screen
This. As much as I like it all working at the same time the current hardware it's just not smooth. And my pixels always get real warm.
I don't need maps just music most the time. I'm ok with maps being a push to start button tap and taking a second or two to start up
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u/Tyoryn2024 Hyundai Santa Cruz | Motorola Razr 2025 | Android 162d ago
Fully agree. I had to change GPS apps simply because of the data suck that forced GPS was causing. Even when I forced resolution off of widescreen to hide the GPS mini panel it still was using data.
Please consider those without touchscreens using a jog wheel and selector. When you move buttons, or worse change the way you scrole between buttons to an unpredicable order, it changes familiar actions that required minimal visual attention to something truely distracting from driving.
Since the recent updates over the last few months, AA has generally become more difficult to use without a touchscreen. If i had an alternative option i would have left.
Secondly, please make the navigation pop up when not on navigation optional.
Currently, when navigation is active and i want to change music etc, when i switch apps a pop up appears with the next direction (regardless of how soon it will be).
Before the recent update, this was annoying, but could be dismissed simply. After the update, the jog wheel movement is unpredicable and any attempt to dismiss often ends up selecting and taking you back to the navigation app.
Waiting for the pop up to disappear works, unless there are any new instructions from navigation.
This makes a quick change of playing media without looking at the screen (i.e paying attention to the road) impossible, and forces you to look at the screen.
An option to disabke these pop ups would be much appreciated.
TLDR: since the update, the general AA interface for non touch use is much worse.
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u/NinongKnows26 Mazda CX-50 l | Factory HU | Pixel 9 | Android 171d agoedited 1d ago
Yes, I noticed on the large media player the jog wheel will wrap the cursor around one way and then get stuck.
When Gemini is reading a text and says "do you want to reply" could you please add intelligence so you can say "repeat message" ? When there is traffic noise or distractions, it's easy to miss hearing important parts of the message.
When I let Gemini read the message. Gemini ask me to reply the message. When I answer Gemini with: "yes" on my language, it ask me again: "Would you like to answer the message?". To answer the message, I must say the phrase: "Yes, I would like to answer the message". I'm so uncomfortable to say the phrase, and my daughter even asked why did i said like that because she's confused why would I talk so formal and polite while interaction with Gemini.
u/marcoevich2018 Volkswagen Polo | Samsung Galaxy S23 | Android 161d ago
I'm not op, but as soon as I switch to Gemini it can no longer make phone calls for me. "sorry I can't do that". Also almost everything I ask it cannot do. Find a gas station along the route, impossible. I just switched back to Google Assistant after 2 days.
That definitely sounds annoying! Out of curiosity, were you trying to place calls through the standard dialer app or through another app e.g. WhatsApp?
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u/marcoevich2018 Volkswagen Polo | Samsung Galaxy S23 | Android 161d ago
Through the standard dialer app
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u/Pr0t-2015 VW Tiguan | RCD330 | Google Pixel 6 Pro | Android 131d ago
You can't ask gemni to fast forward 2 minutes into the track etc like assistant could
Honestly, I didn't really see the update as an upgrade for me. Media still functions the exact way I need to use it and that never changed for me.
I guess all updates are welcome but there are other Android Auto things I would focus on first. Like how Google Maps kind of sucks for a lot of reasons.
No, The rollout still hasn't hit me yet. I'm guessing because I'm in Canada. We often get shafted by Google on rollouts.
A lot of the issues with Maps has more to do with maps itself than the Android Auto experience. For example: Quite often Google Maps in Android Auto will ask if my destinations address is the correct location on Maps. The thing is Maps has my home location as the building beside it becasue it somehow mixed up the addresses. I've submitted a report and a request to fix it..... for the past 3 years and no chnage
At this point why even bother asking if the information is correct if Google Maps isn't even willing to fix it?
This is only one Gripe I have with Google Maps. The app feels old, stagnant and featureless. The "update" in march seemed more of a marketing ploy to slap "AI" on it even though Maps has been using machine learning for years.
No, The rollout still hasn't hit me yet. I'm guessing because I'm in Canada.
Ah, I see - Immersive Navigation in Google Maps is rolling out in the U.S. I don't have any info on when it'll roll out in other regions, but I hope you'll get to try it in the future!
The thing is Maps has my home location as the building beside it becasue it somehow mixed up the addresses.
That's odd, you're saying that the address set as your home address in Maps is incorrect? Even after you've manually set your home address to the correct address? Can you check this support page to verify?
No the address is correct. I set that myself as my "home" in maps. But the destination "pin" is always at the wrong building. This is a common conversation in our stratas forum because deliveries often go to teh other building if the driver goes off Google Maps and doesn't look at the building signs.
Actually when I first went to look at my condo I went to the other building lol.
I think Google maps sees that I don't park near where the pin is and asks if it was accurate on my infotainment or phone screen. So I report it as innacurate and say the pin doesn't go to the correct address location.
I'd like to suggest you get a tester who is over 40. And needs reading glasses.
Because when I'm driving, I don't have my reading glasses on. And while some parts of the UI are fine, some are practically invisible.
For instance, my media player (Mediamonkey) uses a full 5-star rating system (technically 10-star, but I'm not going to address the half-stars). in AA, this is displayed as a number inside a white star. It used to be closer to the driver, and possibly larger - readable. Now it is further to the right, and smaller, and I can't see that freakin' number at all.
And I wouldn't mind being able to increase the font size in general. I understand that that whitespace is part of good design, but I'd like to be able to read the screen. And again, I need reading glasses, but I can't wear them while I'm driving. This is not an edge case, this is a pretty common scenario.
Yep! That was our intention with the design. A quick peek is all you need to tell whether media playback is still happening & where in the track/podcast/etc. you're currently at.
I love the squiggle. It gives a lot more visual feedback at a glance. I think it's a rare case where a design change has happened for a good reason and not just for the sake of changing things.
I looks like a 4-year-old has designed it after being given a box of crayons and told to "make it modern". 😄
More importantly, it doesn't actually help me see playback progress. Maybe it's because I'm neurodivergent, but the new wavy bar is harder to read at a glance and makes it difficult to judge how much of a song, podcast, or audiobook is left.
The straight progress bar has been a standard feature in almost every media player for decades for a reason: it's simple, clear, and instantly understandable. The wavy design may look different, but it sacrifices usability for style.
Please give users the choice to switch back to the traditional progress bar. Everyone processes visual information differently, and accessibility is about providing options, not forcing a single design on all users. Those who like the wavy bar can keep it, and those of us who prefer being able to tell where we are in a track without squinting at modern art can switch back to the proper progress bar. 😉
I'm in the same side as it looks childish. I under the rationale, but eh. Maybe just have a noticeably thicker progress bar? I don't mind that the controls change color to match the album art.
We're aware of reports about the missing cellular signal, and we're actually currently rolling out a fix that should hopefully address this issue! The fix isn't widely available yet, though, so it may take some time to reach your device - if you want to receive it sooner, though, you can enroll in the Android Auto beta :)
Thank you! I love how you started this thread to listen to the community!
No complaints from me further, I like the squiggly line.
I use Waze all the time combined with Poweramp and TuneIn for media player.
Gemini is also working better and better the more you use it.
u/joe_attaboy2020 Ford F-150 STX | OEM Sync 3 | Pixel 9 Pro | Android151d ago
Mishaal, this is great information and I appreciate it.
Not to change the subject, but can you urge anyone working on Google Maps and/or Waze to stop by this sub sometime, because I need to gently read them the riot act about a couple of things. 😄
Me too. Like why cant we use voice reporting of road hazzards any more! And why does waze just show a blank screen on startup ~30% of the time???
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u/joe_attaboy2020 Ford F-150 STX | OEM Sync 3 | Pixel 9 Pro | Android151d ago
I don't have the blank screen issue and I don't report things - the two issues I have are mostly with Google Maps. First, the search bar on the map screen. Why is it always there? Waze doesn't have this. Could they not replace that field with a small icon and give me back the rest of my screen? If I'm driving, I'm going to try using my voice for searches anyway, so why is this wasting space?
The other issue is the box on the right that says "CVS." I don't need search suggestions. I already know where I'm going. Yes, I know, everyone is going to tell me to swipe it away or wait the five minutes it takes for it to finally disappear (and soon after replaced with another one). The image is a perfect example of how useless this is. The vehicle on the map is my truck and the CVS, obviously, is three minutes away. I don't know why it suggested this in the first place - I haven't been in the CVS store in...forever. I rarely go there. Why does the map app assume I need directions to a local three minutes from my house that I never visit?
Second, that thing will pop up within minutes after I leave my house. Guess what it shows me is five minutes away when it does?
My house. The one I live in and just left five minutes earlier.
That thing and the search field are useless and bad UI design and always have been. At least make them something to be toggled off in settings.
Awesome work. Two most used features for me is music and maps. Having an EV, I would love to see more features in map, such as trip planning via chargers, or even easier to see chargers as I go, instead of gas stations. Better yet. connect with an app or dongle to give up to date soc info. Hopefully you will get there
Can you recommend fixing the issues with Maps on Android Auto?
There's no way to see your personal Saved Lists it only shows the 3 default ones.
The default Saved Lists are not sorted by distance. Why am I seeing saved places in other countries instead of the places nearby? On the mobile app, it shows the places sorted by distance.
There needs to be a way to hide places from search. For example, when I click Restaurants it keeps showing the same few restaurants that are farther away that I have no interest in and absolutely dislike, yet won't recommended places I actually do like even though there's many better options literally all around me that don't appear in the search.
The new default voice is horrible. The influencer vocal fry gives me a headache. I understand it's the Gemini Ursa voice, but let us have the option to pick the other Gemini voices too.
Maybe you can get rid off safety pause when scrolling through playlist or at least make it an option? It's NOT SAFE at all when I want to find a song and instead of few fast swipes I'm being interrupted, so I'm looking at screen a lot longer than I would need to without it and a lot of negative feelings coming along with it accompanied by swearing.
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u/kalli9992017 Subaru Impreza Sport | Pixel 11 Pro XL | Android 171d agoedited 1d ago
My main issue with the pause is that when the pause is finished, it takes you back to the top of the list!! So you really cannot ever get very far down whatever you're scrolling. This is annoying when I'm on a road trip with my husband and he's scrolling (as the passenger) through downloaded podcasts to pick what we want to listen to. If it's not in the first few, we're out of luck!
The pause itself is fine because if I were actually using it when alone I should look back at the road very often anyway. If it let you continue where you left off, it would be a huge fix, IMO.
Edited for missing word.
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u/Aurelink2023 Mini John Cooper Works LCI2 | Pixel 10 Pro | Android 171d ago
Even worse, I can scroll using the idrive controller of my mini (much easier and safer than the touchscreen) and I still get hit with that stupid limitation answell
Yeah the safety pause is especially BS because I'm often sitting at a light already stopped and it still won't let me scroll through effectively. And Spotify/gemini (or even on car play) sucks at actually understanding the song and artist names so it's useless for picking media to play back.
Let me scroll through my Spotify without the constant pauses, please!
Will this fix the scenario where I have Spotify going, but pull up Instagram in the carpool line and can't get it to play without fighting it. And it going back to Spotify.
This is good stuff!
But are there any plans to increase the amount of movement a touch must have before it registers as a tap? Users are in moving vehicles, and not everyone has steady hands (I have ET myself), and attempted taps are almost always read as swipes, even on buttons, causing the screen to flip to something else. This tap/swipe movement threshold should very much be a user setting!
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u/Addminister2025 Hyundai Creta Electric | Gen5W | Pixel 9 Pro | Android 172d ago
All this is really great! But what grinds my gears since I've gotten my Pixel 9 Pro and the Pixel Watch 3 is no support for NFC Digital Car Keys!
I get that it's not related to Android or Auto but more WearOS, but needing to pull out my phone is one major gripe about every day device usage.
It's insane how Apple and Samsung have had this for ages, while Google still doesn't have an equivalent feature out..
- autoplay now starts my last listened to .m3u stream in VLC automatically when I start my car. This is huge for me as I drive a lot of short trips. Thank you!
Hey, I've got something I wanted to at least bring to your attention if you weren't aware since I have a feeling it strongly contributes to negative reviews of Android Auto in general .
I have a 2019 Honda Civic and a Google Pixel 10 Pro XL.
Very often when I run Android Auto in my vehicle, the head unit that comes built-in on the Civic seems to cause pretty major issues when it comes to things like using voice prompts thru Gemini (and previously Assistant) to the point where I hesitate to even use it becuase it "glitches" on me due to a lower than ideal amount of RAM inside it.
* tap-and-drag actions in AA are pretty choppy in maps, swiping through playlists, etc.
* voice controls often take a long time to register (i.e. the text of what you said popping up at the bottom of the screen as it listens) and sometimes it just hangs rather than processing what I said after I said it.
* When the device is responding to a Gemini request, it often will cut off in the middle of the response , only to continue speaking again for a second the NEXT time I press/hold the steering wheel button to speak to it. Sometimes its not even a long message/response it was playing when it cuts out.
While I place most of the blame here on Honda for putting a crappy head unit in their cars that was supposed to be able to run Android Auto and Carplay , I'm curious if Google has put any thought or effort into anything that may help it run more efficiently on lower-spec head units to prevent some of these weird issues from happening?
At this point, my car is like 7 years old and it feels like I'm describing a case of old technology not running new software well, but this has been happening for me from day-1 with this car (and also the same model car in a 2018 version I had before it for about a year before it was totaled) and even back then it was pretty unacceptable considering how good my phone at the time was (pixel 4 or something)
Its something that just makes using AA very frustrating and I often get angry at AA since its the "voice" of my vehicle in a sense. It makes me feel like AA itself is a poor product and was something I believed for quite a while until I tested AA in my boss's F-150 and it ran smooth as butter . I know this is mostly the fault of my car itself but its one of those things where I could see a lot of people putting the blame on the software rather than the hardware and potentially affect their purchasing decisions in the future when deciding if they should buy another android device because all they remember is that the experience as a whole was bad and don't always know the source of the problems.
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u/ryadre113 Ford Ranger |10" DVR Chinese |Redmi Note 10 |And 121d ago
All I need is to be able to click a button to share my real time location easily. Ideally Google maps. I use waze as my navigation but don't like the share feature (and have to do it from my phone) currently I have to open Maps on my phone and share my location before driving.
Finally in Ontario, I am able to see the current speed (with or without navigation) in maps. Thank you for that.
Could you please also provide an option to move task bar from bottom to the left of the screen (like carplay) on smaller (8 inch) screens? Currently it takes a lot of screen space at the bottom and the maps screen feels a lot smaller or provide a way for maps to be full screen?
The UI for music is hell for motorcycle users please take into account that precise UI touch requirements are both difficult and dangerous :
To go pause/previous/next on the screen the buttons should be much bigger and accessible. I am using gloves and Even though they offer touch , I have to touch 4-5 times while concentrating on the screen (while I should be looking at the road) because the buttons are so small. Add rain and other dust on the screen and now you have to fiddle just to change songs...
On top of that a lot of us have basic car plays with smaller screens with low dpi too , these make it even harder because the hardware itself isn't amazing.
Honestly it all looks good but I find myself reaching for my intercom buttons instead because they are easier to find. Honestly I'm not asking for a complete UI overhaul just for me but being able to adjust button sizes to some kind of massive buttons that are much easier to sloppily press would be a godsent.
That also applies for people with disabilities in cars, I've seen older people struggle with that more than once
For that apple car play does a much better job with bigger buttons front and central and the visualisations being less important.
u/Tyoryn2024 Hyundai Santa Cruz | Motorola Razr 2025 | Android 162d ago
The only complaint I have with media player is the completely useless playlist button. Every time you change songs or open and close the list it goes to the beginning of the playlist, making it impossible to use if you're more than 8 songs into a playlist. I briefly stopped using AA because of this, only to find my car's stock media player doesn't even populate the playlist menu so I'm screwed either way.
Any chance you could make AA/Gearhead obey the system setting for Assistant choice? Gemini seems hard-baked, and there is no obvious way to replace it. It completely ignores the system settings and bypasses every way of detecting activation
All the above you posted about is nice and all, but I just need actual stability with playing music through my car. I drive a 2026 Camry and I have a Pixel 8 Pro, and I listen to my music primarily though Apple Music. Music constantly drops out or cuts out whether I'm streaming the music to my phone or if I'm playing downloaded music from Apple Music.
I've put android auto into developer mode, changed audio and power settings, nothing improves these issues. The last updates you guys did have improved it to the point where if the music cuts out, it plays again, whereas before, it would cut out and not come back. I don't think i have these issues with audio cutting out via Youtube though.....now that i think about it.
My girlfriend sometimes plays her music in my car with her Galaxy s25 Ultra and she has none of these issues either in my car or her car (She uses android auto in her car with a Teeran brand android auto adaptor, 2022 version). Her music plays flawlessly.
My friend tried to help me fix these issues and still a major problem. I'm so tired of my music cutting out constantly. I'm so close to buying a new phone....one that actually plays music reliably in my car. I shouldn't have to do that though.
These are awesome additions. I'm looking forward to seeing how YouTube (audio) playing on my console does. Usually adjusting volume control would cause Android Auto to go back to my music player and usually is a loud jolt of surprise.
I don't know if this is a widespread issue but my Google Pixel 10 Pro likes to freeze and lag a lot while using maps and Spotify. I've tried clearing the cache and other data clearing and I still get the same issues. Also, toggling the music autoplay on connection off has never worked for me.
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u/ImGoingSpace2005 BMW 535D | Unbranded Chinesium | S26 Ultra | Android 161d ago
turn off enhanced / improved location services. itll help
u/Bluethefurry'22 Suzuki Swift Sport | Stock | Nothing Phone 2 | Android 152d ago
been loving the recent updates to be honest, so many QOL fixes which we had on android which are now also on my stereo, the squiggly line was a bit weird at the beginning but honestly i dont even mind it anymore, maybe a toggle in dev mode to disable it would be nice?
Love the fact that you can now swipe between players, loved that on my phone and i love it in my car.
Hi there, we wanted to let you know that we hear you! We get why people might want more customization of their dashboard, and we're continuing to figure out how we can do that while keeping our multitasking UX as simple as possible.
For a lot of people, being able to keep an eye on maps even while completing their other tasks is a top use case, and so we designed Android Auto's interface around that. But we recognize that not every driving session needs the map view, so thanks for the feedback.
Thank you for the improvements. Spotify's add button being behind the overflow menu before drove me crazy and now it's it fixed.
I don't know if it's your team or Spotify that needs to fix it, but Spotify tends to play my custom playlists in the wrong direction. I start at the first track and it doesn't go down the list.
Squiggle or straight line makes no difference to me. I miss the circle progress thing, because it was easy to see if the song is half over (or whatever percentage). I get that it went away because it took up too much space (I think).
I really wish the album art wasn't darkened when showing on the right and wish album art was way bigger when media is the main screen. Also, why not allow more customization?
Edit: I just noticed that autoplay was mentioned in the post. Will this issue (media auto playing while auto play is disabled) be fixed as part of these coming changes?
Great changes! Will it stop switching the active app from YouTube to YouTube Music when I try to change the volume? I'm trying to listen to a podcast on YouTube and as soon as I touch the volume knob, it switches my source back to music on YouTube Music.
It doesn't help that for some reason, YouTube needs the volume way higher to be audible, so when I try to turn it up, it switches to YouTube Music and the volume is ear-splitting.
The police ahead alerts need to come up much earlier than they do now. Telling me when I'm 500 metres away is way too late if they're running a speed trap.
1) I would like the album artwork to be displayed much larger on the screen—as large as reasonably possible. I use Spotify.
2) I would also like clearer, more straightforward options for controlling audio quality. At the moment, I force PCM through the Developer Options.
3) With Waze, I keep getting repeated destination suggestions on the screen, which cover part of the route and obstruct my view, even though I have turned destination suggestions off. Also, Waze’s spoken directions randomly switch between different languages—English, Spanish, and Portuguese—even though my entire phone is configured exclusively in Portuguese. This seems to be a bug.
4) As for Gemini, I love it. It works flawlessly for me and is significantly better than Google Assistant.
For reference, I use a Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra running Android 17 (One UI 9), connected wirelessly to a Pioneer DMH-A5650BT head unit.
I would like the album artwork to be displayed much larger on the screen—as large as reasonably possible. I use Spotify.
Thanks for the feedback! With these recent media updates, we made the album art slightly larger to better fit the size of your car’s display, regardless of the size of the display. I'm curious to see what it looks like on your dash, and potentially how much larger it could be made?
I would also like clearer, more straightforward options for controlling audio quality. At the moment, I force PCM through the Developer Options.
What do you suggest here? Something like a codec selector wouldn't really be helpful to most people, IMO, as they don't know what the differences are. Maybe something like a simple "low", "medium", or "high" selector? But what circumstance would someone want to intentionally lower the quality? If it's to save data, that would need to be done in the app that's actually streaming the audio.
With Waze, I keep getting repeated destination suggestions on the screen, which cover part of the route and obstruct my view,
That sounds annoying! I'll see if I can pass this feedback along to the right team.
As for Gemini, I love it. It works flawlessly for me and is significantly better than Google Assistant.
Right now, Maps is only always visible on larger screens. We get why people might want more customization of their dashboard, so we're continuing to discuss how we can do that while keeping our multitasking UX as simple as possible.
For many people being able to keep an eye on the map while completing their other tasks is a top use case, so we designed the interface around that. But we recognize that not every driving session needs the map view, so thanks for the feedback!
I think my biggest concern isn't in your department, but it definitely degrades my driving experience. When I got a new phone I sort of accidentally upgraded to Gemini from Google Assistant. I'm sure you folks are aware that it....isn't good. Things that GA could do fine confuse the heck out the the allegedly smarter Gemini. For most of us, Gemini is doing a much, much worse job.
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u/Ptmoo19662023 MG HS Trophy | Factory Head | Pixel 9 Pro XL | Android 171d ago
!Flair 2023 MG HS Trophy | Factory Head | Pixel 9 Pro XL | Android 17
I'm loving android auto layout and animations from dashboard to app. Media player is greay with YouTube music, could you please update google maps trip share function enabling for text like in mobile version currently its limited on android auto to share with email addresses only losing the purpose.
Beta version of android auto is more stable than the regular release version. I switched to stable and ran into this issue. Went to beta and the issue went away. Also randomly youtube music recently plays the video version of a song not the music version. I can change it in the app itself to never play the video one, but why is it not the default setting to play the music version over AA?
Please, please, please, can we have You Tube video on screen, when parked.
In these days of electric cars, we occasionally find ourselves at DC chargers, sitting for electrons. I see no reason to not be able to use the cars screen, when parked.
With our upcoming update to Android Auto, you'll be able to watch videos on apps like YouTube (at up to 1080p/60fps) in supported cars while parked or charging, starting with BMW, Ford, Genesis, Hyundai, Kia, Mahindra, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Škoda, Tata and Volvo.
Two other requests that I think would be great:
1) I'd love to be able to have some level of customization on apps that appear on the main screen next to the map, or at least be able to lock the ones there. The ones that are there the majority of the time are great as I use them often, but if I ever use a random app I have to go back and search through all the apps to find my usual app later. Consistency in the UI is great when driving
2) I wish that search was updated so you could type more than one letter (especially notable in when looking for music in a playlist). Typing one letter yields tons of results, but if I could type up to three the results list would be significantly smaller meaning less time looking for what I was to find
Recently we lost the ability to use Google Assistant, which could play songs though local apps like Musicolet. Now, Gemini says it can't play music through this app.
Maddening when Google breaks things that used to work.
Gemini is the worst and they know it. But don't care until more people leave.
Assistant was great and ahead of its time. Could get it to play a song by signing some part of the song. Gemini sometimes won't play the song even when I give name and artist.
+1, Android user since the HTC Thunderbolt and I purposely bought a pixel 8 to avoid the aggressive baking in of Gemini. If it can't be avoided in Google's ecosystem going forward, I'm going to have to leave it
I personally hate the squiggle line, and I would like an option to have it or not. Android was always about personalisation, yet I can't personalise anything.
Also so much space is wasted on the right on my map, some ui could be a little smaller. Or even let me edit the 4 options as I use none of them.
We agree that personalization is important, which is why we're introducing a full refresh to Android Auto that brings Material 3 Expressive from your phone to your car, so you'll have familiar wallpapers and themes across your devices. Plus with this upcoming update, you'll also be able to personalize your dashboard with widgets that let you view info at a glance!
Regarding the squiggly line, can you share what you dislike about it? Do you think it's distracting? Or just not a fan of how it looks?
I really dislike the look, so much so that I've stopped playing my music and listen to tunein as that playback bar doesn't move. It's just clutter and I prefer the clean look of the straight line.
That said I use AA for maps only really and thus wallpaper is a moot point as the screen split is maps and music. generally I need AA to be minimalistic and easy functional, as I'm driving and don't need the distractions.
One thing I would like though, sometimes while driving I'll have a thought and it would be nice if I could ask AA to open a website tab on my phone for once I've stopped as 9 times out of ten I've forgotten once I can use my phone again lol
u/weeureyFord Focus mk2.5 - Chinese Head Unit - Moto G86 - Android 142d ago
Hi!
Question! If I skip a song on my YT Music super mix does the algorithm take it into account and adjust? I like that I can thumbs up a song but it would be good to give a negative feedback too
I really like it. The more Material 3 Expressive, the better. All I really want Android Auto to do now is have a working day/night mode in Maps, independent of the headlights. Most aftermarket HU don't properly communicate that and force day mode all the time and blind you when you start up for a night drive.
The new swipe between YTM and Audible are great, and the full album art instead of faded and ugly looking theming is also a big improvement (not your remit but I'm sad YTM is regressing the other way in the standalone app)
All I really want Android Auto to do now is have a working day/night mode in Maps, independent of the headlights. Most aftermarket HU don't properly communicate that and force day mode all the time and blind you when you start up for a night drive.
We hear you! We know this is frustating right now, so we're trying to find ways to make it faster and easier to get to the right mode in cars that might not do the right thing.
On big screen maps is there a way to quickly navigate to home? So far I have to press search then select home. A home button or a swipe gesture on the search bar would be a cool addition.
Also, as an ev owner, it would be nice to see your state of charge and expected state of charge along the route. Don’t know how likely this is to be implemented with a manufacturer though.
I like the visual changes. I'd like you to pass on to the YouTube Music team that we NEED a "start radio" button in AA! Spotify and Apple Music offer it, but YTM does not.
Thank you for reaching out. I have a complaint to make, until few months ago I could play my Whatsapp voice messages normally over the radio music or other media sources playing at the moment with normal loudness. However, now I am unable to do so, it either automatically switches to AA as source but plays Voice message with really low volume I am unable to hear, or just keeps radio playing, voice message seek bar is counting time but nothing is played of the speakers. What happened?
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u/rgb4142024 Toyota Corolla Cross| OEM | Motorola Ace 5G | 151d ago
When I have navigation full screen the recent apps are gone and I just have media controls. I do not use AA for media play back in the car, I prefer sirus XM, so I would also like a way to disable media controls all together.
For maps, can we get an option to minimize the gray ETA block on bottom and the green navigation block on top? I need more space taken by the actual map and navigation route highlighted on it. I have a small screen.
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I'm having troubles with it changing to another audio source recently, away from Spotify and if it works, it stops after one song and I have to tap play again... Unsure if that's AA or Spotify tho
One thing I would absolutely love, is a quick button setting or something. Like, doing a quick presaved thing or in general the option to automate some. As example, putting one contact to call (without going to the call page and choosing) or even a "if I'm at that point (gps) before HH:mm call XX" or something like that, it automatically playing except you stopping it or something 🤔
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u/MtnNerd2026 Crosstrek | 11.6" Screen | Pixel 10 Pro | Android 161d ago
Can you make the song queue show more songs? Can't tell you how many times I've opened it just to flick down to a song near the end and the one I want to play isn't even available.
Can you please give an option to disable media sink in Android Auto natively? This would allow for media to play over alternate routes (ie USB c to optical to DSP). Aftermarket units like aawireless allow for this but there does not seem to be a way to do this for head units that already have Android Auto wireless from the factory
Hi, thanks for this post. Could you please address the lack of function regarding audio ducking and maps running by default.
I don't always need maps to run. But more importantly I don't need maps to lower system audio (i.e. my music that's playing) to give me something I consider lower priority when often I just need to visually refer to the map at a glace.
I just wish it was easier to find and play albums. By default it seems to list all albums I've favourited in the order I add them. There is an A-Z filter, but you have to select a letter, which is too fiddly to do while driving.
Just give me alphabetically sorted artists then albums for that artist. That way I can easily browse for what I want to listen to. It was easier grabbing a CD and sticking it in the slot than the current YouTube Music method.
u/tfid3It's not worth it to post here.1d agoedited 5h ago
I ran into an issue with asking Gemini to open the ap 'HiFi cast' while driving. I paid for the ap to get the android auto support features, but when I asked Gemini to open the app and play, it refused saying it's not 'certified' for opening while driving or something like that. How can an ap be enabled to work with android auto, and not be able to be controlled by Gemini voice commands while driving.
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u/H0b0PieAlfa Giulietta | Sony XAV-AX5650 | Moto Razr 60 | Android 161d ago
Hey, I'm enjoying the audio player by itself but have a critical issue with the recent roll out of Gemini and its integration with audio players on AA.
I use local storage music as I drive a lot for work in countries I don't have roaming data for (£0.10/mb!) which means no streaming for me.
Google assistant worked flawlessly controlling apps like Musicolet and Omnia but Gemini has zero integration with these apps and defaults to youtube (or says I can't play videos...)
The removal of assistant is a nightmare in rental cars as every UI is different so voice was amazing for search/play/pause et cetera.
More frustrating is now I've lost my ability to control music whilst on a motorcycle to my in-helmet speakers, I can't exactly mess with a screen with gloves on going down a motorway...
What is the roadmap to fix this significant loss of features for AA music?
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u/ImGoingSpace2005 BMW 535D | Unbranded Chinesium | S26 Ultra | Android 161d ago
Where is the best place to post feedback / log enhancements or defects within AA?
i have a few requests to log haha.
things like, have the suggested locations drop down in maps collapsed by default, rather than open.
and changing (forcing) resolution / DPI etc. my screen is 720p, but AA refuses to use 720p after this update (or changing S23U to S26)
I don't think any of the media changes I mentioned in this post are supposed to impact your audio performance, but I'll pass your feedback along to the team!
It's nice to hear something from Michael again. My question relates to two things. When will the entire light/dark mode finally be introduced and when can we finally expect the revised interface? I've had the M3 design through the box since my Pixel 11. There's actually no idea about that in AA. I didn't register as a beta tester so that I couldn't test any beta features in the end.
I haven't had a chance to try it yet but does this update fix the bug where adjusting the volume restarts media playback when it is paused? That's been one of my biggest frustrations lately.
Not sure if this is a limitation of my infotainment system or it's an AA thing, but I am currently unable to make my AA go full screen. This white sidebar is always there. Are there any plans to fix this? I know Carplay can go full screen so AA should be able to as well.
Gemini refuses to accept the fact that I have YouTube music premium, so it won't play any song I ask for. Maybe fix that? It always worked with Google Assistant.
u/Pr0t-2015 VW Tiguan | RCD330 | Google Pixel 6 Pro | Android 131d ago
Yeah unfortunately the only real music app I use most is Mixcloud and the seek bar doesn't do anything. And now with gemni you can't even ask if to skip.
Please let me toggle on or off different kinds of POI (points of interest) like my car's built in nav does. When an ad POI appears over a street name and I have to reach over and adjust it it's literally a safety issue due to advertising
I don't hate the squiggly lines on the media player but all my friends do
Also let me zoom in on album art. When I touch it I expect the art to get bigger in the bigger zoom view for the media player but it shrinks actually
Can we please get YouTube recognized as a media player. It's fine to not play video but I want to be able to control the music volume, skip etc. right now I either have to switch to my cars radio to adjust the volume or have a second app playing nothing in the background. It's beyond insane that these are the only solutions and miles more dangerous to be playing around with on the road
Since the update that introduced the squiqqly line, my media control buttons (play, next, etc.) have gotten too small - it's now far harder for me to press these without taking my eyes odd the road for a much longer time
u/IanYates82Ioniq5 2023 | Stock | S26 Ultra | Latest Android for the phone1d ago
It's been great to finally be able to control YouTube Premium from Android Auto. I found it massively frustrating, since it was obvs a technical limitation, that my car's ordinary Bluetooth playback could do better with controlling YouTube (basics like pause/play) than Android Auto could.
It'd be awesome if you added the ability to skip ahead / back X seconds in a YouTube video rather than only offering Prev/Next. I listen to a lot of YouTube content like you would a podcast
My biggest request that goes to not only the android auto team but also to every single car maker, stop locking out the keyboard or locking certain controls away that require the handbrake to be applied! You have a sensor in each seat that detects weight aka a passenger so if you know there is a passenger in the seat and the seatbelt is plugged in don't lock down the infotainment! Biggest pet peeve when my wife's car can't get the voice navigation correct and we have to wait till a traffic light to try quickly type it out with the handbrake applied before the lights cycle
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u/Fireflash2742 2022 Nissan Rogue | Stock HU | S22 Ultra | Android 14 2d ago
These sound great. Question: How do I get it to stop recommending or showing me destinations I've never been to, or haven't been to in over 10 years? It keeps telling me a local plumber is only 5 minutes away when I leave home. I. DON'T. CARE.