[RahulNagaraj]

Tech giant, Google, has reportedly started rolling out an improved UI for its 'Google Maps' app, when running on Android Auto.

As per reports, the updated Google Maps comes with a significant UI update, giving it an almost fresh look. The app is said to have plenty of visual refinements which give it a cleaner and more modern look when running on Android Auto. Some of these new updates include new iconology on the floating bottom panel, better highlighting of essential information such as time to destination, easy access to settings & alerts and a newly designed zoom-in and out button on the lower left corner.



Apart from the visual refinements, Google has slowly been adding a number of new features recently. These include "eco-friendly routes" which now consider more factors when calculating the best route for a destination. This includes increased focus on fuel consumption, road incline and traffic conditions. Google claims that this feature helped reduce emissions by the equivalent of taking half a million cars off the road.

Google Maps also recently introduced "Immersive view" for a number of locations. This feature provides a multi-dimensional view of locations to help drivers get familiar with the areas before they even begin driving.

While Google has remained mostly tight-lipped about the redesign of the Maps on Android Auto, users should slowly start receiving the update as the company completes the testing phase.

Source: AutoEvolution

Link to Team-BHP news

[subie_socal]

Will these updates trickle down to Waze also?

[Dr.AD]

I noticed these changes in Android Auto in my Thar last week. So looks like this update is rolled out in India too.

However, there was one interesting difference:

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

Some of these new updates include new iconology on the floating bottom panel, better highlighting of essential information such as time to destination, easy access to settings & alerts and a newly designed zoom-in and out button on the lower left corner.

Instead of the bottom left corner, these zoom-in and zoom-out buttons were in bottom right corner for me. Similarly, the whole panel of icons on the left edge shown in your screenshot was at right edge for me. And that is great because for me (as the driver), right edge is more accessible than left edge, in a right hand driven car in India.

Thus, it looks like car HU's firmware is aware if the car is right hand driven or left hand driven, and Android Auto optimizes its layout accordingly. This is indeed a nice touch!

I am absolutely loving Android Auto since the first day I used it, and these minor improvements keep making it better and better all the time!

[praveen789]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Thus, it looks like car HU's firmware is aware if the car is right hand driven or left hand driven, and Android Auto optimizes its layout accordingly. This is indeed a nice touch!

Isn't this based on what the user can set in the Android Auto settings in the app?

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by praveen789

Isn't this based on what the user can set in the Android Auto settings in the app?

Are you using a standalone Android Auto app? I do not have any such standalone Android Auto app on my phone and there are no such settings anywhere on my phone.

Earlier, I used to have that standalone app with such settings. But recently Google made that obsolete, and Android Autos in car HU work with any Android phone without needing any such phone app. Now I have a car (Thar) with Android Auto HU, and the phone just works with that without any AA app on my phone.

So in short, no, there are no such settings for me now. And these settings are not there in the head-unit AA app too. That is why I presumed the HU firmware knows it is a right-hand drive car, and Android Auto is reading that and optimizing its layout. Or maybe there is some setting somewhere that I have not discovered yet.

[praveen789]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Are you using a standalone Android Auto app? I do not have any such standalone Android Auto app on my phone and there are no such settings anywhere on my phone.

..Or maybe there is some setting somewhere that I have not discovered yet.

You are right. The standalone app is no longer available but in my Samsung, I see an option for Android Auto settings under the Connected Devices section. I happened to stumble upon this when I was searching for the standalone app which was supposed to be there.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by praveen789

You are right. The standalone app is no longer available but in my Samsung, I see an option for Android Auto settings under the Connected Devices section.

Great, Thanks! I checked under "Connected Devices" after you mentioned it and yes, I indeed found the Android Auto setting there! Thanks for the tip.

However, as you can see from my screenshot below, there is indeed the "Default (Set by the Car)" setting which means Android Auto reads it from HU's firmware or other parameters automatically, as I had suspected in the first place.

[AGupta]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

That is why I presumed the HU firmware knows it is a right-hand drive car, and Android Auto is reading that and optimizing its layout.

Android auto detects location and due to this data, it becomes easy to set defaults of driver seat location based on the country driving pattern.

[Starwar19]

This brings immense joy to Android users like me. The previous UI was confusing, tasteless, and dull. In comparison, CarPlay offers a crisp, clear, and impactful experience with its basic UI and apps. Nonetheless, 'Late-show' is better then 'No-show.'