Significant Android Auto Update Will Introduce YouTube on Your Vehicle’s Display

      Google, The Drive

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      Every few years, Google revitalizes Android Auto to enhance its functionality and hopefully simplify usage. An impressive upgrade is on the horizon for Galaxy and Pixel users, which Google claims represents possibly its most significant advancement yet.

      The upcoming version of Android Auto, set to launch this year, is designed to adapt effectively across various display shapes and sizes, ranging from a rhombus (as seen in BMWs) to a circular display (like in Minis). It features a revamped user interface that enables fully customizable widgets that users can create with Gemini and position for easy access to the apps, tools, and contacts they need while driving. Google Maps will soon match the immersive 3D visuals that Apple offers, showcasing terrain and buildings. Perhaps most excitingly, Android Auto will enable video playback in compatible vehicles while parked.

      For cars equipped with infotainment systems featuring Google Built-In, navigation will become more sophisticated, providing live lane guidance that offers a ground-level perspective of your required position on the highway. These vehicles will allow Gemini to respond to queries about your car specifically, such as whether a TV can fit in the trunk. Unsurprisingly, Gemini is set to play a crucial role in all of Google’s future infotainment, offering to draft text responses for you while you manage other driving responsibilities.

      Android Auto navigation is gearing up for enhanced detail. Google

      Returning to the new video support in Android Auto, this feature will be quite useful for anyone passing the time in their vehicle. Due to the necessary safety protocols, certain car models will need to be pre-approved first. Google informed us that Android Auto utilizes “signals from both the phone’s GPS and the car, thanks to our integration with the OEM, which includes driving state, selected gear, and speed” to determine the vehicle's status.

      In essence, the car must notify your phone that it’s parked for video to be allowed on the vehicle's display. This feature will first be available in vehicles from BMW, Ford, Genesis, Hyundai, Kia, Mahindra, Mercedes, Renault, Skoda, Tata, and Volvo, with more brands to follow.

      When you eventually start driving, Android Auto is programmed to switch the video you were watching to audio-only mode, similar to its current functionality where playing a video through Android Auto lets you hear just the audio. Playback controls will remain accessible while driving as well. This will be beneficial for those who prefer watching podcasts rather than merely listening. You can see an example of how this transition will occur in practice below.

      A video-to-audio transition in Android Auto after shifting to drive. Google

      While these features may seem minor, they are genuinely significant. Phone projection software like Android Auto and Apple CarPlay is crucial because they enable users to enhance their car’s infotainment system without needing to purchase a new vehicle. Moreover, these interfaces are familiar to us, given that we use them daily on our phones, allowing for a seamless transition of content between your phone and the in-car experience—your media is exactly as you left it when you get into your car.

      As for when you can anticipate these upgrades in your vehicle, Google mentions they will be rolled out “throughout the year.” Unfortunately, considering the individual automaker approvals required for the update, that’s the most precise information we can expect.

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