Android Auto: Latest UI features and Material You-based design hits new public beta

Google's pledge to upgrade its Android Auto interface at I/O 2022 came with estimates that it would roll out by the summer of 2022. That projection never panned out; however, it has reportedly started to manifest now, albeit as a public beta version of its Play Store app.

As the Mountain View giant notes, it contains a new preview of Android Auto's improved ability to fit to a more diverse array of dashboard screens. It may also distribute the UI's elements to greater effect, too, with a new feature that can push a map view toward the driver's side.

Alternatively, the map can now be set to fill the entire window for the first time. Alternatively, should the user want the media card (now with Assistant-powered recommendations) up as well, it has been updated and can now be re-sized with more alacrity.

Similarly, Android Auto's bottom "rail" now contains a handy app dock, and now condenses notifications and typical status bar contents into the same corner.

Google envisions that this will make them more convenient to expand or collapse as necessary. Finally, Android Auto's various cards have a more up-to-date, Material You-inspired design with rounded corners in this latest version.

Unfortunately, it is not available to download as the app's beta program is full at the time of writing, with no word as to when its new features might hit the stable version, which makes do with improved do-not-disturb settings and bug fixes for now.

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