Android Auto has a number of limitations, however a lot of them are intentional, as Google prioritizes security when you drive. However that does not imply Android Auto is brief on options: the Mountain View tech big retains including new options and enhancements to make Android Auto higher with out compromising on customers’ security.
Android Authority‘s APK teardown of the Android Auto model 5.6.154404-release.day by day (beta) has revealed that Google is presently engaged on at the very least one main characteristic to your automobile’s dashboard. Codenamed “Earth,” this new characteristic needs to provide customers extra management over how and what apps seem on their dashboard.
What’s Android Auto’s “Earth” characteristic, and what does it do?
That is presently in its early stage of growth, so you possibly can’t predict the way it’ll work when it launches formally. Nonetheless, of us over at Android Authority managed to get it engaged on their gadgets, giving us some concepts about what you possibly can count on from it.
Android Auto’s “Earth” is a brand new widget functionality designed to let customers add widgets from their Android telephones to their automobiles’ dashboard. Do not confuse this with the “Taskbar Widgets,” which seem on the backside of the display screen. As a substitute, “Earth” will show these widgets on the facet of your display screen.
Many customers on boards like Reddit complained a few main limitation of the “Taskbar Widgets” that it does not present all of the icons on the backside. Having the ability to add widgets to the house display screen will hopefully repair this difficulty.
Nonetheless, as issues stand proper now, Android Auto’s “Earth” functionality additionally has some notable limitations. For instance, you possibly can’t add a couple of widget to your Android Auto dwelling display screen at a time, even when it is from the identical app.



If you choose a brand new widget, it will substitute the beforehand chosen one. It isn’t clear if that is intentional for security causes or is one thing that Google will repair earlier than the official rollout. However what Google will certainly need to repair is the poor efficiency of the widgets on the house display screen.
Android Authority discovered that not all widgets, together with those from Google, operate as they need to. In addition they discovered optimization points, particularly with widgets which might be designed for horizontal layouts. Hopefully, all these points shall be mounted in order that customers have extra methods to change the Android Auto view.
As for the way it works proper now, you’ll choose your favourite widget by tapping the brand new “Customise Earth” possibility in Android Auto Settings. It additionally permits you to modify how large the widget will seem in your Android Auto dwelling display screen.