Android Auto Just Got A New Feature That Will Make Media Switching Way Easier

Android Auto users, a new update is about to make your life slightly easier. May has brought a wave of updates to the Google UI platform for vehicles, including one that will completely overhaul your dashboard. The updates also deliver widgets to drivers and improvements to Google Maps. However, a new feature currently seeing the light of day within the beta version of Android Auto will make switching between certain apps far easier for users.

Spotted by Android Authority, Google is delivering a new update that will bring swipeable media cards to your dashboard. Essentially, this means you can more easily switch between media and streaming apps, and your media cards will still be available in Android Auto. Though some vehicle manufacturers are ditching Android Auto, the new update should be a welcome addition for those who use it.

Time will tell when this feature makes it into public releases of Android Auto, though users who frequently use multiple apps are sure to enjoy the update once it's available. It will also be interesting to see whether this new feature plays well with Android Auto's recent support for full HD video in vehicles with compatible infotainment screens. Google is also introducing "visual tune-ups" for certain media apps, such as YouTube and Spotify.

The new swipeable media card feature was found to be operational in the 17.0.162144-release.daily build of Android Auto, and it allows users to easily manage which media controls are displayed on their dashboard. Before this release, Android Auto would only display one media card, so if you were using YouTube Music and wanted to switch to Spotify, you would need to switch between them manually, but you would lose the controls for the former by doing so.

Thankfully, this will no longer be the case with the new update, as it allows you to swipe between these media cards. These cards can be rather useful, as they typically display media controls for a streaming service or even metadata about the current media being played. It's not the most groundbreaking feature ever imagined, but it's sure to come in clutch for those that need it.

No information has been provided on when the feature will be publicly released, so Android Auto users will need to keep their eyes peeled. Along with some major updates to the platform, Google is also making a big push for its proprietary artificial intelligence agent Gemini to be far more active in the Android Auto experience, and we can tell you some clever ways to take advantage of it.