Android Auto’s Coolwalk redesign continues to slowly but surely trickle out to users, rejuvenating the Android for cars interface with several tricks up its sleeve and better suited than ever to all screen types. One of Coolwalk’s most important innovations is the new taskbar with shortcuts to the last apps you opened.
Of course, these shortcuts are not free, but rather take up space media control widget, which therefore disappears. If you prefer it to stay there, you can retrieve it from the Android Auto settings, when using it on screens with certain aspect ratios.
Return to Android Auto media widget
Android Auto’s Coolwalk has started its more or less widespread deployment from Android Auto 8.5, starting with users who are part of the app’s beta program on Google Play (which recently opened up spots and is already sold out). This redesign modernizes the Android interface for cars with significant productivity improvements.
With Coolwalk, the system allows you to use two applications at the same time, one occupying most of the screen and the other small, although in the case of Google Maps you can maximize it. In addition, from the factory, the lower (or side) bar includes shortcuts to apps you’ve used recentlyso you can reopen them with just a tap and without going through the app drawer first.
On screens where the bar is horizontal, these icons replace the media player previous widget, the one where you can see the name of the current song (when it changes) and pause and skip to the previous or next track. On screens where the bar is vertical, this widget has definitely disappeared.
However, with the horizontal bar is it possible to bring back the media widget very easily. All you have to do is go to the Android Auto app drawer, tap on Settings and check the option Show app quick commandsin category taskbar widget.
As soon as you do, the shortcuts on the bar disappear to be replaced by a multimedia widget. This is a useful option if you have a relatively small screen and prefer to use full-screen cards instead of sharing space with the media card, where you can also view and control media playback.
