Listening to music, answering calls, guiding you to your destination, receiving notifications… so many tasks that you can perform comfortably and safely in your car thanks to Android Auto. For this, the ideal thing is to install the best apps for Android Auto and configure the settings to personalize it and get the most out of it: These are the settings I recommend configuring in Android Auto as soon as possible.
Force light and dark modes
By default, Android Auto switches between light and dark mode depending on your car settings. In other words, when your vehicle notices that there is little light and automatically turns on the lights, Android Auto will also adopt this night mode.
But you still prefer to use day or night mode, not so much depending on ambient light but more on your preference or what you’re doing. For example, I always I prefer day mode with navigation apps. How to do it? Enter your car’s Android Auto application and in the “General” section, enter “Night/day mode for maps” and change the automatic to the one you prefer.
If what you want is to force day or night mode for all Android Auto, then you will need to find Developer options, just scroll down to Version on the main screen and press and hold until an activation warning message appears. Ready. Now click on the three dots icon in the upper right corner and enter the “Developer Settings” for additional settings. There, search for “Day/Night” and choose what you prefer.
let the music go on
When you get in the car, having to resume reading of the song or podcast you were listening to is a little annoying, but if you’re constantly getting in and out of the car, it can even be tedious.
This simple tweak saves you from having to keep tabs on it: go into your phone’s Android Auto and from the home screen scroll down until you find “Automatically start music” and turn on -THE.
Start Android Auto when phone is locked
Depending on the car and phone you have, Android Auto may not start automatically when your phone is locked when pairing or connecting. As an impatient person, this makes me a little nervous.
To speed up this connection process between the two, go to the Android Auto application on your mobile and on the main screen, in the section ‘General‘, swipe to activate ‘Start Android Auto with phone locked‘. While true, this does decrease security a bit, as someone in your car could use Android Auto without having to unlock your phone. But if you’re traveling alone or with trusted people, it’s a practical choice.
Properly set up the Google Assistant driving mode
If at any time I wish to use the phone while it is connected (wired or wirelessly) to Android Auto, it is important that the driving mode is set correctly. Its simplified and minimalist interface streamlines tasks to minimize risk.
The first thing is to activate it: the easiest way to do it is to open Google Maps on the mobile and in ‘settings‘ > ‘navigation settings‘, go in ‘Google Assistant settings’ and choose when we want it to start (when moving with Google Maps or when connecting to the car’s Bluetooth and have it done automatically or by asking you first). If you use Bluetooth, I recommend the second option.
Once in the Google Assistant driving mode, tap on the menu button which you will find in the top right corner and then tap on the settings. There are two particularly interesting settings that should be activated to stay connected to the world: ‘Show messages in Driving View
Be careful with notifications
Android Auto lets you display notifications from supported appsbut it’s essential to strike a balance between staying connected to the world and not getting distracted while driving.
If you prefer not to receive any notifications, enter the Android Auto application on your phone and in the ‘notifications‘, turn everything off. There are four options:
- view conversations
- view group conversations
- Show first line of conversation
- Play conversation sound
Personally, to be less distracted while driving with Android Auto, I bet on having only the last option deactivated.
Better with wizard command shortcuts
One of the most useful recommendations to have a better experience with Android Auto is to create shortcuts to the voice commands of the assistant. It is particularly recommended create shortcuts to quickly call your loved ones or read your messages.
Just go to the Android Auto app on your phone, tap ‘Customize app menu’, then tap ‘Add shortcut to app menu’. Now select ‘Wizard Action’ and write the command, choose a text for the button and click create.
Coverage | Mavila2, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
In Xataka Android | Android Auto vs Android Automotive: How are they similar, how are they different and which is better?
Table of Contents
