Android Auto is a faithful companion during our travels in its standard configuration, although it can be even more useful if you take the time to modify certain parameters.
The following six Android Auto tweaks and Android Auto apps are my favorite to tweak before and during a trip, reduce distractions while driving, and generally make the experience more enjoyable.
My favorite apps, at your fingertips
Android Auto standard Sort apps alphabetically, although this is not necessarily the case. The alphabetical order is useful for finding an application that you don’t use often, but the truth is that in the end we always end up opening the same three or four applications, so in my case it is more useful to making sure the apps I use most appear on top of everything.
You can organize Android Auto applications as you wish from the Android Auto settings of your mobile, in Customize the app menu. Drag an app onto the list to place it wherever you want and automatically enable custom order mode.
Prepare the wizard
In the same section of Android Auto settings on your mobile, you can create shortcuts to Google Assistant commands. It’s something like having pre-recorded questions for the assistantwhich you can send with the press of a button in Android Auto.
It is very powerful in itselfyou can use it, for example, to create a shortcut that is “send a message on WhatsApp to mom saying I’m leaving” or ask if it’s going to rain that day, so you can get an idea by arriving at your destination.
Share the ride
A very useful Google Maps option in Android Auto and quite hidden is share our journey with our friends and family. So forget about calls or messages constantly asking you where you are going: you can see it comfortably on Google Maps on your mobile and updated in real time.
To share your real-time location on Android Auto, you must first start the route, then tap the three-dot button on the route information panel, which displays the options panel. It will appear to you Share the ridewhich will then allow you to choose someone from your Google contacts.
My new temporary home
If you’re going away for a while, this might interest you change the location of your houseto make it easier to establish directions to or from it, instead of having to establish again and again that you are going to a certain hotel or apartment.
There home and work setup that Android Auto uses is the same as the Google Assistant, but you have a shortcut to access it from the Android Auto settings, in the section Google Assistant – You – Your addresses.
Don’t let notifications bother me
One of the Android Auto settings that I find most important to change before a trip, especially if it’s a long trip, is limit notifications a little, because whether we like it or not, they can end up distracting us. Or worse yet, interrupt the song we are listening to.
The first setting I recommend removing is View group conversations, although it seems to me just as important to deactivate Play message sound. If you receive a lot of notifications, you might consider turning off message notifications completely and calmly checking them on your phone when you make a stop or arrive at your destination.
Furthermore, there is the problem that if there are more people in the carIt may not be optimal for Assistant to read private messages that arrive on your mobile.
Bonus: my own voice on Waze
During a journey you end listen to the same voice over and over telling you to take the third exit at the roundabout and stay in the lane. It doesn’t have to be like that: if you want, you can add your own voice.
Waze lets you record your own voice and it will also be used while traveling in Android Auto which will break the monotony and also entertain you for a while while creating it.
Cover image | Generated with AI
In Xataka Android | Android Auto: 23 tips and tricks to get the most out of Android in the car
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