2022 is coming to an end and, after taking stock of what the year has brought for Android Auto users, it’s time to rescue all the key points that have marked its evolution. A bit shy when it comes to fretwork characteristics. And with a clear proper name: Coolwalk.
A very important year for Android Auto is coming to an end, this car operating system is consolidating its position in the market after reaching a good number of brands and models. With a growing catalog of compatible cars, Google has not evolved its system to the same extent; although it introduced variations in Android Auto. The most important is not yet available for all users.
2022 is the year of the Coolwalk
Android Auto’s famously elusive interface, hidden in code since at least version 7.1 (Google’s system for vehicles is already on 8.6), made its public appearance in mid-November. Finally there was no need to activate it with ROOT and from Google Play Services code, Coolwalk has finally reached users. Well, with a gigantic nuance.
The Android Auto interface that adapts to any screen size, resolution and ratio is available for those who have access to the beta version of the system. Its operation is as expected, it makes better use of the space available on the vehicle console and improves the attractiveness of Android Auto thanks to the design of the elements adapted to Material You.
Coolwalk is 2022’s proper name for Android Auto, but it might have stood out more had Google decided to release it for everyone. It will probably have to wait until 2023.
Farewell Android Auto for phones
The mode that allowed you to use the Android Auto interface without having a car died in 2022, it was a big loss. With that absence, users had to make do with Google Assistant driving mode, a company fix that falls far enough short of usefulness, simplicity and versatility of the Android Auto application for phones. Although there are alternatives to continue using it, it is no longer so simple.
Open season for GPS navigators
Google Maps and Waze made up the tandem of Android Auto-compatible GPS navigators, both from Google. With the greater openness to other applications, in 2022, most of the well-known applications landed. TomTom, Sygic, HERE Maps, Coyote… Very good news for users.
Application to see the mobile screen in the car
Introduced in the code, just like Coolwalk, with Cast it is possible project the screen of the Android smartphone on the vehicle console. We tested it and it does exactly what it says. Too bad it’s still hidden, let’s see if Google activates it soon.
Android Auto beta supported more users
The car system has access to experimental versions, as in most Google applications. Of course, historically it is much more selective: Google kept the beta closed without making room for more users to sign up. That changed in 2022.
With the release of Coolwalk, Google opened the beta version of Android Auto so that many more users could participate; to test, incidentally, the new design. The pity is that it filled up in a few daysyou have to keep trying.
Cable quality check
Android Auto version 7.5 has introduced a curious novelty that aims to improve the USB cable connection mode: the system analyzes its quality, and if it is only charging, so that users can eliminate problems more easily. It even offers solutions to these problems.
Bug fixes and stability, the most common
Google has continually updated Android Auto to make it much more stable, secure, and faster. With an increasing number of compatible cars year after year, bug fixing is the main driver of development. Also creating more errors, another constant of 2022.
Many versions, few visible innovations
We’ve already pointed this out once: Android Auto has been constantly updated throughout 2022, sometimes every two weeks. This large number of versions has raised illusions among those of us who use the device that once the update is installed, check that nothing has changed externally. As we said in the previous section, fixing errors and improving stability were the main motivations of the developers.
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