Driving gets me some respect, but I think Android Auto helps me do it better and safer with GPS navigation apps, Google Assistant voice commands for hands-free control, and useful settings like the call the police button. But there are another button i added in android auto which makes me feel good every time I see my mother’s WhatsApp message with the usual questions: where are you? when are you arriving?
Because yes, you can also answer with your voice or, but there is a much more precise, comfortable and faster way to do it and the best thing is that Android Auto allows you to always have it at hand when you need it: add a special button for your mother to solve these questions. Who says your mother, says any other loved one.
So I created a button to send location to my mom via Android Auto
The idea is this: you just have to create a shortcut with custom buttons in Android Auto whose function is to send a WhatsApp message including the current location to a specific contact. Because yes, in addition to the applications compatible with Android Auto, you can also create your own hot buttona shortcut that will look like this.
It takes less than a minute: just open your mobile settings and go to Android Auto and once inside, we will ‘Additional application settings‘ > ‘Customize the application menu‘ > ‘Add shortcut to application menu‘where you have to choose’Assistant Action‘.
On the screen that appears, in the wizard command box, we write something like ‘Send my location to mom on WhatsApp‘, although you can change mom’s to someone else. As a curiosity: the icon that will appear in Android Auto will take the first letter of this message. In the second box, we write the message that will appear on your WhatsApp, for example ‘I am here‘. Finally, we play on ‘Create a shortcut‘.
And that’s it: the next time I want to send the location to my mother via WhatsApp on Android Auto, I will only have to tap on this specific icon and a few seconds later confirm the sending. So, what my mother receives is the message “I’m here” with the Google Maps link to my location on the popular WhatsApp messaging app.
Cover | Montage with photo by Eva Rodríguez de Luis and Freepik Icon
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