Google continues to constantly improve Android Auto increasing its potential with minor novelties and crucial changes such as the announcement, on the occasion of The Android Show, ofArrival of Gemini on the platform of infotainment of the Mountain View giant.
Android Auto is a mature platform that can count in its list over 250 million vehicles and more than 50 different models but which, despite its widespread diffusion, continues to receive meticulous attention from Big G as evidenced by the distribution of Android Auto 14.4 Betawhich laid the foundations for the above news and beyond, and the stable version of Android Auto 14.3 which says Goodbye to the blue arrow to indicate the vehicle.
A novelty, this emblematic of the attention to the details of the company that can often prove to be counterproductive since it can lead to not very intuitive and confusing changes. This is the case of today’s protagonist novelty, currently being developed, which introduces an unexpected change to the arrangement of the multimedia buttons of Android Car.
The play key changes position: Google ready and revolutionize the multimedia controls of Android Auto
The controversial novelty was found by the APK hunters of Android Authority in the address book Apk teardownmore precisely we are talking from the version 14.4.152004 of Android Auto within which the company would be testing a musical reproduction interface with a small but significant change: it Moving the play button.
The current user interface of the Android Auto multimedia reader presents the buttons arranged in the Restart/Previous order, reproduce/pause and Next/later, following a now classic time sequence. This layout is part of those Tacite social conventions From the birth of the first devices capable of reproducing musical content and for this reason it is deeply rooted in the muscle memory of anyone.
The multimedia readers apps on the smartphone And, therefore, it is also replicated on the user’s user interface with Android Auto.
Well, Google with a move “to Google“He would be experimenting one New arrangement of the Play button that sees him moved to the left and with a larger touch area as shown by the colored filling of the background.
By virtue of this movement, the rewind/previous button is moved to the center of the screen.
This change, however, seems to be enabled with any musical content of any platform; The colleagues who were able to test the novelty have in fact noticed the movement of buttons both with Spotify That YouTube Music.
The move, as highlighted by those who have been able to try it, is nothing short of intuitive and it is perfectly normal to consider it confusing.
Google, for its part, has accustomed us to innovate and radically transform its user interfaces by introducing new ambitious paradigms and innovative ways of use – sometimes even bankruptcy – and, moreover, the brand new Material 3 Expressive It is a demonstration of this.
The company has often shown to think and innovate with a mentality outside the box, proposing courageous functions and changes – choosing a less conservative approach – and this solution is part of this list.
As usual in the case of user interface design, an area in which Google made school, change aims to solve a common problem or the pressure of the play/pause key while driving; Therefore bring the button closer to the driver in theory could facilitate pressure and reduce errors.
An unassailable theory that, as pointed out by those who have tried it, clashes with the reality of the muscle memory of human beings – fundamental while driving – and of decades of history of the industrial product in which the button in question is positioned centrally.
For completeness we emphasize that the Modified Layout concerns only the user’s user interface in the initial screen of Android Auto. By touching the card it will be possible to open the complete app with normal multimedia reproduction controls.
We will see if, and possibly when, Google will decide to continue this contraintucent choice and release the new updated layout; In this case, it will be interesting to observe the response of users in what, in fact, could prove to be a small behavioral experiment in understanding whether the new provision will be accepted or not.
At the time of drafting this article, the new controversial Layout is still in the development phase Therefore we are not aware of any release timing although it is possible that Google can decide to completely discard the idea, being a development function.
