Break up-screen is now two months late and counting
We have been ready for Google’s deliberate Android Auto redesign to hit vehicles all over the place for practically a whole 12 months. After a untimely leak unveiled a split-screen UI final fall, we have watched as a work-in-progress venture was an official announcement at I/O this spring. And but, as Labor Day weekend quickly approaches — a marker for the tip of summer time and, extra importantly, the tip of the summer time journey season — it is nowhere to be seen. Now, a brand new replace to Android Auto is rolling out, and regardless of what you would possibly count on, it is sure to deliver disappointment to drivers all over the place.
On paper, Android Auto 8.0 seems like the proper alternative to ship this 12 months’s promised redesign — codenamed “Coolwalk.” It is a spherical quantity, in any case. Prefer it or not, we have all been accustomed to anticipating larger modifications when the model jumps as much as a spherical quantity — it is why we count on a lot extra from Android 13 over Android 12.1. So whereas Google is just following up Android Auto v7.9 with the subsequent quantity in line, it is simple to see why some customers would count on consequential modifications from this launch.
Sadly, that does not appear to be the case. As noticed by the parents at 9to5Google, Android Auto 8.0 is rolling out to drivers all over the place proper now, with none signal of “Coolwalk” or different design modifications. As an alternative, it appears probably this model is one more spherical of bug fixes following a very unstable 12 months for the platform. After testing it out alone, I could not spot any modifications or extra options. Presumably, this replace is all behind-the-scenes modifications, or — if we’re fortunate — groundwork for extra tweaks sooner or later.
When Google introduced its redesigned UI in Could, the corporate claimed it will arrive in vehicles earlier than the beginning of summer time, presumably timed to everybody speeding off on highway journeys. Though “Coolwalk” remains to be MIA, it is fully attainable it rolls out to drivers by a server-side replace, enabled by Google as soon as it is lastly prepared. At the very least proper now, although, this newest improve merely is not the one we have been ready for all summer time lengthy.
It is one other chapter within the ever-messy saga that’s Android in vehicles. Along with delayed updates and clean shows, Google lastly killed Android Auto on telephone screens for good. It left drivers to rely solely on Assistant Driving Mode, an inferior service in practically each means and one which continues to overlook out on some much-needed options. As Apple continues to develop its next-gen CarPlay platform, Google completely must step up its recreation on this competitors. In spite of everything, iOS has supported split-screen in vehicles for nearly three years.
https://www.androidpolice.com/android-auto-8-0-arrives-no-coolwalk-redesign/