An update to Google’s Android Auto smartphone interface system will put more information at users’ fingertips and, more importantly, require users to navigate through fewer menus and settings.
Announced this week at the CES consumer electronics show, the update has been available to beta testers for several months. But Google says it began rolling out as an update to all users yesterday.
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The update splits the screen into two or three tiles. It keeps the navigation map on the left side, closer to the driver (at least here in the U.S.). A space on the right side of the screen displays audio streaming. A progress bar on the audio tile lets users jump easily backward or forward in a song or podcast — a feature Google says many users requested.
A third tile appears when the user gets a text message.
Google says the system can detect the screen’s orientation and reconfigure itself for portrait or landscape displays.
