Google rolls out dark mode for Maps, games for Android Auto

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Google published a blog post today where it announced six new features that are coming to Android soon. It is rolling out schedule send using which you can compose a message ahead of time when it’s convenient for you, and schedule it to send at the right moment. The company has also announced a new theme for its Maps app. Google Maps is now getting a full-fledged dark mode on Android. The feature has been in testing since September 2020.

Google is rolling out dark mode for its Maps app on Android. It takes the previously available night mode color option a notch ahead. The new feature will be accessible in the app’s settings menu, under “theme.” To enable the feature, you need to head to your Settings, tap on Theme, and then on Always in Dark Theme to lower the lights when you’re navigating, exploring, or getting things done with Maps.

Google is also rolling out new features to Android Auto. The app is getting custom wallpapers using which you can now select from a variety of car-inspired backgrounds to personalize your car display. It is also bringing games to Android Auto. For longer drives, you and your passengers can stay entertained with voice-activated games like trivia and “Jeopardy!”. Just say, “Hey Google, play a game” to get started. 

Android Auto is also getting Shortcuts on the launch screen. These will provide convenient access to your contacts and allow you to use Assistant to complete tasks like checking the weather or remotely adjusting the thermostat by simply tapping on the icon on your car display. For cars with wider screens, you can do more with a split-screen that features a real-time view of Google Maps and media controls. There is also a privacy screen to control when Android Auto appears on your car display. 

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Google brings tighter Android Auto integration to underachieving Allo app

Well, Allo there, Android Auto, and nice to finally be able to communicate properly behind the wheel without taking one's eyes off the road.

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Version 2.06 of Android Auto listens for OK Google

You know what’d be a great feature for a smart head unit of a car? Voice controls. You know why Android Auto didn’t include the “OK Google” trigger phrase to launch a command until now? We don’t either, but that’s apparently what Reddit is hot about today.

The November 29 release of the app does not list the new ability in its changelog, but apparently, the feature works. Whether you’re using the app on your phone or on said head unit, you should now be able to ask Google to change up your jams without pressing the microphone button.

The odd irony is that for all this time, you could still trigger “OK Google” from outside the Android Auto app.

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Samsung phones with high-end Harman audio tech coming in 2018, no car-making plans

Samsung’s ambition and thirst for power and profits in as many tech industry segments as possible knows almost no bounds, but even after Harman’s acquisition closes next year, the chaebol will remain uninterested in building its own car, electric, driverless or otherwise.

In case it wasn’t already abundantly clear, the “business synergies” of the world’s largest smartphone vendor and the market leader in connected car solutions is aimed at stronger collaborations with established automakers rather than feeble competition against current Harman partners like BMW, Chrysler, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo.

IoT (Internet of Things) is still the name of the game, with Google’s Android Auto and Apple CarPlay standards looking in danger of losing steam, as Harman can take care of premium sound and infotainment systems as far as hardware is concerned, while Samsung could handle the software synching your automobile to phones, computers and other smart gadgets and objects.

But that’s not all Samsung’s paying a whopping $8 billion for, with Galaxy S series phones confirmed as likely to “adopt Harman’s high-end audio technology” as early as 2018. No, we’re afraid the 2017 GS8 and Note 8 will probably not feature any of the 1980-founded American company’s top-class sound enhancements, seeing as how the merger is still subject to various approvals and formalities, including a shareholders’ vote.

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Android Auto is now available in every car right on your phone screen

There’s no question that Google has done a solid job of expanding Android Auto support to plenty of automobile manufacturers, fancy new car models, a few dozen countries, and hundreds of apps since the 2014 announcement and 2015 release of the smartphone projection standard.

But it would have taken an eternity to make the service ubiquitous through individual partnerships with car brands or aftermarket audio system producers. Instead, the search giant just unveiled arguably the most significant Android Auto update yet, bringing the app to version 2.0, and basically disconnecting it from your dashboard’s head unit.

While you can obviously still use it the “old-fashioned” way if you own, say, a 2016 Audi Q7, brand-new Camaro, 2015 Hyundai Sonata or 2017 Lincoln Continental, all other cars on the road, including older ones, are officially Android Auto-compatible now via a standalone phone app.

As long as you run Lollipop, Marshmallow or Nougat, you’re covered, with a “driver friendly interface” available on your phone screen to help you “access the key stuff you need on the road without the distraction of things that aren’t essential while driving.”

Just like before, Android Auto focuses on hands-free Google Maps navigation, music streaming, voice and text communication, plus “useful information” ranging from suggested destinations to upcoming appointments and weather conditions, all delivered intuitively, as your phone listens to your voice and simplifies touch controls.

Android Auto 2.0 will be rolling out “in the coming days” to “more than 30 countries”, and the only thing you’ll need besides a relatively recent phone to make your old car smart is the most basic dashboard mount.

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What can auto makers do to better incorporate mobile technology?

A couple of years ago, Google and Apple both unveiled their latest mobile operating systems. No, I don’t mean mobile as in phones, I mean mobile as in cars. Since then, there has been a steady increase in adoption by auto manufacturers who are bringing this tech to the road. Last year, only a few car manufacturers were able to bring Android Auto and/or Apple CarPlay to their vehicles. This year, the list is much longer, and so it will go until not ...

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Android Auto goes global(er) with support in 18 new nations

How smart is your car? If you’re still running around in some old clunker, probably not very, but as drivers move to newer vehicles, more and more are being exposed to dashes loaded with connectivity options – and especially those that link up with our smartphones. Over the past year or so, we’ve been tracking been tracking a growing number of vehicles with either Android Auto or CarPlay support (and often both), but getting set up with one of these systems isn’t just a ...

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Google sets the record straight after allegations of deep Android Auto data harvesting

Although not all automakers seem to agree infotainment systems developed by Google and Apple are the future of connected vehicles, industry veterans like Chevrolet, Volkswagen, General Motors, Buick, and Hyundai have led the way in Android Auto and ...

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Chevrolet brings Android Auto to 2016 eight-inch MyLink models in March

Chevrolet announced that it will be the leader, with more 2016 models supported than any other car maker, in bringing Android Auto and Apple CarPlay to the dashboard of its vehicles. 2016 models equipped with the company’s seven-inch infotainment system will offer Android Auto and/or Apple CarPlay by default; 2016 models that feature the slightly larger, eight-inch system, will only be available, initially, with Apple CarPlay. However, Android Auto will be offered later, and now, according to official wording, we find out exactly when.March of next year is when owners of 2016 models ...

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Google admits to Moto G issues with Android Auto

It’s only been a few weeks now since Motorola introduced the latest generation of its Moto G family, offering shoppers an affordable, minimally skinned Android experience. Despite the conservative hardware, we came away from our review feeling quite fond of the new Moto G, and no doubt a few of you have picked the phone up for yourself. Unfortunately, despite everything the phone has going for it, it’s not without a few hiccups, and this week we’re finally seeing acknowledgement of ...

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Volkswagen embraces connected vehicles with Android Auto, CarPlay support

Major automobile manufacturers have been lining up left and right these past few months to announce all the ways their upcoming vehicle lines will take advantage of new platform-level smartphone support. For the most part, that’s meant Android Auto and Apple’s CarPlay, with brands like GMC, Buick, Chevy, and Hyundai all talking about which of their vehicles will provide integrated in-dash access. Now ...

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Kenwood’s dual CarPlay and Android Auto systems now shipping

When it comes to bringing smartphone interaction to a vehicle, without the risk of a fender bender, CarPlay and Android Auto are the way to go so far. The only problem is that even though these services were launched a year ago, it took for ever for car makers to adopt them, and it would force you to buy a new car if you wanted some love. Lucky for us Pioneer and Kenwood gave us an affordable alternative, and one of the options goes live today.The Kenwood DDX9702S and Kenwood Excelon DDX9902S are both shipping to stores and customers today, and what made them stand apart from ...

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GMC and Buick join the CarPlay and Android Auto crowd

One of the things that had us most skeptical with the birth of CarPlay and Android Auto last year, was having a car that isn’t compatible with your phone, or vice versa. Switching a car isn’t something you can do every day, and being forced to pick stick to a platform you don’t like just to use it in your car is also ridiculous. GM is one of the companies that has thought of this, and today we learn more of its ...

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Don’t count on seeing OEM Android Wear skins

Last week, Google I/O brought us some early looks at a few different ways Android is expanding to find homes on new device, with new form factors, while providing a situation-aware interface that means that not everything’s going to look like a shrunken-down or blown-up phone. Just as Android Wear keeps things simple and uncluttered to fit its smaller display, Android Auto gives drivers the information they need ...

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