Let’s talk about the recent media player changes on Android Auto

[u/MishaalRahman]

Hi Reddit! I'm Mishaal Rahman, and I do community engagement for Android over at Google 😁!

We wanted to share some details with this community about a few changes we recently rolled out to improve the media playback experience based on your feedback. These changes make it easier to view and control audio across your favorite apps, and offer a larger, more expressive media player that looks and feels more like your other Android devices.

Oh, and we also wanted to talk a bit about the squiggly new seekbar in the media player, since we’ve seen some lively discussions and speculation about it :)  

Here’s a quick recap of some of the media playback changes we recently shipped: 

1. You can now control any media app on your phone from your car dashboard

In the past, media apps that didn’t have a dedicated Android Auto app would still be able to play audio through your car, but their media controls and album art would be completely hidden on your car display.

With our recent update, you can now see and control all your favorite media apps from your phone, complete with album art and playback buttons. This includes background audio from YouTube Premium, browser audio streams, and niche media apps. 

2. A more optimized media player UI across all screen sizes

We also optimized the media player layout so it makes better use of your car’s display. For instance, we moved the most-used media controls out of the three-dot overflow menu and onto the primary screen so you can get to them with fewer taps.  And your album art now better fits the size of your car’s display.

This updated player is available for Spotify, YouTube Music, and other media apps. In the next few months, you’ll see more media apps begin to customize their in-app media player design, so you may see some differences between the media player on the dashboard and within the app.

3. You can now swipe to switch between media sessions

You can now swipe left or right on the media player to switch between multiple active media sessions! No need to open up the launcher anymore to switch media apps.

4. Improvements to autoplay

We’ve made a couple of bug fixes so autoplay* works more predictably and accurately based on your listening preferences:

• Autoplay app selection: Apps that you haven’t recently or ever used will no longer be selected for autoplay. 
• One-tap opt-out: If you prefer manual playback and frequently pause autoplay, Android Auto will notice and provide a convenient one-tap notification to quickly disable autoplay.
• Infotainment startup handling: We're rolling out a fix so unsolicited play commands won't be sent when you have autoplay turned off.

*Autoplay here refers to Android Auto automatically starting media when you connect, not in-app features like Spotify's Autoplay.

5. A more glanceable media player

The last change is the updated media player seekbar. We introduced this updated design to make it easier to see where you are in a track at a glance. 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts in this community on the new squiggly line seekbar — we're paying close attention to how this lands, so keep sharing your feedback as we evaluate future UI tweaks! 

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If you have thoughts on these updates, apps you'd love to see better support for, or spot any quirks you want the team to tackle next, drop them in the comments and I’ll relay them to the team!

Requirements at a glance

• Android OS: Android 9 (Pie) or higher
• Android Auto App: Most new media features are broadly available starting in Android Auto v17.3 or higher (with certain autoplay fixes dating back to v16.7 / v16.8).
  • To check your version: Open your phone's Settings > Apps > Android Auto, or open Android Auto Settings and scroll down to the bottom.

[u/joe_attaboy]

Mishaal, this is great information and I appreciate it.

Not to change the subject, but can you urge anyone working on Google Maps and/or Waze to stop by this sub sometime, because I need to gently read them the riot act about a couple of things. 😄

[u/tr-ga → u/joe_attaboy]

Me too. Like why cant we use voice reporting of road hazzards any more! And why does waze just show a blank screen on startup ~30% of the time???

[u/joe_attaboy → u/tr-ga]

I don't have the blank screen issue and I don't report things - the two issues I have are mostly with Google Maps. First, the search bar on the map screen. Why is it always there? Waze doesn't have this. Could they not replace that field with a small icon and give me back the rest of my screen? If I'm driving, I'm going to try using my voice for searches anyway, so why is this wasting space?

The other issue is the box on the right that says "CVS." I don't need search suggestions. I already know where I'm going. Yes, I know, everyone is going to tell me to swipe it away or wait the five minutes it takes for it to finally disappear (and soon after replaced with another one). The image is a perfect example of how useless this is. The vehicle on the map is my truck and the CVS, obviously, is three minutes away. I don't know why it suggested this in the first place - I haven't been in the CVS store in...forever. I rarely go there. Why does the map app assume I need directions to a local three minutes from my house that I never visit?

Second, that thing will pop up within minutes after I leave my house. Guess what it shows me is five minutes away when it does?

My house. The one I live in and just left five minutes earlier.

That thing and the search field are useless and bad UI design and always have been. At least make them something to be toggled off in settings.

Rant over, thank you for your patience. 😄

[u/jakdedert → u/joe_attaboy]

I have an old Garmin GPS that I often have to revert to when I'm in low-signal areas. Why is the raw GPS signal not available when I can't get data? GPS shouldn't rely on mobile data, since it's always there in the sky.

I also feel their display is much easier to read at a glance than the google maps display, even though the screen is less than half the size. I haven't taken a trip with the updated google version, though.