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I’ve always been a big Android guy. I spent most of my high school years tinkering with “bricked” devices, installing custom ROMs on Nexus and HTC phones, and, yes, enduring the suffering that was Samsung’s TouchWiz. So when I bought my first car during college, adopting the Android Auto lifestyle was a no-brainer.
And, fortunately, my Android-in-car experience has been mostly positive. Mostly. Sure, driving in areas with no signal can sometimes make certain functions go haywire, and Google Assistant wasn’t always the sharpest DJ whenever I requested a specific track or playlist on YouTube Music.
Also: My favorite Android Auto find is these hidden shortcuts that are highly customizable
But, like with an Android phone, a bit of software tweaking and fine-tuning goes a long way. It’s all about personalizing the experience to your needs, and I’ve been a happy driver ever since I made the changes below to my ride.
While they might not all apply to you, I hope they at least inspire you to explore other settings buried in your car’s Android Auto menu.
There’s been a bit of a boom in setting Custom Assistants on Android Auto recently, and I’m here for it. They’re essentially smart routines that appear as app icons on the home screen, letting you quickly perform a series of actions with a single tap.
You can create Custom Assistant shortcuts by going into your Android Auto settings > Customize launcher > Add a shortcut > Gemini/Assistant action > and then entering your custom command.
Also: I tested Gemini on Android Auto and now I can’t stop talking to it: 5 tasks it nails
You can get fairly creative with this approach; some of my routines include starting a Google Maps navigation to my home while texting my wife the ETA of that route, setting my thermostat to a warmer or cooler temperature based on the weather outside, and finding the nearest Costco gas station, so the assistant bypasses other nearby brands.
While I’ve been an Android Auto user for years now, I still occasionally get asked to rate my driving experience as I leave my car or after I have a conversation with Gemini.
The latter situation, in particular, can be distracting while driving, with the notification appearing on top of the navigation screen, as if Google Maps wants to know whether cops are still nearby, but really wants to know whether Gemini was helpful.
Also: I turned on notification summaries on my Pixel 9 Pro, and it was less chaotic than expected
To turn off these alerts, go to your phone’s per-app notification settings and find the “Feedback and surveys” toggle. Oddly, this is hidden on Samsung phones by default, so you’ll have to enable it through Settings > Notifications > Advanced settings > toggle on Manage notification categories for each app > go back one screen > App notifications > Android Auto > and then Notification categories.
Before my morning commute, I like to warm up my car remotely. It used to bug me when my phone, staying connected just enough from inside the house, would trigger wireless Android Auto and begin blasting music before I even stepped out the door.
Also: I found Android Auto’s hidden shortcut that automates any task in your car
Those moments taught me two things: that you can turn off the automatic music player behavior in the native Android Auto settings (either on your phone or in your car), and that my neighbors were more forgiving than I thought.
Many would argue that putting the media player closer to the driver is the superior Android Auto layout, but I’ve got a spicier take: ditch the split-screen and use taskbar widgets.
You can enable taskbar widgets in the native Android Auto settings menu, which expands your Google Maps (or Waze) to full-screen view, allowing you to get a better read on traffic conditions, nearby locations, and more, while still having music player controls on screen.
Also: I tested Gemini on Android Auto and now I can’t stop talking to it: 5 tasks it nails
This is especially useful if your car’s infotainment system is on the smaller side and you want as much contextual information on your screen as possible. Otherwise, that music player’s album art can only help you so much.
Switching from Google Assistant to Gemini has been one of the biggest upgrades to Android Auto in a long time, and I’ve covered the shift extensively over the past year. But the smarter assistant isn’t flawless, as many Android Auto users have also noticed.
One issue I’ve faced since the beginning is that the assistant doesn’t always synchronize its communication with my physical car inputs, such as when it keeps asking me whether I’d like to start navigation to a destination after I’ve already confirmed the route.
Also: I tested ChatGPT Plus vs. Gemini Pro to see which is better – and if it’s worth switching
In other cases, it’ll persistently ask follow-up questions to conversations that should be short and sweet. So, what’s the tip here? Pressing your steering wheel’s call/hang-up button. Doing so turns off the assistant, as Android Auto treats the live chat as an “active call.”
So, instead of waiting for Gemini to finish speaking, since you can’t interrupt the smart assistant like you can on the phone or in the browser, simply pressing your car’s call button is the fastest way to end the call.
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