Andy Walker / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google could reverse an Android Auto UI change that has upset many users.
- Instead of using colors from your phone’s wallpaper, Android Auto’s media player could use the album art as the background once again.
- However, while testing this reversal, Google appears to have messed up another visual aspect in Android Auto.
In version 15.2.653604 of Android Auto, we have spotted hidden options to reactivate the older media player background. Instead of using Material You theming, these backgrounds show a blurred version of the album art.
Notably, buttons, such as that for Play/Pause, still use colors from the phone’s wallpaper.
Besides fixing the existing interface, Google also appears to be testing backgrounds based on album art in the refreshed Android Auto UI, which is currently also being tested. Compared to the existing interface that you see above, the upcoming one gets smaller icons and slighty more pronounced album art and the track seek bar.
Back in August, when we first learned about the new UI being tested, it was still using plain backgrounds with Material You colors. However, Google now also appears to be testing backgrounds based on album art with this redesign.
This change is not yet widely available, but we would welcome it with open arms.
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Interestingly, while Google appears to have addressed one of the user complaints, it has broken another functionality. In an upcoming version with the above-mentioned design change, we have noticed that the text does not display correctly in the multi-window card interface when using Maps and a music streaming service side by side. The issue appears to arise because of a light-colored filter applied to the album art, which conflicts with the white text.
Thankfully, these changes haven’t been finalized, and we hope Google can resolve this issue before rolling it out widely and risk putting off another set of users with the irregular text.
⚠️ An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
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