CarPlay recently started adding more widget support with the release of iOS 26, and it looks like Android might follow suit in the weeks ahead, at least according to a new APK teardown of a beta release of the Android Auto app. The feature is currently only known by a codename of “Earth,” so Google is likely to change that in the future. According to Android Authority, it sounds like Android Auto could soon provide users with an option to install widgets on the Android Auto dashboard from their phone. At the moment, the feature is still under development, though the writers did manage to get it working.
When active, it essentially lets users enable a new type of widget similar to what Android Auto already allows with its Taskbar Widgets — currently limited to things like quick app controls for media apps like Spotify and YouTube Music. These new widgets, though, are much larger, and look more like the widgets we’re already used to seeing on our smartphone home screens.
What Android Auto widgets might look like
Based on the screenshots shared by Android Authority, it appears that the new widget setup could actually allow the widgets for the Android Auto apps to appear on the side of the screen — similar to how Spotify and other media apps appear next to the maps interface on the home screen. The screenshots show a few different options, including Calendar, Chrome, and the Clock app on Android, as well as Contacts, Digital Wellbeing, and even Google Drive. It also appears to be possible to scale the size of the widgets, though whether or not that changes based on the chosen app and widget remains to be seen.
Android Authority also took screenshots of what the widgets look like on the screen, including the timer in the Clock app, as well as what some different media apps look like. Though, the current iteration doesn’t appear to let you actually interact with all the parts of the widgets. This is yet another way Google could improve Android Auto, similar to how it recently brought Gemini to the automotive system.
