Android Auto music controls looking different? Google is finally rolling out the new UI

Google introduced the new Media Playback template for Android Auto last year, giving music player apps like Spotify and YouTube Music a consistent look and experience. More recently, the company updated the template with a new wavy progress bar, adding some visual flair. However, most users have not been able to enjoy the changes so far, as the changes have been under testing all this time. Thankfully, that is now changing, as the new Media Playback template is now rolling out to users in the stable branch.

As 9to5Google reports, Android Auto 16.0 has hit the stable track, and it brings along the new media player UI that has been in the pipeline all this time. Beta users had access to this new design earlier this month, and now users on the stable branch can join the party too.

In the new UI, the Play/Pause button shifts to the left corner. It also includes the track control buttons on that side, while other app-specific controls crowd the other side. This is a big shift from the often-centered controls, and it might trigger accidental touches due to muscle memory in the initial days of the rollout. There’s also the new wavy progress bar, which gives the UX a fresh, lively look.

Thankfully, since this layout is a template any media app can use, it will give them all a uniform look. Once muscle memory is retrained, you should find it easier to operate just about any media app that opts into this new template. Any change Google makes to the template should also roll out uniformly across all media apps that use it.