- Google made a small but useful change to Android Auto
- Driving status can now be checked via Bluetooth
- This reduces the risk of accidentally turning off notifications
If you’re a regular Android Auto user, you may have noticed that there’s a pretty complicated set of rules around automatically blocking notifications while you’re driving – but it looks like Google has now fixed one of the most frustrating issues.
As spotted by Android Authority, the option to automatically enable Do Not Disturb in Android Auto when motion is detected appears to have been changed. This setting was known to accidentally disable alerts on the phones of passengers as well as drivers.
Now the old option for Do Not Disturb to activate when the phone is connected to a car dashboard via Bluetooth has been added back. This is a much more reliable indicator of whether someone is driving and whether this mode should be activated.
It makes sense that you don’t necessarily want a flurry of alerts to distract you while you’re behind the wheel, but it’s also important to give users control over this – and not let Do Not Disturb activate without any manual interaction.
Check for updates
Google hasn’t said anything officially about this, so we don’t have the whole story, but according to Android Authority, the update is starting to roll out to various Android devices. Google Play Services version 26.05.32 is the update to watch out for.
On a Pixel phone, you can check if you received the refresh by opening Settings, then tapping Fashions And Conduct. If you select While drivingYou will see that the Bluetooth option is back, if your Google Play Services version is up to date.
Samsung phones do this better, because they also check that the phone is connected to an Android Auto dashboard, not just a Bluetooth device. Hopefully Google adds a little more granular control in the future.
The next notable Android update is Android 17, and it is expected to arrive later this year with several upgrades included. So far, however, there is no indication that Android Auto will receive any significant upgrades.
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