Android Auto has been around for over a decade now, and it’s a great solution for keeping your phone safely connected while driving. Most cars support a wired Android Auto connection, so make sure you have one the best cables for work. Wireless Android Auto is becoming more and more common in many new car models, not just in premium cars. Plus, it keeps updating Auto with new features like Google support Google Meet on Android Auto.
While it works great out of the box, there are a few settings I always adjust every time I use a new phone with my car. These are simple toggle switches that can make a world of difference in your day-to-day use of Android Auto, all done through your phone itself. Here are my top five settings and what I recommend doing if you just installed it.
Stop playing music automatically when connected
One of Android Auto’s most annoying default settings is that your music will automatically start playing as soon as your phone is connected to your car. If you turn the volume all the way up when you last used the car, it can be very uncomfortable at night. Depending on who’s in the car with you, it can be downright embarrassing and your secret guilty pleasure music starts playing. Save your dignity by simply turning off this toggle.
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Go to this address on your phone Parametersand search Android Auto. Scroll down in the settings menu The beginning submenu and turn off Play music automatically. that’s it. Now, the next time you connect your phone, your music will be paused.
Minimize distracting notifications from apps
By default, most messaging apps and some media apps (YouTube MusicSpotify) installed on your phone will appear in the Android Auto app drawer. Any notifications from these apps will also appear on your screen as an alert. When driving, the last thing you want is spam alerts from insurance companies distracting you from the road. There are two ways to turn off notifications.
To minimize audible pings, go to Android Auto’s settings menu, scroll down Messaging submenu and just turn it off Ring the message bell. This will at least stop the audible alerts, but will still show you incoming messages. If you want to stop this as well, you can simply disable the first sub-menu item called Show message notifications.
Another way to do this is to disable any unwanted apps from the app drawer to automatically remove notifications. Scroll up from the same settings menu on your phone Customize the launcherand simply uncheck the apps you don’t want to use with Android Auto.
Prevent Android Auto from starting automatically
One of the nice things about Android Auto is that it starts up seamlessly when you start your car, but not everyone might want it set up that way. Android Auto drains your battery faster when connected wirelessly to your car’s head unit, and you may not always need it if you prefer to stay connected to the radio or don’t need maps for shorter trips.
Unfortunately, Android Auto currently doesn’t have a specific setting for this. There are none of the options to choose from Start Android Auto automatically menu allows you to do this. Here is a solution that has proven to work for me disable it transition Run Android Auto while locked.
By doing this, your phone will still connect to your car via Bluetooth (for calls), but Android Auto won’t start when your phone is locked. If you need to activate Android Auto in the middle of your drive, you should see an “Android Auto available” notification on your phone, and tapping on it should activate it. You can also activate it manually through your car’s dashboard.
Create shortcuts for frequently performed tasks
You can give voice commands to Google Assistant to call a contact or find places along your route. If you are one of the lucky ones, you have a chance Gemini on Android Autowhich is also very superior in terms of understanding the instructions. However, there are times when you’re driving with the window down or with noisy kids in the back seat, and Assistant simply can’t understand what you’re asking it to do because of the wind noise. At such times, it is good to have shortcuts already set up for frequently used operations.
Tap on Android Auto settings on your phone Customize the launcherthen tap Add a shortcut to the launcher. you can set shortcuts for “Call Contact” or “An auxiliary move.“ The first one is self-explanatory, as it basically lets you create a one-click call shortcut for a contact. The second one is interesting because it allows you to create any command you normally give to Assistant, such as “find all gas stations near you”. You can then record and save it (Android Auto must be enabled for this).
Once you’ve created these shortcuts, you can go back and arrange them at the top of the list so they’re the first icons you see when you open the app drawer in Android Auto. Now your favorite contacts and most used actions are just a tap away.
Enable quick controls
Enable the toggle called in the same Android Auto settings menu Taskbar widgets. This allows you to control music playback from the taskbar, even when another application such as maps is open in full screen. By default, the taskbar will show you other apps, but by doing so, your passenger won’t be able to pause or skip a track if you have another app in full-screen mode.
These are some very simple but important tweaks you can make to Android Auto for safer and more fun driving. Got an important tip that’s missing here? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Google is still the best
The Google Pixel 10 Pro is the best way to experience Android the way Google intended it. Moreover, it gets two exclusive features for Android Auto, called Call Screen and Call Logs, which have started rolling out.
