Complete Android Auto redesign emerges and heralds return of an old favourite

Android Auto is the in-car infotainment software of choice for many drivers. Powered by your Android phone, it makes a seamless transition from your phone to the car, making it to easy to perform everyday tasks when driving. Boosting the offering, it appears that there’s a redesign coming.

The Android Auto app has been through a number of changes recently, the biggest being the move to the Coolwalk design in late 2022, the design that’s currently offered. But turn the clock back a little further and Android Auto used to have a light mode too.

You’ll remember a period of darkmodeification that took place, where basically every app switched from having light backgrounds to dark. In 2019, Android Auto lost its light mode and went dark only.

But, according to Android Authority, light mode might be poised to make a comeback. Uncovered in the latest Android Auto app, the Android site has shared plenty of screens, giving us a good look at how Android Auto looks when the light theme is applied.

It’s worth noting that although the app furniture went dark only in 2019, mapping apps in Android Auto have always been adaptive, switching from light to dark depending on the ambient conditions. That means that while a light theme could change the appearance of the Android Auto, if you usually drive with full maps open, you might not notice a huge change.

Consider too, that Android Auto takes its wallpaper from your phone, so if you have a light wallpaper, the app might look pretty light too – but all the navigation elements will have remained dark.

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Diving into the details, we see that the tool bar is light, the shades around elements within the app are light, and backgrounds across apps are light. That could be a boon for those driving in sunny conditions, because black shows up reflections much more readily than lighter themes, so this should look better in the right conditions.

Exactly how the app's behaviour will be managed remains to be seen. It could switch based on the ambient conditions (like the maps do), it could be locked one way or the other, or it might be linked to the system theme on your phone.

It would seem likely that Google will give drivers the option to have the theme in Android Auto independently managed, so that you can select your preference.

One thing does strike me though: most car interiors are dark and so the dark theme gives a more seamless integration. Switching to a light theme against the Alcantara interior of your fancy Audi might just look a little odd.

The Android Auto light mode is sitting in the background of the app – it's not yet available, but its presence suggests that it could be launched soon.