Google’s rolling out another Android Auto update, but this one isn’t for your car...

The Android app is being updated to use Google’s new Material You design language

Android Auto Coolwalk update
(Image credit: Google)

Just as Android Auto will be getting used to the all-new interface that arrived with the much-delayed ‘Coolwalk’ revamp, Google is now rolling out another UI change.

Only this time the update refers to the Android app used to manage the settings of the Android Auto system. The change will see the app adopt Material You, which is the name of Google’s new design language for Android app interfaces.

Google is part-way through bringing the Material You interface to all of its Android applications, and Android Auto is the latest to get the change.

Described as a unified design language, Material You first arrived with Android 12 and aims to brings elements of your phone’s wallpaper to the rest of the interface. Google describes the interface as “a more humanistic approach to design. One that celebrates the tension between design sustainability and personal preference, and does not shy away from emotion.”

For Android Auto, the update to Material You is seen in the settings pages, where users can connect a new car, enable or disable wireless Android Auto, and tweak functions like the ability to have music automatically start when you start driving. 

The update was first spotted by a Reddit user called ThomS78 and published by AutoEvolution.

Ultimately, this is a relatively small update to a settings page that most users will probably only visit once or twice. Regardless it is good to see Google gradually rolling out the Material You design language to all of its apps.

Alistair Charlton

Alistair is a freelance automotive and technology journalist. He has bylines on esteemed sites such as the BBC, Forbes, TechRadar, and of best of all, T3, where he covers topics ranging from classic cars and men's lifestyle, to smart home technology, phones, electric cars, autonomy, Swiss watches, and much more besides. He is an experienced journalist, writing news, features, interviews and product reviews. If that didn't make him busy enough, he is also the co-host of the AutoChat podcast.