As a daily Android Auto user, these are the 5 features I still want after the big 2026 update
Significant updates are coming to Android Auto this year, and some features have already appeared on the dashboards of a few lucky users. Google’s new offerings include immersive 3D navigation in Goo…
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Significant updates are coming to Android Auto this year, and some features have already appeared on the dashboards of a few lucky users. Google’s new offerings include immersive 3D navigation in Google Maps, video playback support for YouTube users, and home screen widget support, with more features in the pipeline.
It’s a substantial list of new additions, but as consumers are never quite satisfied, there’s always room for further improvement.
Beyond the many welcome features arriving in 2026, here are a few improvements that Android Auto desperately needs, could benefit from, or would make a pleasant addition to the driving experience.
I’m generally fond of Gemini’s sparkly presence, especially when it corrects my error-laden spreadsheets or polishes my rambling emails to fellow adults. It’s a different story entirely when it comes to the in-car voice-prompting experience.
Android Auto’s iteration of Gemini is horrible. Not only is it overly chirpy, but it also takes much more time to complete tasks than its simpler, older predecessor. Altering navigation instructions, querying road conditions ahead, requesting the weather conditions, or playing specific playlists from Spotify should be child’s play for the next-generation assistant — but there’s always a delay between my command and its execution.
When it’s not chatting my ear off, it’s out of breath, and the Gemini Live experience isn’t much better .
Gemini might be unpolished at present, but it’s fixable. Given how well it runs on Android and Wear OS, the in-car experience could be greatly improved with just a few simple additions. These include:
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