- Google announced that music apps in Android Auto will be getting big design upgrades
- Developers will be able to have more flexibility when designing their app experiences across dashboards with Android Auto
- Improvements include more content layout templates, better visual headers, and smoother navigation features
The experience of listening to your favorite tunes in your car could soon be transformed, with Google giving developers of apps for Android Auto more flexibility when designing their apps to improve layouts and enable easier navigation.
Last week Google announced a major AI-powered upgrade of Android Auto. The Android Auto 17.0 beta is now available, and at its I/O 2026 developer event Google has teased some of the changes coming this year, including revamp of several of the most popular music apps, including Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Gaana, PocketFM, and TuneIn.
An update to the Car App Library will give app developers more options for how they want content-browsing and playback to appear in Android Auto. Until now, developers have faced restrictions on layout designs due to safety concerns, and this upgrade gives developers more freedom with designing their apps to provide minimal-distraction experiences across different dashboard types that support Android Auto.
The company will be increasing the adaptability of templates to give developers more content layout options, which includes new headers to improve visual elements, as well as “spotlight sections that can be placed in scrollable areas to highlight specific content, and grid item variations to support different content types and states”.
Google details the changes in further detail in a post on its developer blog, adding that it will also be “introducing new components and template capabilities to help developers build even more engaging experiences”.
“For media apps, we’re introducing an adaptive mini-player, so users can browse while still easily managing playback,” the post says, adding “Finally, we’re adding more component types including Chip and CondensedItem to increase the ways that content can be displayed and interacted with.”
Some developers have already started using Android Auto’s new layout options to revamp their car app experiences, and Google is inviting more developers to join its early-access beta program and start using the new or Car Library App templates.
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rowan.davies@futurenet.com (Rowan Davies)
