What you need to know
- A tipster discovered that Android Auto could bring full work profile support, mirroring what users experience on Android phones.
- Android Auto could roll out « Work Accounts » sometime in the future, delivering notifications and more from a user’s work profile.
- A recent Android Auto update brought a refined Play Store with curated apps and more, as well as upgraded YouTube playback.
A dip into Android Auto’s app code suggests Google is working on bringing full work profile support to drivers.
Tipster AssembleDebug and Android Authority discovered a new feature in the works for Android Auto called « Work Account. » It’s speculated that this would work similarly to how work profiles operate on your Android phone. Users can separate their profiles, keeping work-related apps and things in their own corner. The tipster discovered that Google is working on a Work Account toggle inside Android Auto’s Quick Settings.
When toggled, users would begin receiving notifications on their car’s display while driving. The feature may also display a briefcase icon on Android Auto’s home screen so you know it’s been enabled.
Much of what Work Account will support and do is still under speculation. AssembleDebug states that the feature isn’t working properly; only the icons are present in their deep dive. However, the tipster assumes Work Account would support Google Meet and potentially other Workspace apps.
Better driving experiences
For the good, Android Auto recently rolled out a redesigned Play Store with new apps and improved YouTube playback. The Play Store is now much easier to browse on your car’s display. Google also included « featured picks, new releases, and curated collections. » On YouTube’s side, videos will automatically switch to audio-only when you start driving.
This keeps drivers involved in what they were doing, but minus the distracting elements videos tend to have.
On the downside, October got off to a rocky start for drivers. The funny thing is this issue had been going on for months. Users on Reddit said that Android Auto wouldn’t alert them about incoming notifications if their foldable was closed. The reports involved the Motorola Razr series quite heavily, forcing users to open their foldables for proper functionality.
Motorola and Google were aware and started reaching out to users to help fix it.
