Android Auto, the infotainment service offered by Google to its users, is experiencing a period of great news and changes; just yesterday we saw how the service in question has reached version 11.2 in the stable channel and, although no significant innovations were immediately identified, these are not lacking.
In fact, the company often does not link the new features to a particular version of Android Auto, the new features almost always benefit from a testing phase, carried out not only with the Beta channel but also with a gradual release in the stable version.
Recently, by way of example, we saw how with the previous version of the app some users had started to view not only petrol stations or charging stations, but both; furthermore, we have also seen how the company seems intent on revolutionizing the experience with Google Assistant.
Today, however, let's take a look at another new feature that has started to make its way onto some users' cars and which concerns the notifications present in Android Auto.
Android Auto starts changing how notifications are displayed
As anticipated at the beginning, it seems that Google has recently been paying particular attention to its infotainment platform, Android Auto is receiving various new features and improvements from different points of view.
Those of you who usually use the service in question know well how notifications are displayed in Android Auto: in the application bar, near the network and time indication, a number usually appears indicating how many notifications have been received up to that point from our device.
This allows us to get an idea, at a glance, of how many notifications our smartphone has received since we were driving; now however, according to reports from some users, it seems that Google intends to eliminate the numeric notification in favor of something simpler and more sober.
As you can see from the images in the gallery above, some users have started seeing a simple dot instead of the numeric notification indicator.
It is not clear what the purpose of this change is, perhaps Google wants to make the Android Auto interface cleaner and tidier, or perhaps it wants to remove a potential element of distraction for those who are driving. Although it is probably a matter of taste and habit, the numerical indication of notifications still has an undeniable usefulness that the simple point removes.
It is not known whether, when this innovation becomes available to everyone, users will still have the possibility to choose the type of counter for notifications, but it seems unlikely.
The novelty in question does not appear to be linked to a particular version of Android Auto, as are all the latest functions mentioned above; for example, we do not yet see the new notification counter, nor the new Google Assistant interface, but we already see the new panel with the “Cancel” and “Send” buttons for interacting with text messages.
If you are interested in all the latest innovations implemented by Google in Android Auto, you have the possibility of relying on the Beta channel to test first-hand the majority of the new functions; to do so you can contact APK Mirror (find the dedicated page by following this link ) to download the APK file. If, however, you prefer to remain in the stable channel, simply click on the badge below to proceed with the installation directly from the Google Play Store.