Android is getting an enormous AI overhaul in 2026

Android in vehicles

Plugging your Android telephone right into a automotive that helps Android Auto shall be totally different quickly, too. For starters, Google says Android Auto will now adapt to various show shapes and sizes. So even when your automotive has a bizarre polygon display screen, Android ought to fill it fully.

What you see on that display screen shall be totally different, too. Android Auto is getting a makeover with larger help for Material 3 Expressive themes and a brand new navigation expertise. Yep, Immersive Navigation, which Google introduced earlier this yr, is sort of prepared to really roll out to customers. Accessing knowledge from different apps within the automotive shall be simpler as properly because of the addition of widgets. Google says there shall be widgets for contacts, climate, and choose third-party apps. For vehicles with Google inbuilt, the automobile’s cameras will plug into Maps to supply extra correct lane steerage. Gemini may also have the ability to reply questions in regards to the automobile’s standing, together with warning lights and cargo capability.

Android Auto media apps have hardly developed through the years, however 2026 will deliver some notable adjustments. Popular apps like YouTube Music and Spotify are getting design overhauls that make them simpler to make use of within the automotive. Video playback can also be coming to Android Auto for the primary time. Naturally, this may solely work whenever you’re parked and utilizing a supported app like YouTube.

Google says Android Auto will change seamlessly to audio-only mode whenever you begin driving, however this requires buy-in from automakers for security and technical causes. Video will solely be obtainable in supported vehicles from BMW, Ford, Genesis, Hyundai, Kia, Mahindra, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Škoda, Tata, and Volvo. More automobiles might come later.