Google has started rolling out its Android Auto 15.0 release, but the update doesn’t deliver on long-awaited features, and the tidbits that are coming to the surface still aren’t available.
There’s a long list of Android Auto features in development. Gemini, a light theme, and so many more are coming, we just don’t know when.
With the release of Android Auto 15.0, nothing is really changing in that regard. The update, which has just released in the beta track, is rolling out now and lacks any major changes to the experience. The only notable tweak was that the “Day/Night mode for maps” setting has now been replaced with “Theme.” This is in preparation for Android Auto’s new light theme setting, but it’s not actually live yet. You can go in and change the option, but Android Auto’s overall theme will remain dark. For now, the setting only applies to Google Maps and other navigation apps.
This does signal that the new theme option is coming soon, but we’ll have to just keep waiting for the time being.
It’s been spotted that there are some tweaks coming to the app drawer to show more apps at once, but these are not live yet. Some have also claimed that Google Maps is getting tweaks through Android Auto 15.0, but this is also not true. Rather, a server-side update seems to be testing a Maps redesign, but it’s not yet been widely rolled out. Notably, that same report is claiming new “Material” color and icons in Android Auto 15.0. These reports are not correct, and seem to be citing Android Auto’s ability to change icon shapes and the cellular/battery icons to match your phone, in this case with the publication seemingly confusing Samsung’s icon changes with something Google has tweaked. As far as the Material color theming goes, that rolled out in prior versions as we reported last month.
Google will likely release Android Auto 15.0 to the stable channel within the next couple of weeks, and it’s possible we’ll see more changes at that time. But, for now, there’s nothing substantial here.
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