Latest news with #userinterface
Motor 1
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- Motor 1
Volkswagen Says Car Buyers In Europe Want Buttons
As someone who owns a previous-generation Skoda Octavia , I find my car's dashboard to be borderline perfect in terms of layout and user interface. It strikes just the right balance between buttons and screens, a feature that virtually all Volkswagen Group products had until the late 2010s or so. After that, VW began shoving nearly everything into the touchscreen in the name of minimalism. They wouldn't call it cost-cutting, would they? But VW is aware that a large portion of its customer base prefers a more analog interface. Ralf Brandstätter, the company's head honcho in China, explained that customers in Europe tend to favor 'tactile controls, long-term durability, and driving dynamics.' It's a different story in China, where buyers prioritize 'AI-first, connected vehicles, with seamless voice control and smart cockpits.' 2024 VW Passat Variant Although Brandstätter was comparing EV shoppers in Europe and China, VW's combustion-engine cars have also largely abandoned physical buttons and knobs. The latest, wagon-only Passat is a clear example of how tablet-like displays have taken over dashboards in recent years. The similarly sized ID.7 Tourer electric wagon also keeps hard buttons down to a minimum. In VW's defense, it has promised a return to form . We've already seen tentative steps, with the Golf GTI and R reintroducing real buttons on the steering wheel. Additionally, future models will include tactile controls for frequently used functions. Earlier this year, the company's design chief admitted that going screen-heavy was a mistake. Here's what Andreas Mindt said: 'From the ID.2all onwards, we will have physical buttons for the five most important functions—the volume, the heating on each side of the car, the fans, and the hazard light—below the screen. They will be in every car that we make from now on. We will never, ever make this mistake again. On the steering wheel, we will have physical buttons. No guessing anymore. There's feedback, it's real, and people love this. Honestly, it's a car. It's not a phone. ' Since VW-badged cars are always twinned with other Group products to spread out costs, there's a good chance that future models from Skoda, SEAT, Cupra , and the rest of the gang will also revert to proper dashboards. Including more separate controls will undoubtedly drive up production costs, which, logically, will be passed on to buyers. It's a sacrifice some of us are willing to make. Circling back to Brandstätter's statement, he pointed out that the average age of an electric car buyer in Europe is 56, whereas in China it's under 35. His post on LinkedIn addresses the question of why cars developed by the VW Group in China aren't sold in Europe. It all comes down to differing regulations, costs, and customer preferences. Buttons > Screens Hyundai Gets It: Buttons Are Safer than Screens Hyundai Realizes People Find Touchscreens Annoying Get the best news, reviews, columns, and more delivered straight to your inbox, daily. back Sign up For more information, read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . Source: Ralf Brandstätter / LinkedIn Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
Android Authority
14-05-2025
- Android Authority
Android Auto tests a smarter way to display games on your screen (APK teardown)
Andy Walker / Android Authority TL;DR Android Auto is changing how games are displayed. Games no longer take up the whole screen when opened. Users no longer have to swipe down to see the back and exit buttons. A wave of changes is headed for Android Auto in the near future. Not only is the platform being prepared for Gemini integration, but we also recently noticed that its in-progress light theme looks like it's almost ready for prime time. In today's APK teardown, we have found yet another change that's on its way, this time for the way games are displayed on screen. Authority Insights story on Android Authority. Discover You're reading anstory on Android Authority. Discover Authority Insights for more exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage you won't find anywhere else. An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release. If you play games on Android Auto, then you're probably familiar with how they're presented on your car's display. When you tap on the app, that game opens up to take over the entire screen. Since all of the screen real estate is occupied, there's no room for buttons to take you back or exit the game. Instead, you have to swipe down from the top of the display to see these options. AssembleDebug / Android Authority Old While doing some detective work in Android Auto (version we spotted that games no longer appear to go full screen. These apps now only take up the majority of the screen, leaving room for the back and app drawer buttons to stay visible. These buttons appear on the right side of the window. As you may have guessed, the back button acts as a back button for the game. So if you find yourself deep in the game's menus, you can use this back button to navigate your way back to a previous menu. If you're not in any menus, tapping on the back button will allow you to exit the game. Meanwhile, the app drawer button, unsurprisingly, opens the app drawer. If you open the app drawer while in a game, your game will continue to run in the background. New New This change takes away the need to swipe down from the top of the screen, removing the extra step required to access the buttons you need. You can check out the video below to see these buttons being used in the game Angry Birds. This wasn't the only change we found in Android Auto today. We also discovered that Google is making a head-scratching tweak to the media player UI that could relocate your playback controls. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
