Latest news with #MaterialYou
Phone Arena
05-08-2025
- Phone Arena
Android Auto's new look is here, but not everyone's on board
Android Auto just got a rare design update, but not everyone is happy about it. As part of a recent rollout, Google applied its Material You interface to Android Auto's music player, creating a more unified look that matches your phone's wallpaper. The problem is that it replaces the dynamic album art backgrounds, and some users are calling it a visual downgrade. Top is before and bottom is after. | Image credit — @Adil15101 The music player now pulls background colors from your Android wallpaper instead of using the currently playing track's album art. This change was meant to bring consistency across the interface, but it's also flattened the look and stripped away one of the music player's most distinctive visual user Adil15101 shared a side-by-side image comparing the old and new layouts. The older interface displayed vibrant backgrounds tied to the music, while the new one opts for blander, wallpaper-based palettes that don't always fit the vibe of what you're listening to. This design decision follows a broader update we recently covered, where Android Auto officially adopted Material You theming. The update allows your car's display to match your Android phone's wallpaper color palette, bringing a more cohesive visual identity across screens. While some users appreciate the polish, it's clear the music player changes have proven controversial. So much unused space... | Image credit — @flcinusa The update also tweaks the layout. The seekbar has been moved below the timestamp, and the album art is now smaller, creating what many are calling a cluttered-yet-empty feel — particularly on cars with portrait-oriented displays. Reddit user flcinusa noted that the already-reduced album art looks 'comically tiny' on their display. While the repositioned seekbar may reduce accidental touches, it creates odd spacing and visual imbalance, making better use of the space feel like an afterthought. To be fair, Material You is a big UI leap for Android Auto, which has traditionally been more utilitarian and function-focused. Google has also confirmed it's also working on a light theme, climate control integration, and Gemini AI voice features — all part of a broader push to modernize the platform. But for now, this refresh seems to be the decision based on the users' feedback. And for music lovers used to bold, dynamic album art backgrounds, this latest change might feel more like a step backward than forward.
Android Authority
04-08-2025
- Android Authority
Music lovers aren't happy with Android Auto's refreshed interface
Andy Walker / Android Authority TL;DR Google recently refreshed the Android Auto interface using Material You to match colors with your phone's wallpaper. As part of the changes, the music player interface now uses wallpaper colors instead of album art and has smaller album art. Some users find the new design bland and unbalanced, compared to the previous dynamic album art backgrounds. Just last week, Google updated Android Auto's head unit interface with Material You, letting your car's display match the wallpaper on your Android phone. While the move is generally positive, especially for an interface that barely sees any wholesale UI refreshes, some users are strongly disliking the change. Reddit user Adil15101 highlighted that in Android Auto's new and updated interface, music player interfaces now adopt the color from your wallpaper instead of the album art. The update also slightly refreshes the music player interface, with the seekbar now positioned right next to the even-smaller album art, giving us a lot more blank space in certain parts of the interface. In the above composite photo, the image at the top shows the older interface, while the image at the bottom shows the newer interface. The refreshed interface for Android Auto music players is a visual downgrade. While matching the UI to the wallpaper brings consistency across the car head unit interface, users lose out on the more exciting backgrounds that they have been used to with music players. Moving the seekbar makes sense since you can't accidentally tap on it when reaching for a button now, but it also gives us a very unbalanced UI with cramped spots between lots of empty spaces. Shrinking the album art also makes little sense when there is so much blank space. Reddit user flcinusa complains about it too since their car has a portrait screen, where the album art is comically tiny. Have you received the refreshed interface on Android Auto? Do you like the changes? Is there something you don't like? Vote below and let us know more in the comments! Do you like Android Auto's refreshed interface? 0 votes Yes, I like the changes. NaN % No, I don't like the changes. NaN % I haven't received the refreshed interface yet. NaN % Follow
Phone Arena
01-08-2025
- Automotive
- Phone Arena
Android Auto now matches your phone's wallpaper colors, thanks to Material You
Google is finally giving Android Auto a more personalized touch. With the latest beta update, Android Auto can now mirror your Android phone's wallpaper color scheme using Material You, a theming system that pulls accent colors from your background image. That means your car's infotainment screen may soon match the vibe of your home screen. This change arrives as part of Android Auto version 14.9 beta, though some users are already seeing it in the stable release. According to a recent report from 9to5Google, the update fixes earlier color consistency issues and expands support to more dynamic themes. For example, the color accents now appear uniformly across Android Auto's interface and refresh automatically when you change your phone's wallpaper. The effect is most noticeable in the Android Auto settings panel. While this isn't based on the newer "Material You Expressive" design that just rolled out with Android 16, it's still a major visual upgrade for Android Auto. Up to now, Android Auto has received fewer visual updates compared to core Android apps, often sticking to a utilitarian design. This change aligns it more closely with the rest of Google's ecosystem. Google's not stopping there, either. The company is reportedly testing a light theme option for Android Auto, as well as integrated car climate controls and a major shift from Google Assistant to Gemini AI. Those additions could bring Android Auto in line with Google's larger AI ambitions, as Gemini continues to show up in places like Wear OS, Android, and even Gmail. Compared to Apple CarPlay, which still opts for a mostly static and clean interface, Android Auto is now exploring deeper personalization. Apple has been slower to adopt adaptive UI changes, focusing instead on consistency across vehicles. For users who prefer more cohesion between their phone and car, Google's approach might offer the more flexible experience. In my view, this is a welcome update. While some drivers may not care about matching UI colors while commuting, these changes add polish to a platform that has often lagged behind. It's also a sign that Google is treating Android Auto as more than just a functional tool. However, we hope that visual updates don't overshadow the ongoing need for faster performance and fewer bugs, two issues that still occasionally affect the in-car experience. At the very least, it's encouraging to see Android Auto evolving again. And if Google does move ahead with Gemini integration and better car control features, it could help the platform stand out in a competitive space where even small improvements can make a big difference behind the wheel. When you switch to Total Wireless, keep your number & grab 3 mo. of 5G We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
Android Authority
01-08-2025
- Automotive
- Android Authority
Android Auto now plays nicely with your phone's color scheme
Adamya Sharma / Android Authority TL;DR Google is fixing the previous issues with wallpaper-based theming on Android Auto. With this update, base palettes in Android Auto sync more seamlessly with your phone. The update is currently in beta, but some people have also started seeing it in the stable version, suggesting a gradual rollout. Since the official launch of Android 16's stable version, Google has been refreshing many apps with its new 'Expressive' design language. Meanwhile, Android Auto, the app that receives far fewer glimpses, and mostly brief ones, is now adopting Google's older and more prevalent theming style with Material You. With this update, the colors in the Android Auto interface on your car's head unit will now match the wallpaper on your Android phone. While Google first started testing Material You theming for Android Auto last year, there were some issues with color consistency, and it supported only limited colors. However, 9to5Google recently noted that these limitations appear to have been fixed with the latest 14.9 beta update of Android Auto, allowing the interface to sync correctly with the colors on your Android device. The colors now apply consistently to different elements, and are most evident on the Settings app when you access them from within the car. The colors automatically also refresh when you change the wallpaper, aligning with the color scheme on your phone. While 9to5Google spotted these changes on the latest beta version, a few people also reported seeing the splash of colors on their cars' units with the stable version, suggesting Google may have begun rolling it out. Follow
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Yahoo
The new Google Drive video player is here
Google Drive's new video player for Android phones has a modern layout with playback controls for easy viewing. Android users will now enjoy a more user-friendly video player based on Material You. Google has drastically improved Drive's multimedia capabilities, making it a better platform for watching videos. Google Drive is one of the best file storage solutions for on-the-go, cloud-based setups, but it's been stuck in the Stone Age for quite a long time when it comes to watching videos on the service. While you can store multiple terabytes of family videos, old school projects, and whatever your heart desires on Drive, it has been a notoriously difficult-to-enjoy app to watch them on. To Google's credit, it has done a lot over the years to improve its multimedia capabilities, including making videos searchable with a transcript feature, adding DASH transcoders for videos to improve loading times, and letting users watch videos immediately after uploading them. The company knows what Drive's shortcomings are, and it has taken a massive step towards making it a palatable solution for Android users to enjoy all of their clips on. Back in October, Google announced that it was giving Drive's video player a major splash of Material You in the relatively near future on the web version of the storage solution. For mobile users, the future is now, old man; Google is rolling out a smoother, more modern video player for Android phones. The layout has three large buttons for playback controls in the middle of the screen, buttons for captions, full screen mode, playback speed, and loop in the top right, and the scrubber at the bottom. Material You looks good in this form, and leads us to wonder why it took so long to implement it here. As for timing of its rollout, it is already available to Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. Realistically, Google Drive users on iOS devices don't have to worry about any sort of subpar video player or a visual upgrade. That's because when users on iPhones and iPads watch clips on Drive, they get kicked into an iOS or iPadOS-specific layout. For Android users, it wasn't until a deep dive into a March-based beta version of the Google Drive app that we recognized the prospect of this new video player. While many Android power users probably prefer to open videos on their phones through external media players like VLC for Android and RealPlayer, this upgraded look on Drive may keep more people from leaving the app when watching videos. It was a great evolutionary change for Drive on the Web back in late 2024, when Google finally upgraded from the YouTube-esque layout that had plagued Drive's visuals for a while. As a side note, that isn't to say YouTube's player layout is bad — far from it — but on Google Drive, it looks way out of place. Funnily enough, even as Drive's video player is looking less like YouTube than ever before across all platforms, Google announced that it was adding YouTube-style analytics for Drive video files in late May. It began rolling out to everyone on June 9.
