Had a pleasant surprise on the way to work this morning when Android Auto kicked in, it seems to have had a makeover, now it splits the screen into 3 sections, google maps on the right, music with album art on the lower left and quick destination select in the upper left. Also all the button that were hard to reach for the driver have been stacked over to the right hand side right next to the wheel. Pressing on any of the sections will take you to the full screen version e.g. press on the maps and it expands to full size. Nice!

If you want to know more regarding the new layout for Android Auto it's called Coolwalk UI. I was part of the beta and had this UI for about 3 months, it's a big improvement over the previous version and more like what Apple is doing with CarPlay. Waze doesn't currently support CoolWalk but the beta version has added support, this mean it will be public soon. Unfortunately Skoda and all MIB3 systems still eat away about 1cm of the upper part of the screen with that useless black bar at the top just to house the notification slider.

I also annoyed by that black bar in my Skoda MIB3. Isn't it Android Auto issue as CarPlay uses whole screen correctly?

On 01/02/2023 at 18:06, FireBIade said:

... now it splits the screen into 3 sections, google maps on the right, music with album art on the lower left and quick destination select in the upper left.

 

I have the latest version of Android Auto (8.7.630263  February 2023), but I'm not seeing the new screen layout. Do I need to do anything for the new upgrade to kick in?

I updated AA from Google Play yesterday - version 8.8.630424 - new screen layout working ok.

23 hours ago, Toolie said:

I updated AA from Google Play yesterday - version 8.8.630424 - new screen layout working ok.

 

Thanks Toolie

 

I've now upgraded Android Auto to version 8.8.630424, but I'm not seeing any change in screen layout.

My Karoq is a 2021 (71 plate) SportLine with Amundsen infotainment screen.

 

There is a 'button' on the task line that changes the screen from full screen map to a 3 panel view.

2 hours ago, P-J said:

 

Thanks Toolie

 

I've now upgraded Android Auto to version 8.8.630424, but I'm not seeing any change in screen layout.

My Karoq is a 2021 (71 plate) SportLine with Amundsen infotainment screen.

 

That's because Amundsen has 8" display and looks like AA does not offer any customization for this screen size. I have Kodiaq MY21 also with Amundsen and AA 8.8 and there are just no options to change anything. However, the most annoying thing is that AA somehow does not use upper part of screen. Some said that this limitation is set by VW due to notification slider, but somehow Apple CarPlay is able to use whole area of the screen.

Thanks for all your replies. I've now got a new layout with the four shortcut buttons at the bottom of the screen, but I don't have any way to bring up a split screen view as shown on various YouTube videos - screenshot attached.

No real hardship, I guess... 

 

 

 

Edited 21 February, 20233 yr by P-J

I access the split screen by tapping a 'split screen' icon - it is in the same location as the '9 dots' icon that is to the right of the microphone icon on your sample image.

Thanks Toolie.

 

Understood. I don't have that option.

 

Very strange.....

this new update made me wish I had a bigger infotainment screen - cause right now, having two apps side by side makes the google map smaller to the point where its hard to see next turns

 

so I just always have google maps expanded - but then you have this thick black bar/dock at the bottom (from which you launch apps and see time/signal) which is unnecessarily thick

 

I am sure all this looks great in cars that have big infotainment screens, but in karoq it doesn't look all that good