Here Are Android Auto’s Upcoming Climate Controls [Gallery]

Google is working on bringing some form of climate control to its Android Auto platform, and a new update has made it possible for these controls to surface with a preview of the functionality.

We were first to spot climate controls in Android Auto back in March, with Google having worked on the functionality over the past several weeks in further updates. But nothing has gone live just yet, and a lot of questions still on the table.

Now, though, we’re finally getting a peak at what this functionality could look like.

Android Authority managed to enable Google’s work on climate controls in the Android Auto 14.3.151804 beta release. Climate controls show up along the bottom bar of the UI and include temperature, defrost, fan speed, and heated/ventilated seat controls as well. The UI is fairly simple, though this demo shows controls on both sides of the display, which could look pretty cluttered on anything but the largest Android Auto displays. Google already

When enabled, the Assistant/Gemini mic icon, notification icon, and app drawer icons all shift to the center of the display. The time, battery, and LTE indicators are also moved to the top of the screen, it seems.

Each button lights up when pressed to show that the setting is active, and fan speed is measured with a number. There’s also a “sync” option for vehicles with climate controls that are independent for the driver and passenger seats.

The functionality seems very useful for vehicles that rely on a touchscreen for climate controls, an unfortunately common trend, though many of those vehicles already reserve a portion of the screen specifically for climate controls (such as Polestar vehicles). It’s also still unknown how Google plans to integrate this feature into vehicles as, currently, Android Auto’s access to the car itself is typically very limited. More than likely, an announcement from Google will be required to learn these details.

What do you think of this functionality? Would you use it?

More on Android Auto:

• This tiny wireless Android Auto adapter hides in your car’s USB port
• ‘Samsung Auto’ is an Android Auto alternative for Galaxy phones you can’t use [Gallery]
• Android Auto adds new button to exit to car’s infotainment system for some users

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