Google Maps for Android Automotive will stop clashing with your vehicle’s UI
Damien Wilde / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google Maps for Android Automotive is getting customized design elements.
- This new ability will allow the UI in Maps to match the UI of the native OS.
- Polestar announced that this feature would roll out to its cars in the coming weeks.
While plenty of vehicles have Android Automotive installed, you won’t find two brands with the exact same OS aesthetic. This is because Google lets car makers customize the UI to fit their desired user experience. However, the story is a little different for apps you have installed, as they are unaffected by the native OS’s design influences. But this is changing for at least one auto brand soon.
At SXSW London, Polestar revealed that it has been working with Google to bring customized design elements to Google Maps. These custom design elements would allow you to change the look of Maps so that it better matches the overall UI. Polestar says that this change will create “a more balanced look and feel within the overall user interface.” In a LinkedIn post, the company shared the example below to show what this would look like.
Currently, Google Maps on Android Automotive features rounded UI elements and uses different color themes than the rest of Polestar’s UI. You can see what the current version looks like in the image on the left. Meanwhile, the center and right images show off the customized design. In these examples, you can see that the UI elements now have squared-off edges. The UI also adopts Polestar’s default orange accent color.
According to Polestar, this update is coming to all of its vehicles in the coming weeks. We would assume that Google is working with other brands to bring similar customization elsewhere, but it’s unknown what the company’s plans are.
