- Android Auto widgets appear to be arriving soon
- They have been seen hidden in the latest Android Auto app
- The available widgets match standard Android
With the Gemini AI upgrade now rolling out to Android Auto users worldwide, Google is turning its attention to another feature for the vehicle’s dashboard interface: widgets that match those on your phone’s home screen.
The first signs of this were actually spotted months ago, but in the latest version of the Android Auto app, the folks at Android Authority have spotted more hidden code that suggests widget support isn’t far off now.
When the feature goes live, there will be a new one Car widgets option in the Android Auto settings, based on the recently discovered screenshots. From there, you’ll be taken to a widget selector not unlike that of a phone’s home screen.
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It’s not clear when Google will decide to start rolling out this feature to users, but it looks pretty done. The Google I/O 2026 event will take place later this month, on the 19th-20th. May, which would be an appropriate time for an announcement like this.
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From the code and screenshots dug up by Android Authority, it looks like many of the same widgets available on Android itself will also be supported by the Android Auto interface – and I’m eager to give them a try.
From countdown starters to calendar previews, from battery charts to fitness info, I make extensive use of widgets on my phone’s home screen. Having them on my car’s dashboard would also be really helpful.
Of course, space is limited on an Android Auto screen, so it will be interesting to see how Google actually implements this – especially if Google Maps is in navigation mode, which necessarily takes up a lot of screen space.
Hopefully Google manages to implement this in a way that isn’t too clunky – and in a way that doesn’t require any subsequent updates to squash persistent bugs – and if so, I’ll add some widgets right away.
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