Android Auto is a mobile app that can transform your car’s dashboard into a fully equipped Android interface, where you can access apps like Waze, WhatsApp, and Audible.
A leak in July revealed that an upcoming update to the app would allow the users to control the car’s AM/FM and HD Radio. In that leak, we also found that the company is working on enabling local media support.
During the rollout of version 13.0 of Android Auto on the Play Store, 9to5Google found some interesting details. They uncovered some strings within Android Auto v13.0 that imply that Google continues to work on the local media feature that was spotted back in September.
Although Google is calling it Car Media, the strings previously found in the app called it Car Local Media. Here are those strings:
<string name=”car_local_media_service_label”>Car Media</string>
<string name=”car_local_media_media_source_unavailable_error”>%1$s is not available.</string>
<string name=”car_local_media_missing_song_name”>Unknown</string>
<string name=”car_local_media_sources_root”>Car Media Sources</string>
9to5Google has also found the icons for the car radio and local media features from the Android Auto app’s older version.
As the information has come from a leak and not from Google itself, it’s hard to tell when the feature will be coming to the app. But, since the company is already set on icons, it won’t be long before they are launched.
Along with the local media support, Google is also preparing support for Gemini Live, as per the leak revealed last month.
However, we are not certain how the feature will be tailored to the car’s screen or whether the feature will be free to all users or limited to a Gemini subscription.
So, until then, stay tuned for more updates!
