Backgrounds are not the only new thing known to Android Auto users this week, but Google is also enabling handy features to simplify activities while driving. Users can now add custom shortcuts to the launcher to quickly call preselected contacts or activate Google Assistant commands. With this, Google Assistant routines are available again after more than two years since they mysteriously stopped working via Auto.
If you were an auto-user by mid-2018, you may have had the opportunity to use Google Assistant routines while driving. The feature worked for a while, but it was quietly turned off in October of that year. A little over a year later, Google acknowledged this, but gave no confirmation that a solution was planned. However, it seems that things have started to work again.
Shortcuts solve one of the biggest problems with Android Auto: giving voice commands if you can not give voice commands or rely on them. Whether it’s calling your friends with names like Isla and Saoirse, going to a complicated street address, or simply giving basic commands while you have a sleeping passenger, sometimes you can not trust the Google Assistant. to get some things done. Now you can work around this problem by creating shortcuts.
Adding a custom shortcut is as simple as opening the Android Auto Settings (most people will probably want to open the Settings app and search for “Auto”), tap Custom Launcher and then add a shortcut by. The options are limited to calling preselected contacts or activating Google Assistant commands, but the latter does give you a lot of flexibility. Now you can automate general tasks and simplify your management activities.
Setting up a shortcut to call someone is as simple as selecting an entry from your contact list, but an assistant action gives you the option to enter freeform commands. Although you have the option to enter single phrases to get something done, you can also use the newly activated multistap routines that you have customized on your phone to do much more.
This should allow a lot of automation if you take the time to prepare actions in advance. Common options may be to tell your Nest thermostat to start heating your home, going to an address, sending messages and more.
All of these features seem to have been introduced to everyone on the last day or so. If you do not see them yet, try restarting your phone or updating the Android Auto app.
