This story was originally published and last updated .
Google was particularly slow with the implementation of the Assistant Driving Mode, which was announced at I / O 2019 but was only made available in late 2020. Even then, it was restricted to users in the US. But that is no longer the case, as Google is now also making the feature available to users in other countries.
The official support page said earlier that it is only available in English in the US. It now states that some features are “not available in all languages or countries”, indicating that they are also distributed to other countries – it does not determine which. However, we can confirm that the UK is one of them – one of our readers got it on his Pixel 5.
If you are not aware of this, Google Assistant’s driver mode is intended to replace the Android Auto phone mode. It can help you read and send messages, make calls and control media with your voice so you do not have to leave the navigation screen.
To check if you have received Assistant Driving Mode, open Google Maps and go to Settings> Navigation settings> Google Assistant settings. If you have it, you will need to go to a new control mode panel. If not, it will open the general assistant settings screen which you can access from several other Google applications.
Roll out to more countries
Google has finally shed light on which countries are expanding Assistant Driving Mode. At the time of writing, Android users should have access to the early preview in English in Australia, the UK, Ireland, India and Singapore.
If you do not live in one of the mentioned countries and want to try it, you can change the language of your phone to English (US). It worked for our own Rita, who currently lives in Lebanon.
