When you get inside your car, most probably the first thing that you would do aside from starting up your car is to get Android Auto connected. Thanks to Android Auto, you no longer need to endure a silent commute or nervously glance down at your phone for directions. Android Auto lets you play and run your favorite music and turn-by-turn navigation simultaneously right on your car’s infotainment system.

But while it is great for keeping your music and maps front and center, plugging in can also bring a flood of notifications directly to your dashboard. Thankfully, there are a bunch of ways to isolate those distractions without sacrificing your navigation or music.

Finding the sweet spot between focus and entertainment

Taking control of your digital dashboard

Sitting inside your car, your phone should not be a device that you should be using. Which is where Android Auto comes into the picture. It brings the essentials of a smartphone right to your car’s infotainment screen. You can make or receive calls, send regular or WhatsApp messages, get notifications, play music, and also get turn-by-turn navigation from your favorite navigation app.

However, your dashboard shouldn’t act like a smartphone and should actually be a helpful co-pilot. It should ensure that you aren’t getting distracted while driving. When you just plug in your phone and go, you are often hit with all the notifications on your dashboard that you would normally receive on your phone.

They not only cover up your maps when you are approaching a tricky highway (Google Maps are bad at telling you when to take the flyovers or service roads). Taking control of the Android Auto interface means you are dictating what stays on the screen and actually makes your car feel like yours.

So, instead of using Android Auto the default way, you should aim at configuring the infotainment system in a way that the map is visible at all times and music plays uninterruptedly. The good thing is that it takes only a few adjustments to make that a reality.

Features that keep the map and the music flowing

Setting your audio and navigation priorities

You don’t have to settle for the generic and the default dashboard. Android Auto offers various features that give you the option to multitask and set audio priority settings. Here are some quick ways through which you can keep your navigation and tunes completely safe from disturbance.

Embrace Android Auto’s split-screen view

Credit: Shimul Sood / MakeUseOf

In the past, you had to switch between Google Maps and your music app. That split second of tapping the screen to skip a track meant taking your eyes off the road. Also, your navigation got interrupted, and you are left guessing in a moving car.

In past updates, Google has addressed this issue and made Android Auto much safer. The user interface now supports a split-screen view that runs two apps simultaneously. Meaning, your navigation takes the main and larger portion of the display, while your media player sits neatly in a smaller space on the side.

Additionally, you can turn on Taskbar Widgets, a recently added feature, by heading over to Settings -> Connected devices -> Android Auto -> Taskbar widgets on your phone. This enhances multitasking by showing media controls or navigation directly on the bottom taskbar while you are using other apps.

Drive the car, don’t get driven by notifications

Imagine singing your favorite song with all your heart while on a road trip and suddenly getting interrupted by a notification. Annoying, isn’t it? The worst part is that not only do they interrupt the audio, but they also take up a good portion of the top half of the display, showing directly over your maps’ UI.

You can disable those notifications by heading over to Settings > Connected devices > Android Auto. Under the Messages section, toggle off Show message notifications. By setting this up, you are blocking incoming text alerts and non-essential app chimes.

It takes a few minutes to configure this Android Auto feature, and it makes driving way less distracting. Your music and maps keep running in the dashboard, and you are driving your car distraction-free.

Customize the app drawer for instant media access

Even with a split-screen setup, you occasionally need to launch a different app. If you have a lot of apps installed, the page gets cluttered, and it gets incredibly dangerous while driving on a highway. The good part is that Android Auto lets you customize the launcher directly from your phone.

You can adjust and drag the apps to show up at the top. For instance, you can have your favorite Maps app and the music app at the very top row. This means you don’t have to interact much with your screen, as your essential apps are right at the very top.

Also, if you want to get the best sound quality without fiddling with settings on the road, you can install this powerful app that makes your music sound the way it should. This app integrates seamlessly with the Android Auto dashboard, and you spend less time tweaking the limited equalizer on your infotainment screen and more time focusing on the road.

Automating your drive with voice commands

Last but not least, the absolute safest way to interact with your car’s infotainment system is to not touch it at all and use your voice. Voice commands let you control Android Auto without breaking your visual focus.

Instead of tapping the screen multiple times and taking your focus off the road, you should enable voice commands to handle everything. You can create routines to automatically pull up your navigation map and set it for your home or work. Another routine can be created to read out calendar events or play your favorite podcast.

If you haven’t set up a Google Assistant routine, then you are missing out on an excellent way to upgrade your experience in Android Auto. It handles all the heavy lifting for you, and you just have to say the command. This way, you aren’t sacrificing your media, navigation, and, more importantly, focus.

Taking back control of your commute

Your daily drive shouldn’t feel like an extension of your busy workday. You should be able to drive your car with a clear mind and focus on the road and your favorite music. It shouldn’t continue to ping you with notifications from banks or the workplace. Using the built-in Android Auto features, you strip away the unnecessary noise and keep the tools that actually matter to you. Try the above solutions, and the next time you enter your car, you won’t have to deal with a silent cabin and a distracting screen.