Android Auto update breaks media and navigation ‘Quick Controls’ for some

Android Auto 15.2 is rolling out more broadly this week, but with the side effect of breaking the longstanding “Quick Controls” feature for some users.

“Quick Controls” in Android Auto refers to the widget along the taskbar that offers the ability to control media or see navigation directions while in another app. This was a crucial feature in the past, but became less relevant following Android Auto’s switch to a dashboard design. As such, Google instead opted to use that space for app shortcuts instead, but still allowed users to toggle on “Quick Controls” through Android Auto settings if they preferred.

With the latest update, though, this functionality is now broken for some users.

As noted by Android Auto users Google’s forums, the “Quick Controls” widget no longer works on screens that show the app taskbar in a vertical orientation. Previously, enabling “Quick Controls” would force this bar to move along the bottom of the display, but now the toggle simply does nothing.

Users started seeing this change in late September, around the time that Android Auto 15.2 hit the stable release track, but reports are surfacing more widely as the rollout has expanded over the past week.

At this point, it remains unclear if this is an intentional change.

Google may be doing away with “Quick Controls” entirely, but the fact that this functionality still works on other display formats suggests this isn’t the case. But, clearly, something is happening behind the scenes that affected this feature. We’ll just have to wait and see if this changes in future updates.

Are you using “Quick Controls” on Android Auto? Have you noticed this change?

More on Android Auto:

• Android Auto seems to be removing its ‘GameSnacks’ collection
• Pixel Phone app rolling out Call Recording & Android Auto access
• Android Auto bug causes giant apps and icons, and it’s been happening for months

Follow Ben: Instagram