Android Auto Rolls Out Major Updates: New Spotify Jam Integration

Photo Credit: Google

Android Auto is getting a slew of new features, including a Spotify experience with a brand new app that includes support for its “Jam” feature.

Google has announced a series of car-related updates for Google I/O, including an overhaul to the Spotify experience for Android Auto. The updated app will rely on Google’s “Car App Library” for Android Auto and Android Automotive OS, with additional flexibility in how apps can be developed for this platforms.

For Spotify, this brings major changes in the form of support for Spotify Jam on Android Auto. Spotify Jam allows other Spotify users to connect to someone’s ongoing playlist without pairing to another device. Users scan a code, which enables them to contribute songs to what’s already playing through a friend’s device.

This will soon be possible through Android Auto with the use of a “Jam” button, which will appear in the corner of the Now Playing interface. The button brings up a QR code for others to scan, and the display can show who is in the current Jam session, as well as allow them to be removed.

According to Google, Spotify’s new app is coming to Android Auto “in the coming months.” Additionally, updates to YouTube Music and Amazon Music are on the way, thanks to the new flexibility in media apps on the platform.

Google is also adding support for Quick Share to cars with Google built in, enabling users to do things such as adding stops to a Google Maps route. Additionally, the platform is implementing a light mode (which has been in the works for years), as well as web browsers and more robust support for video apps. Notably, Google says video apps and gaming features will only be available when the car is in park; video apps will utilize audio-only features while the car is in motion.

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