Android Auto makes my roads trips easier, unless I’m a passenger

Of all the Google products I use daily, Android Auto is perhaps my favorite. Whenever I hop into my car, it reliably boots up with all my apps and audio ready to go, alongside my Google Maps screen detailing nearby traffic. It works flawlessly as a driving assistant, but it’s more of a challenge to use as a passenger.

I often drive with my partner beside me. She usually chooses the music and points out important notifications and alerts from the passenger seat while I concentrate on traffic. In this sense, Android Auto is not entirely a driving aid but rather a passenger-controlled tool in my vehicle, especially during longer trips. However, since Android Auto only relays the apps and content available on the smartphone connected to it, she cannot use her device to control it.

This means she’s restricted to the apps, playlists, and whatever I have downloaded or installed on my phone. If we want to listen to an audiobook stored on her phone through Android Auto, we can’t. If there’s a point of interest she’s found on her phone, she can’t relay that to the head unit.

If she wants or needs to do anything through Android Auto, she needs to use the built-in screen in our car, as my phone is usually stowed away. This entails manually interacting with the screen, which I find highly distracting, especially when she needs guidance on activating this or triggering that.

So, what would be the solution? Android Auto could be much better for all occupants if Google rolled out support for a passenger’s smartphone.

My preferred implementation of such a system would allow my partner to use her phone to control Android Auto running on mine. This would let her manage, access, and forward content to the head unit through her device, even with my smartphone connected to it, keeping distractions to a minimum and giving her more agency. It would also ensure that I have immediate access to any apps or information I need that she might not have on her device.

Another possibility is allowing two phones to connect to Android Auto — effectively multi-user support. Being able to switch between two Auto profiles that are connected to the car simultaneously would completely solve this problem. My partner could play her Spotify content while the navigation that was started on my device could continue. Such a system would also be great for users with work and personal devices or those with separate phones who share driving duties on longer journeys. As two devices are connected simultaneously, there’s no need to connect/reconnect whenever drivers swap.

My vision isn’t quite a pipe dream. Google has addressed this exact issue, but not for Android Auto. Android Automotive, Google’s car-based Android OS baked right into the vehicle, is readying a feature called Concurrent Multi-User, which allows support for two separate UI environments of the OS to run simultaneously. This means drivers can access their navigation and alert apps, while passengers can access their installations and media. All this would run on one screen.

As Automotive is a full-blown operating system running on the actual hardware of the vehicle, I understand that such a setup is more straightforward to implement for the native OS. Implementing multi-user support may be more challenging with Auto, which is essentially a projection of the connected phones. I think there is scope to explore the possibilities, though.

I recognize that there are workarounds for my passengers’ problems. For instance, my partner could connect her phone to Bluetooth to play media without connecting to Android Auto. It’s finicky, but it would work. It’s not a sweeping solution, though.

Perhaps passenger phone support or multi-user support isn’t something Android Auto needs explicitly. It’s pretty niche, but having the option would be welcome.