“Don’t phone and drive”: Android Auto will lock apps and unlock them only after you’re parked

“Don’t drink and drive” and now, here’s another rule: “Don’t phone and drive”. Since humans are not to be trusted with either rule, Android Auto will help us. It’s not clear when built-in breathalyzers are coming to our vehicles, but Android Auto is now enforcing the “Don’t phone and drive” with its latest feature: it bans certain apps.

Tom’s Guide shares a finding from the German SmartDroid about the recently updated version 11.4 of Android Auto. Now, certain apps that are “restricted”, will display a small “P” (as “Parked”) bubble in the bottom right corner of the app icon. Before this, users who tried to access stationary-only apps would receive an error message if their car was in motion, the story goes.

This “P” icon has appeared more and more frequently on gaming or video streaming apps on Android Auto, like GameSnacks, a collection of touchscreen games for AA users.

Alongside the launch of its version 11.4, Android Auto can now summarize long text messages that can be listened to while driving. The only caveat is that messages containing more than 40 words will be paraphrased, while anything under that will be read in its entirety.

The AI-boosted Android Auto can also suggest relevant replies and actions, so you can simply tap once to send a message, share your ETA or start a call.

Let’s say that someone sends you a “Where the hell are you?” while you’re driving. As you don’t want to distract yourself, you’ll be able to just push a button and your Expected Time of Arrival (ETA) will be sent to the one who’s so obsessed with you.