How to Customize Notifications on Android Auto

If you’re an Android Auto user, you may already know that setting up phone notifications while you drive isn’t as easy as it could be, although Google recently changed the settings that should make things simpler. On the one hand, you don’t want to miss important messages or calls, but on the other hand, you definitely don’t want to put yourself and other road users in danger by getting distracted while driving. A careful balance is necessary and it’s important to know what options are available on your phone.

If you’re a Pixel user, Do Not Disturb is managed by modes, which you can find by tapping Fashions in Settings. Take Conductand if you activate the While driving toggle switch, this mode is automatically activated when you are in your car.

You can turn off some or all of your phone’s notifications while driving.
Credit: Lifehacker

Press the While driving text (not the toggle switch), and you can tell Android how it should determine whether you’re driving or not. This is the setting that Google recently changed: you can now choose Use Bluetooth (so the mode is activated when a car dashboard is detected), or Use motion and Bluetooth (which also takes into account your phone’s accelerometer readings). Previously, you had to rely solely on movement, leading to auto-activation issues for the driver and passengers. The addition of Bluetooth should mean a more reliable experience.

It’s slightly different on Samsung Galaxy phones: you have to press Fashions and routines from the settings you can then access the Conduct fashion. Here you can specifically define a connection to a Android Auto dashboard as the trigger to activate the mode, rather than any Bluetooth device – something Google really should add to standard Android.

On Pixel and Galaxy phones, you can change the driving mode to allow notifications from certain apps or people, but again, be wary of making your vehicle too distracting with pop-ups and pings.

Other Android Auto notification settings

In addition to setting which apps and contacts can trigger phone notifications while you drive, you can further customize these modes. From the Driving mode screen on a Pixel, tap Display settings to control whether the phone turns on or not when you receive a notification. You can also darken the wallpaper and switch to a grayscale look.

When you change your Driving mode on a Galaxy phone, you’ll see that you can tap either Lock screen Or Home screen to change the wallpaper and color palette specifically for this mode. Again, the idea is for your phone to be a little less visually distracting.

There are other notification options on the main Android Auto settings page: In Android settings, tap Connected devices > Connection preferences > Android Auto (Pixels) or Connected devices > Android Auto (Galaxy).

Under the Messaging header, you can completely disable alerts for group conversations or for messaging apps. There is also a toggle switch here to show or hide the first line of the incoming message. You’ll probably want to turn it off if you want to spend more time with your eyes on the road.

You can control how messages appear on your dashboard.
Credit: Lifehacker

Finally, there’s the ability to read your incoming messages aloud, which is another way to reduce the temptation to stare at your vehicle’s dashboard for an extended period of time, or pick up and unlock your phone.

It’s also worth reviewing all the other Android Auto settings here, to make sure your driving experience is set up exactly the way you want it: you can reduce the number of apps available in Android Auto, for example, and enable taskbar widgets for easier app control, which can also make a difference to how distracted you are on the road.

You should end up with an Android Auto notification system that won’t overwhelm you with alerts while you drive, but also won’t hide important messages from you by automatically turning on notification filters without your knowledge.