One of the main selling points of Android Auto is the integration of Google Maps into your dashboard, with the bonus of controlling all of your podcasts. The car friendly UI is, in general, pretty simple and readable at a glance.
Unfortunately, a new update to Android Auto is annoying some drivers with a new centered arrow review.
If you don't have a specific destination in mind, the app will display a search bar, occasionally with suggested places underneath it. The search bar/destination box is quite large but until now has been right-aligned. The update apparently centers the box on the screen, which can obscure large parts of the map, as well as the route you're traveling.
The change was noticed by Reddit user u/steelbreeze9 saying, " (spotted by Android Authority) the street one was driving on was slightly aligned to the right, but it's now centered for me and a lot of it is covered by the suggested destinations menu."
Other Redditors jumped on the bandwagon with their post garnering over 100 comments very quickly.
Based on their image, it is annoying. That said, the menu can be collapsed to restore some visibility. Some Redditors claimed that it's not a permanent action, though I've found that when collapsed on a drive it stays that way, though it does pop up back up the next time you get back in your car.
In general, the destinations box probably needs to be transparent or permanently hideable.
I do wonder if display size is part of the problem here. Steelbreeze9 noted that their vehicle is a Hyundai Kona from 2019, which features a 7-inch touchscreen display.
With an updated Android Auto app, I tested it out on my own 2019 Honda CR-V and didn't notice an issue with the display box when Maps was in full screen view. In the smaller boxed view, it goes away completely. Some Redditors suggested that they turn on driver bias in the settings or that the resolution on the screen was too low.
Assuming other people are having this issue, Google needs to update the Maps design. For now, you have to hide the destinations box every time you drive or actually have a destination in mind. A simple option would be to put all the icons and menus in a button on one side of the maps.
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