It’s 2021 and WhatsApp still doesn’t have its icon on the dashboard of your car. But why doesn’t WhatsApp appear on Android Auto ? If you are new to Android Auto or simply want to know the details of the integration of your vehicle and your Android mobile, here we tell you how to start everything to receive WhatsApp messages also on the dashboard. And why can’t you find the messaging application along with the rest of the driving tools. Keep on reading to know everything.
If you still don’t know, Android Auto on the dashboard of your vehicle is just a reflection of what happens on your mobile. That is why you can use some of the applications that you have installed on the device directly in the car. But not all of them, since Google has thought of this system as a driving assistance tool, without interfering with it or being a constant distraction. And it seems that Google Maps, Waze, Spotify or Google Podcasts serve this purpose, but not so much WhatsApp. Does this mean that it cannot be used? Well no, you will already know that you can receive messages. But you may notice that the application is missing on the dashboard, and that you have found yourself in the situation of wanting to send a message without taking your hands off the wheel and not being able to do it because you do not know where to click or how to find WhatsApp without touching the mobile.
Well, WhatsApp is integrated with Android Auto, although you will never see the application icon to access your chats and read them on the screen . Rather, it is intended to be useful when driving. That is why you can receive messages and read a quick summary on the screen but, even more useful, listen to the message read out loud. But not only that. You can also write, or rather dictate, messages out loud to keep your attention on the road. The only thing is that you do not have to press more icon than the microphone, or even invoke the Google assistant with the voice command “OK Google”.
In this way you can easily request that a specific message be written and sent to a certain contact. You can use the easy formula and by parts of “OK Google, send a WhatsApp message”, and then complete the text of the message when the assistant asks you, and end up choosing the person to whom it is addressed. But, if you are an expert user, you can do it faster with the command “OK Google, send [here the content of the message] by WhatsApp to [here the contact]”. With this, the Google Assistant will read all this information aloud and will ask you for confirmation to send the message. If everything is correct, the message is sent as if you had written it in the WhatsApp application. The difference is that you have only clicked on the microphone icon or have asked out loud for this action, without wasting time or attention from the road.
WHY CAN’T I SEE THE WHATSAPP ICON IN ANDROID AUTO
With all the above it should be clear to you why you do not see the WhatsApp icon in Android Auto. And it is that WhatsApp is integrated and works hand in hand with Android Auto , but it is not an application that allows it to be used without the distraction of the driver. Reading messages, typing them with an on-screen keyboard, checking conversations… these are really dangerous actions when driving and, in fact, punishable by law. So the safest formula for Google is not to have an icon or a faithful reflection of WhatsApp in Android Auto. The good news is that you now know how to use it while driving for conversations when your hands are on the wheel and your eyes are on the road.
So stop looking so much for the WhatsApp icon in Android Auto and take more advantage of the virtues of the Google assistant .
HOW TO READ WHATSAPP MESSAGES ON ANDROID AUTO
Now, to use WhatsApp in Android Auto, you have to configure several key aspects that allow its normal use or, at least, comfortable while driving. One of these aspects is how to read WhatsApp messages on Android Auto, and the answer is to configure notifications . You will not be able to read all the messages on the car screen, but you can listen to them. Here we are going to teach you how to do it to listen to the information of each message that comes to you through the car’s sound system. Keep in mind that this is useful to have an active conversation on WhatsApp while you are driving, but it may not be intimate if you are accompanied or accompanied in the vehicle.
Go to your Android Auto application on mobile. If you have a mobile with Android 10 or higher, it may already be integrated, so you can download Android Auto for mobile screens or search for “Android Auto” in the terminal settings.
When you access the application open the settings. From the application you will only have to display the side menu and access Settings. If you have an Android 10 or higher you will find this section directly.
Within the settings, go down to the Notifications section , where you can activate or deactivate different aspects to your liking. You can activate:
- View received messagesto read a small portion of the message in a notification on the dashboard. But only if the vehicle is stationary.
- Show message notificationsso that Android Auto notifies you of the arrival of new messages.
- Show group message notificationsso that these notifications also appear if they write to you from a WhatsApp group chat.
- Notifications without soundso that the visual notification is seen but not heard.
