Google Maps on Android Auto widely rolling out 3D buildings
Google Maps on Android Auto is widely expanding its 3D buildings feature, making it more accessible during navigation to enhance the car driving experience. While the feature has been available during phone screen navigation for some time now, it only recently started showing up on Android Auto. Additionally, it is enabled by default on Android Auto when compared to the manual activation process needed on smartphones.
Turning off 3D buildings, light mode dependency
To turn off the 3D buildings feature in Google Maps on Android Auto, users can simply navigate to the settings and toggle it off. However, it's worth noting that 3D buildings are only visible in light mode. When Android Auto is switched to dark mode, the 3D buildings vanish but reappear once light mode is enabled again. It remains uncertain whether this behavior varies by region or if Google intentionally removed the 3D view in dark mode.
Feature availability on Android Automotive
At CES 2024, Google announced that the 3D buildings feature will also be introduced to Google Maps on Android Automotive, the native platform for vehicles like the Polestar 3. Alongside this update, Google Maps has made minor adjustments to the buttons displayed when users reach their destination, making them more noticeable. As the 3D buildings feature becomes increasingly available, Android Auto users can anticipate a more visually engaging navigation experience.
