Android Auto expands 3D buildings to Google Maps

Earlier this year, Google Maps on Android Auto started showing buildings in 3D while driving. Now, the feature is being rolled out more broadly, and some more details have been revealed.

Google Maps’ 3D buildings have been available for years, but they were rarely used for navigation. Google has pretty widely supported showing this design while navigating on your phone screen, but it’s only recently started showing up in Android Auto.

It now appears to be more widely available. 3D buildings now appear in Android Auto for vehicles. Interestingly, the new look is enabled by default. Google Maps only shows 3D buildings on your phone if you enable the setting manually, but Android Auto shows them by default.

To turn off 3D buildings, go to Google Maps settings and toggle the feature off.

However, note that, at least in my testing, 3D buildings only appear when Android Auto is in Lite mode. The 3D buildings disappeared when the UI switched to dark mode, but immediately reappeared when I forced them back to light mode (car options). However, when this feature first came out, 3D buildings were still displayed in dark mode, so this may depend on your region. Or, it’s possible that Google has simply removed this view in dark mode since it first appeared.

At CES earlier this month, Google confirmed that this feature will also roll out to Google Maps on Android Automotive, the native platform for vehicles like the Polestar 3, as seen in the photo above.

As a final side note, Google Maps has also made some tweaks to the buttons that appear when you arrive at a destination, with two buttons now more prominent in design.

See 3D buildings in Android Auto? Do you like them?

Android Auto details:

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