User fixes Android Auto Coolwalk bug that stumped Google

However, the rollout of Coolwalk did not go as smoothly as users had hoped. Many of them had pointless glitches, such as half the screen freezing and being unable to interact with apps or the taskbar at the bottom.

This glitch baffled many people, including Google. Google began an investigation shortly after the initial bug report, but no fix was released. Users encounter the same issue even after a year if the official Google patch is not applied.

The company did not share any additional information about why the bug occurs or what users can do about it. However, the user kept researching and eventually discovered his two-step fix to get the situation back to normal.

Here’s what to do if the Android Auto Coolwalk UI freezes and you can’t tap the bottom half of the screen.

The first step is to uncheck the two options on Android in the “Vision Enhancement” section of the settings screen. They are called “Remove Animation” and “Reduce Transparency and Blur.” Disabling both options causes the operating system to re-enable animations on the device, and Android Auto seems to consider them important for it to run properly.

If you don’t have the two options, which isn’t surprising on some Android devices or older versions of the operating system, you’ll need to adjust the Android Auto animation settings from the developer screen within the app. Windows Animation Scale, Transition Animation Scale, and Windows Animation Scale must be set to 1x.

While this is the correct setting for a smooth experience with Android Auto, some users who have switched to 0.5x claim that the Coolwalk screen also returns to normal and everything feels snappier. The 0.5x setting makes Android Auto feel more responsive because the animations are faster, but keep in mind that animations must be enabled for the app to run properly. .

Google has not commented on these unofficial fixes, and a year later, it’s unclear if the company is even still investigating the issue.

Coolwalk screens allow you to run multiple apps side by side in the same view, regardless of display dimensions or aspect ratio. This means you can view Google Maps and Spotify on the same screen without having to switch back and forth. Tapping on these apps allows users to switch to full-screen mode.

The Coolwalk update is already available to all users, as Google completed its rollout in the summer of 2023. You don’t need to do anything special to enable it. Run the app and tap the icon in the bottom left corner to access Android Auto’s multi-app view.