C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR A beta build indicates that Android Auto will drop support for Android 8.0/8.1.
Google has fixed an issue where the GameSnacks app went missing for some Android Auto users.
An update to the settings section has reduced the number of items you see at once.
The color of the app icon in the header of the new media player UI changes based on the accent of the song.
Earlier this month, some Android Auto users noticed that they were no longer able to access the GameSnacks app. There’s now an update on this situation. We have also spotted a handful of changes coming to Android Auto through an APK teardown of the 15.5 beta build. We’ll quickly break down everything you need to know.
Starting with GameSnacks, there were several reports claiming that the app had gone missing from the in-car app list. While there was fear that the gaming app optimized for in-car displays was being deprecated, it turns out that’s not the case. Google has acknowledged the issue and a moderator in Android Auto forum says the issue has been fixed. To bring the app back, you’ll need to update your Android Auto app to the latest version (15.3 or above).
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As mentioned earlier, we noticed some changes coming to Android Auto in our APK teardown of version 15.5 beta. One of the more notable changes will be the end of support for Android 8.0/8.1. While Google updated its support page in July last year to mention that Android Auto would require Android 9.0 or above, it continued to push updates that supported the older OS. Even the current Play Store listing still mentions that Android 8.0 is the minimum requirement. So it looks like this will be the end of the road for Android Oreo, for real this time.
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