GoKawiilJoe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR Android Auto is working on a new weather experience for smaller screens, and it involves Jimothy, the viral raccoon.
We bring to you a good look at how this new weather display system works, along with some of its accompanying elements.
The feature was manually activated in the latest Android Auto beta, and there’s no word on when or if Google will roll it out widely.
Google announced a wave of new Android Auto upgrades at I/O this year, including visual improvements and better compatibility with different screen sizes. However, in its current form, Android Auto users with smaller head units miss out on core experiences, such as weather, solely due to screen-size limitations. It now looks like a future version of Android Auto could remedy this.
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Digging into the recently rolled-out Android Auto version 17.6.66 (beta), we spotted signs of a new weather experience, specifically for smaller screens. The code for this particular weather experience references “Jimothy,” the beloved raccoon who became a social media sensation in July.
When available, users should see a small raccoon moving across the music player interface with a bubble above it displaying the weather. We’ve activated the feature to give you an early look at how it works, along with some of its limitations.
In addition to Jimothy hopping across the music widget with the current weather, the music player area will also display other elements, such as rain, clouds, or sun, depending on the weather in your location.
One downside is that the feature cannot be activated easily, at least based on our early findings. We’ve found that the raccoon and other weather-related elements appear only when you switch the device theme in Settings > Theme (Automatic, Light, Dark), or when you turn on Android Auto.
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