Published Jun 16, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT Richard is the PC Hardware Lead at XDA and has been covering the technology industry for almost two decades. He's been building PCs since young, and when not creating content, you can often find him inside a chassis somewhere. When I hop into my vehicle, I connect my phone to one of the available USB ports, and Android Auto fires up after a few seconds on the center display. The default screen is perfectly fine, showing Symfonium on the left and a large Waze pane on the right. This is perfectly suited to shorter journeys, but when we have a planned outing that requires covering a considerable distance (yes, even the UK has longer drives), I take a few moments before setting off to configure Android Auto. Just connecting and setting off can cause issues with the experience not being optimized for the drive.…