I just noticed something interesting after activating my new phone. Android Auto behaves differently now on the RDX.

Prior to this I had a Pixel 6 Pro phone which did eventually bring the coolwalk UI to the RDX but the application buttons within Android Auto we're always stacked on the left hand side in the original configuration when Android Auto was first implemented on the RDX. That was always a disappointment because we never got some of the newer features like media controls from the home screen along the bottom of the interface. This remain the same even after updating that phone to Android 14 earlier this month.

I just activated the Pixel 8 Pro, which of course also comes with Android 14 and not only is the Android auto interface on the RDX the coolwalk UI but now the application icons are along the bottom of the screen which now gives us media controls and the other newer features. The version of Android Auto that's on this new phone is 10.5.633834-release

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Speaking from a software point of view....the phone itself should not make a difference. Was the version of AA and Android the exact same on both phones ?

 

I am not sure. By the time I noticed it with the new phone, I had already wiped the old phone for trade-in. There have been some AA updates in the past week so it's likely it was not the exact same verison.

 

This is not new, there is a setting in Android Auto called "Taskbar widget" to change the layout.

 

I didn't realize that. Thanks for the info. I assumed that having the icons stacked along the left side was an Acura implementation limitation. I know that on my previous phone, using previous versions of Android, the layout in my RDX would have the app icons along the left side with no media controls on the home page (including after I got coolwalk). When I put the same phone in a rental car, the UI had the icons on the bottom with media controls, etc. I just assumed it was an AA limitation with the Acura implementation.