The human identity is constructed upon a myriad of different factors, but at the same time, there is nothing more recognizable about it than that desire of improving at a continuous clip. This desire to grow, no matter the situation, has already brought the world some huge milestones, with technology emerging as quite a major member of the group. The reason why we hold technology in such a high regard is, by and large, predicated upon its skill-set, which ushered us towards a reality that nobody could have ever imagined otherwise. Nevertheless, if we look beyond the surface for a second, it will become clear how the whole runner was also very much inspired from the way we applied those skills across a real world environment. The latter component, in fact, did a lot to give the creation a spectrum-wide presence, and as a result, kickstart a tech revolution. Of course, this revolution then went on to scale up the human experience through various unique avenues, but even after achieving a feat so notable, technology will somehow continue to bring forth the right goods. The same has turned more and more evident in recent times, and assuming Google’s latest move ends up with the desired impact, it will only put that trend on a higher pedestal moving forward.

Google has officially confirmed its decision to introduce a host of new features that will be available in cars with native Android software. According to certain reports, these new features include integrations for YouTube, Waze, and video conferencing apps like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Webex by Cisco. Apart from it, the search engine giant also revealed a plan to create an “Android for Car Apps Library”, which will enable third-party developers to build their own apps for Android-equipped cars. Interestingly enough, whereas the decision to offer YouTube is in the automaker’s hands, the development also delivers an altered version of those video conferencing tools. You see, the stated apps will only be available in audio format, regardless of whether the car is moving or not. This is because most vehicles, at the moment, don’t have in-cabin cameras that can record drivers and passengers for video conferencing, and the cars which do have such cameras; they offer it just for driving monitoring purposes. However, it’s not the only reason why Google has made the stated consideration, as there is also a safety angle to the whole business. By eliminating videos, the company is hoping to curb any distractions that the tools may create.

“That complexity of handling driver distraction, it’s a really high burden. And actually, you know, a lot of developers don’t know how to navigate the nuances of that,” said Roshan Khan, director of product management at Google.

This decision is further validated through a recently-conducted study, which discovered how drivers selecting music with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto had slower reaction times than those who were high from smoking pot. Moving on, another feature that the said development will carry into play is the introduction of more video games across cars with Google built-in system. The new titles will include Beach Buggy Racing 2, Solitaire FRVR, and My Talking Tom Friends from publishers like Vector Unit, FRVR, and Outfit7. Android Auto started offering video games through its phone projection almost one year ago, and mind you, it already boasts more than 1 million users. However despite the resounding success, Google’s current plan is to keep the feature a part of the company’s “parked experience”

When quizzed about the intention behind this whole effort, Khan deemed changing expectations as the primary inspiration.

“As demographics shift, we’re getting new people who are driving cars who grew up just always having access to applications and the internet and these types of things,” he said. “And it’s strange to them to be in a car where they’re disconnected.”