Google is widening the rollout of two long-awaited Google Maps features for Android Auto users: Immersive Navigation and a built-in live speedometer. After months of limited availability, reports suggest both features are now reaching a broader group of users, including people running stable versions of Google Maps instead of beta builds.
The update is part of Google’s ongoing effort to modernize the Android Auto navigation experience. While the company unveiled Immersive Navigation earlier this year as one of the platform’s biggest upgrades in years, the feature has been trickling out slowly, leaving many users without access. That appears to be changing, with more devices now receiving the update through a server-side rollout.
The rollout is still gradual, and availability may vary depending on region and device, but it signals that Google is becoming more confident about deploying the new experience at scale.
Immersive Navigation makes Google Maps easier to follow while driving by displaying richer road layouts, clearer lane guidance, and more detailed intersections. The updated interface is designed to present navigation information in a way that’s easier to interpret with a glance instead of requiring drivers to study the map.
Alongside the redesigned navigation view, Google is also expanding the rollout of a live speedometer inside Android Auto. Unlike speed limit warnings, the feature displays the vehicle’s current speed directly within Google Maps, reducing the need to switch attention between the infotainment display and the instrument cluster in vehicles where that information isn’t readily visible.
Users receiving the update will also notice another interface change. On Android phones, the Gemini icon has replaced the Google Assistant shortcut in the top-right corner of Google Maps, continuing Google’s transition from Assistant to Gemini across its ecosystem.
Although more users are reporting access, Google has not released the features through a standard app update. Instead, the rollout appears to be happening server-side, meaning installing the latest version of Google Maps or Android Auto does not necessarily guarantee immediate access. Reports also suggest the features are appearing on stable builds rather than remaining exclusive to beta users, making them accessible to a much wider audience over time.
For Android Auto users, this update is less about adding flashy new capabilities and more about refining the everyday driving experience. Better lane visualization, more detailed navigation guidance, and an integrated speedometer are incremental improvements individually, but together they make Google Maps feel more complete as an in-car navigation system. As the rollout expands, more drivers should begin seeing those upgrades without needing to join Google’s beta programmes.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.
Missing out on the self-driving future is a tough pill to swallow, especially as a car enthusiast. But that is what Tesla handed us on Wednesday, without a hint of mercy.
During its October 21, 2026 earnings call, Elon Musk told investors the Cybercab is meant mainly as a ride service. Further, nearly all of them will be owned and managed by Tesla.