Google has been teasing us with the prospect of an Android Auto redesign as if it would last forever. The redesign was leaked months before it was announced at Google I/O in May 2022, and its release was supposed to be in the summer, but only began a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, the new updates are still proving elusive.

Codenamed "Coolwalk," the redesign was expected to be released as part of Android Auto 8.7, which has just begun distribution via Google Play. However, according to 9to5Google (opens in new tab), the Coolwalk redesign is missing for many.

The update appears to feature only behind-the-scenes bug fixes rather than any particularly notable upgrades. In fact, 9to5Google surveyed readers (opens in new tab) and found that 90% had not accessed the Coolwalk redesign. r/Android Auto A similar survey on the subreddit (opens in new tab) also found that 2, out of 2,600 polled, 2,600 200 people were found not to have accessed the upgrade.

What is interesting about this is that for some people, Cool Walk is showing up even if they do not have Android Auto version 8.7. One Acura RDX owner (opens in new tab) witnessed the update go live over the recent Chinese New Year weekend, despite the fact that their phone is running Android Auto 8.6. Some Reddit users (opens in new tab) have also noted that they have the Coolwalk update on their phones running a variation of Android Auto 8.5.

In short, this whole rollout is incredibly confusing and the Coolwalk redesign seems to be hitting people at random. You may be one of the lucky people who get it right away, or you may have to wait for this seemingly glacial speed rollout to pass.

Unfortunately, the slow pace of the rollout makes the situation all the more frustrating: even ignoring the leaks that began in September 2021, Google announced the upgrade almost nine months ago and promised a summer release.

We had hoped that would end with this month's announcement that the Coolwalk upgrade was available to the public. But many users, including myself, will have to wait for Google to deliver on its promise.

Hopefully, the design changes will be more widespread by the opening of Google I/O 2023 in four months. Until then, it appears to be in a strange Android Auto limbo.