Would you allow your child to play games on Android Auto?
- Yes – 25%
- No – 75%
Wouldn’t you believe it, a car screen completely sucks for gaming
Let’s start with Disney Coloring World. It’s a digital coloring book that works well enough on the car screen, but I imagine it would work the same on any other display. I can confirm that, yes, it works well on my Galaxy S24 FE.
Android Auto’s latency doesn’t make for a satisfying gaming experience.
Beyond the latency, I also struggled to return from the full-screen game to the Android Auto home screen. You’re supposed to swipe down from the top of the screen as instructed by the game, but no amount of this seemed to work for me. Perhaps it was user error, but I was stuck in Disney Coloring World with no way out. In desperation, I had to start my car and release the parking brake before an option to return to the main display finally appeared. I’m not going to mark the game down for this — again, this could be a quirk of my car or my gray matter.
And, dare I highlight the obvious problem? Unless you’re an old-school parent, kids almost always have a tablet or a smartphone within arm’s reach in 2026. If not, and they really want to play one of these games, surely handing the phone to them would be a better bet? Or, perhaps an actual book with juicy markers or crayons? I could continue skipping music tracks and viewing the map or weather ahead while my child completes their digital or analog masterpiece safely in their seat.
It’s also worth highlighting that the dashboard screen is designed for the front passengers, not the kids in the rear seat. To play these games, kids would have to shuffle forward to the passenger seat or lean forward from the rear seat. Even when parked, both actions seem pretty disruptive, far more so than simply handing the child a phone or tablet. And what if you have a large family? Will little Timmy let Emily share the screen, or will a large scuffle ensue?
I wouldn’t want my kid to grow up associating a car’s dashboard with distracting, focus-consuming games.
Highlighting Android Auto as a source of leisure to young kids sets a dangerous precedent. While games can only be played when the car is parked — engine off and handbrake on — I wouldn’t want my child to associate a car’s control surfaces with games that are distracting and focus-consuming. Normalizing this within the car could negatively affect children when they eventually learn how to drive. These games seemingly target kids at easily impressionable ages, too.
We got kids’ games on Android Auto before a functional voice assistant
To be fair to the games, they’re all functional and work well within the limitations of Android Auto. I don’t have any gripes with them specifically, except the Disney title’s rather predatory splash screen. I do, however, wonder why this was such a priority for Google, given the countless other features it should’ve added to Android Auto first.
There are so many other value-adds Google could’ve brought to Android Auto. Why did we get kids’ games?
Have you ever had connectivity issues with Android Auto?
- Yes, I have issues regularly – 69%
- Yes, but they’re rare – 18%
- No, Android Auto works flawlessly – 11%
- I don’t have or don’t use Android Auto – 2%
I don’t have children, so I’m far more biased towards my personal travel needs than other users with young families. However, if I were a parent, I certainly wouldn’t let my children use Android Auto for drawing stickmen, coloring, writing, or driving Spider-Man against oncoming traffic. Not every screen has to be a toy.
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