Cars with Google built in

In testing, not yet public

Some cars run Android themselves — often called “Google built-in”, or Android Automotive. Windshield Weather has an app for them, but during the beta it is in Google Play’s internal testing for cars and cannot be installed from the car’s Play Store yet. This page describes how it works for when it can. It needs Android 10 or later in the car.

It is its own app

Unlike Android Auto, which shows your phone on the car’s screen, an app in a car with Google built in runs on the car itself. That has two consequences:

• You sign in in the car, with a code, because the car has no browser for the usual sign-in page.
• Your drives come with your account. Once the car is signed in, it shows the drives you saved on your phone or any other device, and a drive you plan in the car reaches your phone once both have synced.

Sign in with a code

1. Open Windshield Weather in the car

   It shows “Sign in to see your drives” with a code of eight letters and numbers, such as 7KQM-4PZD, and the address windshieldweather.com/device.

2. On your phone or computer, sign in to windshieldweather.com

   The page for the code only works once you are signed in there.

3. Go to windshieldweather.com/device and type the code

   Spaces, the hyphen and lower case do not matter. Choose CONNECT.

4. Check the car

   The page says “Your car is signed in.” and the car opens on its map.

A code lasts ten minutes. If it runs out or is refused, the car shows “That did not work” — tap New code for another. If a code appears that you did not ask for, choose Not me on the web page and nothing is connected.

Plan a drive in the car

1. Choose Plan a drive

   In Drives, or on the empty Drives screen.

2. Fill in 01 STARTING FROM, 02 GOING TO and 03 LEAVING

   Search uses the car’s own keyboard, and the car may refuse typing while it is moving. For the start, Your location is the first choice. Leave now, in an hour, or tomorrow morning or evening.

3. Choose Plan a drive

   The drive opens with its sections, and is saved with your account.

Recent places appear before you type. You can swap the start and destination and choose Suggested stops or Nonstop before saving. To repeat a saved drive, open Drive options → Plan again; its stop plan is kept while you choose a new departure. Manually placed stops keep the same time after departure when you repeat the drive.

Your choices stay visible while the drive saves. If saving fails, choose Plan a drive again to retry with the same choices.

The first time you use your location, the car asks for permission. The request can only be started while parked, and approximate location is enough.

Everything else

Drives, sections, the briefing, radar and wind work as on Android Auto, including the heads-up for HAZARD and EXTREME drives. In Settings, you can choose units and the clock, request location or notification permission, and sync your account.

Use Previous drives for older saved drives, newest first, and Next when a list has more pages. Drive options lets you refresh a forecast or remove a drive; you can undo the most recent removal from Drives. Saved forecasts show their age, and remain visible if a refresh fails. The briefing shows playback progress and the current stretch; Read opens its full text while parked.

If removing a drive or undoing a removal fails, the car shows an error. Try the same action again.

Use Sections to return from a weather detail to the drive.

Signing out of the car

While parked, open Settings → Sign out. The app tries to sync pending changes first and warns if any are still waiting. Confirming removes the account’s drives from the car and stops its briefing audio. Deleting your account also signs out every car and device when they next connect.

Stops

New drives planned from Android Automotive default to Suggested stops; you can choose Nonstop in the planner. Leaving now or in an hour does not move departure earlier. The forecast list includes read-only stop rows between sections, with a square glyph and arrival → leaving times. Use Next to reach later sections and stops. There are no stop pins or individual stop-editing controls in the car.