I've been covering Android and other mobile technology for close to ten years now, with a specific interest in phone accessories, e-readers, and what makes each individual phone different from another. I delight in looking at the phone market from as many angles as possible, and while my opinions may be odd, at times, they're always from the heart as much as the head.
I have a background in the mobile accessories world, which explains my odd enthusiasm for cases and things that clip onto smartphones.
Android Auto may soon be able to pull information from your phone's Work profile, making your commute far more useful to your working day.
While this new feature is far from ready, Android Authority was able to pull it up and get it working as part of one of its Assumble Debug articles. It shows that Google is at least working on it, and has put a lot of thought into how it will work.
No more missing important work events
Just turn on Work mode before you go, and you're set
An Android work profile is a profile often found on devices lent to you by your workplace. It's usually externally managed by your work's IT department, and it keeps all of your work apps and contacts separate from any personal apps and contacts you have on that same device.
While it's basically set up to allow your company to make sure any information on your phone is well monitored and private, it also allows you to set barriers between your work and home life. Only, those barriers also existed where they shouldn't have been, like in Android Auto.
Currently, Android Auto does not have access to anything in the Work profile, no apps, no events, no notifications, nothing. That means your boss could be blowing up your phone while you're on your commute, and you'd have no idea until you stopped. Not great.
Thankfully, Google is working on a fix for this. Android Authority has uncovered a new Work profile section in the latest version of Android Auto.
As is often true with new features like this, it's not live in any publicly available version of the app. But, since the code is there, anyone with the know-how can get it working and preview an upcoming feature. And that's exactly what Android Authority has done.
According to its deep-dive, a new Work Account tile can be found in Android Auto's Quick Settings area. Once turned on, it allows for additional versions of existing apps that have work profiles on your device. These run as separate apps, so your work Gmail and personal Gmail stay separate, just like on your phone.
An additional icon will appear in the bottom-left corner as well, showing that work mode is on, and showing notifications and events from it. This is especially important if you work in an area where absolute secrecy is required.
The upshot is that once on, Work Account will allow notifications and events to filter through to Android Auto, as you'd expect from your usual profile. It also means you'll be able to access work calls and meetings while in the car, and you'll be able to listen and respond to messages on your working accounts.
To be honest, this isn't going to be a big deal for a lot of people. After all, how many of you even knew what Android work profiles were before opening this article?
But to those of you who are aware of what they are, this is likely to be an enormous boon. Missing out on important work calls and messages because of Android Auto is frustrating, and is probably hard to explain to whoever is trying to get hold of you. Soon, you'll be kept in the loop regardless.