In September last year, we unearthed evidence of a new UI for Android Auto. The new UI, codenamed "Coolwalk," is set to be the biggest UI overhaul for Android Auto since 2019 and is seemingly designed to reduce the number of times the user leaves the navigation mode. Now ahead of its official release, some new images of the design have surfaced yet again.

Images of Android Auto's new UI were shared by Redditor user u/RegionRat91 (via Mishaal Rahman) and it showcases some new tweaks to the design as well as an in-development screen mirroring app. For the most part, the UI is pretty identical to what we saw back in September, but there are some notable changes here.

Gone is the status bar, with all icons (Wi-Fi, cell signal, battery indicator, and clock) now appearing in the bottom right corner. This makes for a more immersive visual experience. The dedicated button to bring up the side panel has also been removed. This function is now served by the home button, which when long-pressed brings up retractable widgets.

Image courtesy: Android World

When there's enough space, the side panel now displays a Google Assistant card that shows a detailed overview of the weather, as reported by Italian publication Android World. Another notable change is that when you exit the navigation map the map view now remains fixed to the left side.

It appears Google is also testing a screen mirroring app called "Cast" for Android Auto. While not much is known about the app at this point, it may let users mirror their phone's screen to an Android Auto dashboard using Google Cast.

Lastly, Android World reports that Android Auto is testing a new "Send SMS" button for the incoming call window. The feature will let users send a quick response text to the caller when rejecting an incoming call.

Android Auto's redesigned UI hasn't rolled out to users yet. We'll keep an eye out and let you know as soon as it goes live for everyone.