Merging the familiarity of smartphones with in-car intelligence, Android Auto’s upcoming widget feature aims to redefine how drivers interact with their dashboards.

Taking prompts and cues from Android mobiles, Android Auto appears to be getting ready to introduce home screen widgets. It is reported that this new feature will allow users to add widgets from their mobile apps directly to the Android Auto dashboard. The new feature, codenamed “Earth,” is still under development. Android has been working on it relentlessly and is set to showcase the working process, how to add widgets, and how they will look once added to the Android Auto home screen.

Currently, Android Auto lets users enable “Taskbar Widgets” for quick app control, such as media playback. These widgets will be appearing at the bottom of the screen, thus replacing the traditional app icons when enabled. It will also let users add custom shortcuts through the “Customizer launcher” settings with just a single tap. With this, users can make calls, navigate to a saved address, or give various Google commands.

The testing model shows that the users with the home screen widgets will be able to split their Android Auto home screen into two, with the widget panel taking up to 35-40% of the total screen width, while the rest of the panel takes up around 60-65% of the screen, where other apps can be used simultaneously. Still in its nascent stage of development and testing, users can expect better app compatibility and improvements in upcoming Android Auto updates.