If you own a Galaxy phone and drive a recent car, there’s a good chance you use Android Auto while driving. Over the past few years, Android Auto has received several new features and a new design. Google is releasing a new design for Google Assistant that’s surprisingly similar to Apple’s Siri.

Google Assistant gets Siri-like design for Android Auto

Google has started rolling out a new design for Google Assistant on Android Auto. It looks a lot like Apple’s Siri, for better or for worse. This UI appears when Google Assistant is waiting for a response from you. It’s visible when Google Assistant or you’re speaking, but disappears when the request is processed.

Since Google Assistant already has a multi-colored animation on the bottom bar of Android Auto, Google could have continued using that, but it added a separate circular UI right above the bottom bar. This new design is reportedly visible on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 running Android Auto v12.5. If you also have this new version of Android Auto and are running One UI 6.1 or One UI 6.1.1, you might also get this new design.

Over the past few years, Samsung has worked closely with Google to develop the SmartThings app for Android Auto, which lets you control your smart home devices. When a Samsung phone is connected to an Android Auto infotainment unit, it now displays circular app icons. Android Auto will soon use AI to automatically summarize messages you’ve received on your phone, so you’re less distracted while driving.

A few months ago, Android Auto received a new feature that allows electric vehicles to share battery information with Google Maps in real time, allowing them to display the remaining battery charge upon arrival at their destination.