Google Maps 'Driving Mode' on your Pixel phone might be removed in 2024

Currently, Google Maps offers a ‘Driving Mode’ feature that adapts your smartphone’s UI to make it easier to use while behind the wheel, but a new report suggests that it could be removed in 2024.

Google Maps ‘Driving Mode’ adds a black bar at the bottom of your phone’s UI with quick access to some key functions such as using Assistant via voice commands. In addition, the home screen becomes a collection of large icons to make it easier to tap on them while driving, with the ‘calls’, ‘messages’, and ‘media’ icons receiving greater prominence.

Basically, it is a mode designed for those people who do not have an Android Auto-compatible screen in their vehicles, allowing them to use the phone as a kind of substitute.

That said, 9to5Google decompiled the latest Google app update (v14.52) and found the following lines of code:

So, apparently, the current ‘Driving Mode’ would be removed in February 2024. In the past, Google had already removed another custom UI called ‘Assistant Driving Mode Dashboard’ in favor of ‘Driving Mode’ citing low usage as the main reason, so the possible removal of the latter could be due to the same.

If the removal of ‘Driving Mode’ is fulfilled, the app would only offer ‘Navigation Mode’, which in reality is only an assistant for navigation and directions, but without offering a UI adapted to driving situations like the previous ones, forcing to use an Android Auto-compatible screen to get a similar experience.

For now, the prompt warning of the removal of Google Maps ‘Driving Mode’ is not appearing to users, but since it is included in the code, it is possible that it will begin to do so in the next few days or weeks.