Whether you're driving a classic car or something brand-new off the lot, your phone is an essential tool when driving. Obviously, you shouldn't be texting or browsing Twitter with your hands on the wheel, but for navigation, music, and hands-free calling, it's a necessity. Of course, some auto manufacturers are going one step further by making Android the brain of the car. With Android Automotive 12, some of the most intelligent vehicles on the road are going to get even smarter.

While most of our readers have probably tried out Android Auto — either the now-defunct dedicated app or the software built for in-dash displays — Android Automotive is a little different. Rather than your phone powering all of your in-car entertainment, Automotive is a full-blown operating system that works on its own. As the name suggests, it's built on top of Android, and with an update to Google's latest version, it's even more powerful than before.

As detailed by Mishaal Rahman on Twitter, Android Automotive 12 was released to AOSP back in October, but it has yet to come to any vehicles on the road. Google announced during this year's I/O that more vehicles were switching to Android Automotive — including GM's new all-electric Hummer — but largely, it's still limited to smaller automakers like Polestar (and its flagship vehicle is still running on Android 10).

If you have your eyes on a car with Android Automotive — or you're the lucky owner of one — this latest version will include a few must-have features once it rolls out, including better navigation support for nudge-based knobs, a reference SMS app, and an all-new launcher. Overall, it looks pretty slick, combining the best parts of Android Auto with a full-blown tablet-like experience. An improved settings app takes advantage of the wider screens often included in these vehicles with a two-column layout, while heads-up notifications are now prioritized. There's even a mic indicator for when your vehicle is detecting audio, bringing one of the best security features from Android 12 to cars. And hey, if you're still relying on your phone connecting to your car via Bluetooth, those pairings have been made more reliable.

It'll likely be a while before many of us actually get to try out Android Automotive for ourselves, and even current owners will need to keep waiting for an update. If you're feeling impatient, a group called Snapp Automotive put together an emulator to let you test it out from the safety of your home.