Google now allows developers to avail Internet of Things (IoT) applications for Android Auto and Android Automotive, its two car-based systems.
Simply put, Android Auto is an application that allows users to mirror their phones on their existing car infotainment systems.
Android Automotive, on the other hand, is a sub-operating system based on Android that is meant for cars (just like we have Android TV for televisions and Wear OS for wearables), powering everything from the infotainment system display to the instrument cluster on a car and allowing a deeper integration of Android into a car and not just working on top of whatever operating system the carmaker is using, as is the case on Android Auto. We have a detailed explainer here.
So far, users of both Android Auto and Android Automotive have been able to access apps on their systems in various ways. For Android Automotive users, compatible apps are accessible from the Google Play Store directly from their car, where they can be installed and used. While the same Play Store is what’s used to access apps by Android Auto users – heck even the Android Auto app itself could be downloaded and installed from there before it got baked into the operating system recently – not all of the apps on a user’s phone that have been downloaded from the Play Store can be mirrored on a car’s infotainment system for access by the user when they are driving/on the go. It is just those that have been optimised for such usage.
That has meant that, for smart home users, the apps they use like, say, Google’s Home app, are not accessible from their car’s dashboard even though an easy workaround has always been to trigger the Google Assistant and ask it to do the needful: turn off the fridge, turn on the lights, etc.
Two years since Google allowed Samsung to bring its Smart Things app for managing smart devices on the Samsung ecosystem, other app developers can also join the fray. Documentation, templates and guidelines for developers to do so are already available.
“Drivers of cars using Android Auto can now download IOT apps developed with the Android for Cars App Library immediately from Google Play. Additionally, you can join the Google Group for new beta apps and opt-in to new app’s beta on the Google Play store, with your Gmail account,” Brad Hinkel, Product Manager, Android Automotive Developer Platform, writes on the Android developer blog.
