We’re delighted to announce to you that Google will be letting in more Smart home apps in Android Auto and Automotive. By smart home apps, we mean ioT apps precisely. In addition to the recent support of media and navigation apps on Android Auto, Google is now “enabling developers to bring [loT] apps to cars.”
The benefit of bringing in more Smart home apps(ioT apps) to Android Auto is the ability to control your home doors and (of course) security with the car UI rather than just voice commands. Voice commands only apply if you have the Google Assistant integrated into your ecosystem. “Drivers of cars using Android Auto can now download IOT apps developed with the Android for Cars App Library immediately from Google Play.”
Get your smart home apps on Android Auto
- Design your app’s experience using our developer guide and app quality guidelines.
- Develop using the latest release of the car app library so you can get user feedback from now.
- Test using the desktop head unit.
- Publish your app to Close or Open testing to the Google Play Store to get pre-production feedback from users.
- Ship your final app to cars.
In the Android for Cars App Library, Google provides driving-optimized templates, including testing via the Automotive OS emulator for Android Automotive OS and the DHU for Android Auto. Apps will have a uniform grid-based structure.
Google Assistant voice commands currently exist for this feature, however, a Google Home client would be ideal. It’s similar to how the Wear OS app works, with Android Automotive and the Play Store becoming increasingly crucial in the future.
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