Android Auto is getting a new app category. Google has announced that Internet of Things apps (or smart home apps) for cars are now supported by the Play Store. Developers can now build smart home apps and after an improved car safety check by Google, they are available for car screens. This has been in early access for a while, but now the feature is becoming generally available.
As usual, the Android for Cars app program includes two different platforms: Android Auto and Android Automotive OS. The superfluous branding always gets people confused, but Android Auto is an app that runs on your phone. Like Apple’s CarPlay, you plug your phone into your car’s dashboard (or it connects wirelessly), and the phone software takes over the in-dash display of the car and uses it as an external monitor. Instead of seeing the car’s built-in infotainment system, you’ll see a user interface created by Google, along with any compatible Android Auto apps installed on your phone.
Android Automotive OS (AAOS), on the other hand is the infotainment system of the car. Google is making deals with car makers to have the car run Android instead of a standard Linux or QNX or other car system, and that includes great apps like Google Maps and Google Assistant. The car becomes a computer running Android and you can never remove it. Today you will find Android Automotive OS on new cars from Polestar/Volvo, GM and soon Honda and Ford. Although AAOS and Android Auto are completely different platforms, they mostly support the same third-party apps. For Android Auto, you install the app from your phone’s Play Store, while for AAOS, you use your car’s built-in Play Store to install the app directly into your car storage.
Designing apps for cars is a complicated and costly process, as everything is subject to safety regulations from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and similar regulatory bodies around the world. The rules for car apps are extremely detailed: NHTSA’s “Human Factors Design Guidance For Driver-Vehicle Interfaces” is a 260-page document that regulates everything from text and icon sizes to how long it takes to task. Auto app developers not only have to deal with NHTSA guidelines, but also with the guidelines of the 45 other countries where their Android Auto apps will be available. Following all these rules is an almost impossible task for a small developer and a huge barrier to entry.
Not all car apps are on both platforms. Android Auto (the phone app) does not have video apps and Android Automotive OS (this comes pre-installed in your car) does not support messaging apps.
Google’s solution to global security compliance is to not let developers do much “design” and limit auto-app development to more limited “app templates.” These are rigid designs that Google comes up with and sifts through with the world’s regulatory bodies, after which app developers can plug colors, icons, and data into their ready-made designs. So on Android Auto and Android Automotive, all media apps use the same basic media player design, and a company like Spotify can paint that design green and black, add automatic streams and album art, and choose what one or two optional buttons do. That is it. Pandora’s media app is blue and plays different music, but otherwise looks exactly the same.
Due to the rigid app template designs, car apps are limited to certain types of apps, and there are six types: “Media”, “Messages”, “Navigation”, “Point of Interest”, “Video”, and now also “Internet of Things”. ” Google’s new table confirms that Messages apps are inexplicably still unavailable on Android Automotive OS, and the new “Video” app (there’s now a YouTube app for cars) won’t work on Android Auto. Play Store app developers are not allowed to create a car app unless it fits into one of these categories. However, that doesn’t mean there are alternative methods of app distribution – browser company Vivaldi has struck a deal to distribute its browser on Polestar’s AAOS cars – car manufacturers can provide whatever software they want, and it’s up to them to the app with safety controllers. Incidentally, the Vivaldi and video apps do not work when the car is moving.
