Android Automotive App Development

Download Android Studio from the official site, accept terms, and choose the stable release for Windows, macOS, or Linux; run the installer or extract tar.gz and complete setup.

Create and run an automotive AVD in Android Studio, exploring profiles like Automotive UltraWide and Automotive Portrait to test in-car displays and the instrument cluster.

Create an Android automotive hello world by selecting the car template with no activity, adding a compose empty activity, and running it on the automotive emulator.

Explore how Android Studio powers developing and testing Android applications, using Android Virtual Devices and Automotive AVDs to emulate in-car infotainment and run apps with Kotlin.

Discover the car app library, a specialized user interface framework by Google for in-car apps that enforces safe, distraction-free experiences with pre-approved templates and simple building blocks.

Android phone user interface design uses activities, fragments, recycler views, and material design for interactive gestures and multi-touch, but in cars these features create safety risks.

Create a screen in CarAppLibrary by extending the Screen class and implementing onGetTemplate to return a predefined template, then let the Car system render a standardized, automotive-safe UI.

Explore Android automotive app categories—media, navigation, and communication—along with car-specific utilities. Compare system apps with third-party apps on the same platform, noting safety-focused, distraction-free interactions.

Explore how Android Automotive navigation apps prioritize safety with a minimal, next-action user interface. Leverage car sensors for reliable guidance, real-time traffic, alternate routes, and points of interest.

Frame your navigation app as a co-pilot that gives clear turn-by-turn directions from start to destination, adapts in real time to traffic, and proposes routes while showing only essential information.

Explore Android automotive apps for hands-free calling and messaging that integrate with microphone and speakers. Learn to design voice-first interfaces with voice commands and text-to-speech, minimizing visual distractions for safety.

Car communication apps act as a personal assistant beside you during your drive, handling hands-free calls and reading messages aloud via voice commands to keep you safe and connected.

Explore how Android Automotive app categories enforce safety through templates and runtime constraints, with examples on navigation, media, and communication apps, and how parked versus driving states govern rules.

Develop Android automotive apps by implementing core automotive permissions to protect vehicle data, request driver consent, declare permissions in the manifest, and follow least privilege for safety.

Declare vehicle data permissions in the android manifest to access speed, fuel level, and driving state while upholding least privilege, user consent, encryption, and privacy standards.

Explore how android automotive protects privacy through a clear permission system that requires explicit driver consent for access to speed, fuel, and driving state.

Learn how the car driving state permission lets your app detect whether the vehicle is parked, moving, or in reverse, and design safety-first behavior that minimizes distractions.

The lecture explains how the car driving state permission lets your app detect parked, moving, or reversing states and, like a careful babysitter, limit distracting actions when moving.

Declare the correct automotive app category in the AndroidManifest.xml to match your app’s purpose, ensuring proper in-vehicle integration and testing for media, navigation, or communication.

Use the restaurant analogy to show how declaring an app category, such as media or navigation, guides the Android automotive system and user expectations, avoiding confusion and building trust.

Explore metadata in the AndroidManifest.xml file, using a restaurant analogy to show how category and precise metadata tailor app behavior within the Android Automotive System.

Explore safety and design guidelines for car interfaces, minimizing driver distraction and ensuring quick, simple interactions. Implement clear visual hierarchy and automatic day/night themes for usable, safe in-car UI.

Design safe automotive interfaces by restricting nonessential motion interactions and using a simple, clear layout with voice control and an adaptive UI that prioritizes context-aware information.

Design automotive user interfaces like a cockpit, with clear displays, intuitive layouts, minimal interactions, and voice control for hands-free operation that keeps drivers focused on the road.

Learn how the CarUI library (CarULib) streamlines Android automotive app development with UI components, focus navigation for rotary knobs and steering-mounted controls, and touch target guidelines for road-safe, consistent interfaces.

Explore CarUI Lib, built for automotive grade design to reduce driver distraction and ensure safe in-car interactions. Master focus navigation, rotary input handling, and Material Design adaptation for car screens.

Think of Car ULIB as a well-equipped kitchen for automotive apps, providing pre-built components that simplify focus navigation and rotary controller handling.

Android Automotive's CarService exposes all automotive capabilities via the CarClient API. CarManager instances cover properties, audio, media, HVAC, diagnostics, and more, with strict permission checks for safety.