tl; drag
- Android Automotive OS is finding a new feature called APPCARD, which allows apps to display its highly relevant data and functions on the home screen.
- App cards can display information such as food order status, but the visual styles of these cards are controlled by car makers, not app developers.
- It is unclear whether this feature will require the latest version of Android Automoto, though.
When you are driving, your focus should be on the road, but sometimes you need to look at your own car infotining screen for alert. Google’s operating system for car infotining screens, Android Automotive OS, already provides several ways to catch warnings and will soon add another in the form of app cards on the home screen.
In the new version of Android Automoto, the home screen includes a huge, dedicated card and a small media player card between the status quo and the navigation bars. The past release also included a dedicated card to show the weather at the current location. So far, these home screen cards were provided by OS, which had no way to add app developers to themselves. This approach keeps the home screen clean and permanent, which allows drivers to watch key information quickly without fitting with the UI. However, the negative aspect is that drivers have to open individual apps to get an update about the information available on the home screen, such as a take -out food order status.
Mashal Rehman / Android Authority
Home screen in Android Automoto 15
To solve this, Google is introducing a new feature called the app card. An app card “shows the most relevant data and functionality of an app to users who are accessible and always available.” It is a “grouping of UI elements” whose style is controlled by car makers, so apps only provide information, not design. Apps can provide elements such as a picture with text, a tapeable button, or progress bar, but developers should be aware of how much space barriers can be shown on the card.
Text and an app with a syllableProgress slider and an app card with the same buttonProgress slider and an app card with two buttons
Beyond that, it doesn’t seem that there are no restrictions on what apps can put in app cards. Google developers imagine the “Take Out Food Order status using this feature,” “” Show Passengers Photo “, or” track the cost of crypto coins and update from time to time, “but apparently there is no clear rule against other information displaying. Google later could impose sanctions on this feature through Play Store policies, but whether it will happen.
It is unclear whether the Appcards will be special to the new version of Android Automotive based on Android 16. However, there is evidence that they will not be, as Google lists this feature under its “unconstitutional apps” documents. Uncontrolled apps are deployed from the main Android Automotive OS and can be updated independently like the automotive app host, car UI library, and daskam app. Although car makers will still need to advance an update to support this feature, this update may not be required to be based on Android 16.
It will be interesting to see how developers adopt this feature, especially when Google provides more apps on the car operating automotive cars. This is especially the type of functionality that can help an app gain a “different car” status. According to the need for extra time and care, some apps now fall into this high category. However, it is possible to provide a straightforward way to display custom information on the home screen so that more developers need to be encouraged to decide and to fully improve their apps of the car.
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