By Eric Bahna, Product Manager
In December, we updated the Google Play Store to allow developers to launch new Android Auto apps for closed beta testing. You can now publish navigation, parking, and charging apps to the Google Play store for open testing to reach as many users as possible. In open testing, there is no limit to the number of users that can download the app, and you don’t need to manage email lists. This is an important milestone that will make it easier for us to make these applications available to all the people who actually use them. You can start using the Android Car App library and select the open test track in the Play Administration center.
One of our early partners was TomTom AmiGO
A little preview of what we’re working on: We’ll be adding the Android Car app library to Android Jetpack! This way you can keep the experience consistent with the other Jetpack apis, while still checking out new features. When we add the Jetpack development library, you can easily migrate your applications from existing libraries to the library by changing the namespace and adjusting some API calls. When the Jetpack library is stable for testing, we will have the Google Play Store ready for you to release these new apps to the production track.
Of course, you can start preparing now without waiting for the Jetpack library to go live.
- Design your app by referring to the Developer’s guide and the Application Quality Guide.
- Build with the current Beta development library so you can get user feedback from the start.
- Use Desktop Head Unit for testing.
- Publish to Google Play store (now available on open beta track).
We can’t wait to see what you build, so let’s try it out!