Determine which Android for Cars App Library category an in-car app qualifies for and build within that category's template constraints
domain: developer.android.com · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
Sampled — shipped under file-level sampling, not individually fact-checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Steps
Confirm the app fits one of the officially supported Car App Library categories — Navigation, Point of Interest (POI, which covers parking and EV charging use cases), Internet of Things (IoT), or Weather
If the app doesn't fit a supported category, plan for it to ship as a 'parked-only' app (e.g. video, games, browsers) restricted to use while the vehicle is parked, rather than a full in-motion template experience
Use the category-specific template (e.g. POI template for charging-station or parking-spot listings) rather than a generic layout, since Google Play review checks conformance to the declared category's design requirements
Account for messaging/media apps separately — they use their own dedicated templated-messaging and templated-media frameworks rather than the general App Library category system
Test the app in both Android Auto (phone-projected) and Android Automotive OS (embedded) targets if supporting both, since the same category constraints apply but the runtime environment differs
Known gotchas
Google enforces category conformance at Play listing review specifically to limit driver distraction — an app built outside its declared category's template will be rejected, not just flagged
Messaging and media apps are NOT part of the general four-category App Library list — they have entirely separate templated frameworks
General-purpose (non-listed-category) apps are restricted to parked-only use — there's no in-motion, unrestricted category fallback
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