Unofficial Android Auto SDK, custom apps

[martoreto]

Its a known story, a knife can kill, but it can also save, or you can use it to cook. You can't forbidden a knife just because 1 in a million will kill.
Most people have the brain not to look to the system while driving.

Nice, good analogy.
Sure, that's why I published the SDK at all, knowing that it's like this knife.
If it was technically feasible for knives to be not allowed to kill people, it would be an universal law, I suppose.
It is technically feasible to not allow video in motion. There is a special API in the SDK for determining if the car is in motion.
And because I don't have doubt in "It's not ok for a passenger to watch a movie on a display in front of the driver.", I don't see a good reason to have this option.

 

[ahhl]

You know how many car use android (not android auto) systems which can play anything while driving?
Its a known story, a knife can kill, but it can also save, or you can use it to cook. You can't forbidden a knife just because 1 in a million will kill.
Most people have the brain not to look to the system while driving. The other passengers can use it.

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i look at waze while driving too.
searching for radio station.
incoming message which allows by AA

listening to music video. why not.
not movies, of course not (which requires you permanently staring at the screen)

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[ahhl]

please try redownloading now. I uploaded a new build.

successfully installed and tested on my car. i launch YTA directly from car head unit AA, not following your steps.
few comments
1. i lost control my car volume. but when I switch back to car radio, the volume control work.
2. can only scroll within the list, cannot move to top header
3. there's big search box blocking the header
4. one line keyboard appear but there is no enter button.
5. my car is non touch screen. pls make one for non touch screen
6. youtube works when the car on the move.
7. can find way to make full screen.

https://youtu.be/-Y55UiHAIOM

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[ktwo]

About the "safety" issue. I think that some intelligence of people can be expected. And as it was said, it is possible to watch DVDs in quite a lot cars in it's factory state. Ultimately a person who really wants to do it could just attach a mount for a Tablet and watch a video there. I think all this "watch a video in the car" stuff will probably not be abused, maybe to show a short clip to a friend at a parking lot.. Anyone who is stupid enough to watch a full clip while driving and does not watch the road is basically a contender for the darwin award. A simple warning / reminder should be enough. Then everyone should judge their skills accordingly and decide for him/herself what to do and what not.

I found myself too often in a situation where i got a Whatsapp message, wanted to respond, but the stupid google voice input did not understand a single word.. So i ended up disconnecting the phone, and writing it by hand.. Or looking up something important on the phone while driving..

These days every company tends to incapacitate people by telling them what to do and what not to do. Do we really want to go on like this? Especially Android Auto does not make things safer by locking SO MANY things. Hell we can't even browse a 20-track playlist. Any normal person would then fallback to using the stock car infotainment which is often FAR less intuitive to use and might even lead to more distraction - or even unplug the phone, and use it with their hands. Btw - Apple does not block browsing as well.

There is a discussion about that here: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/android-auto/EP2qxj9XjgY

Also i'd like to make the usage of the apps i wrote and posted safer, but it can't all be done at once. I have published the whole sourcecode into the repo, so anyone who thinks to have a solution to improve usage, without defeating the whole purpose of apps is free to do a PR.

 

[ahhl]

About the "safety" issue. I think that some intelligence of people can be expected. And as it was said, it is possible to watch DVDs in quite a lot cars in it's factory state. Ultimately a person who really wants to do it could just attach a mount for a Tablet and watch a video there. I think all this "watch a video in the car" stuff will probably not be abused, maybe to show a short clip to a friend at a parking lot.. Anyone who is stupid enough to watch a full clip while driving and does not watch the road is basically a contender for the darwin award. A simple warning / reminder should be enough. Then everyone should judge their skills accordingly and decide for him/herself what to do and what not.

I found myself too often in a situation where i got a Whatsapp message, wanted to respond, but the stupid google voice input did not understand a single word.. So i ended up disconnecting the phone, and writing it by hand.. Or looking up something important on the phone while driving..

These days every company tends to incapacitate people by telling them what to do and what not to do. Do we really want to go on like this? Especially Android Auto does not make things safer by locking SO MANY things. Hell we can't even browse a 20-track playlist. Any normal person would then fallback to using the stock car infotainment which is often FAR less intuitive to use and might even lead to more distraction - or even unplug the phone, and use it with their hands. Btw - Apple does not block browsing as well.

There is a discussion about that here: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/android-auto/EP2qxj9XjgY

Also i'd like to make the usage of the apps i wrote and posted safer, but it can't all be done at once. I have published the whole sourcecode into the repo, so anyone who thinks to have a solution to improve usage, without defeating the whole purpose of apps is free to do a PR.

sorry, i disagree, writing messages is no no while driving.


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[martoreto]

Hi all,

time for a technical post.

I'd like to gather some more info about capabilities of various cars/head units and software versions,
to learn which cars allow access to interesting statistics or may let controlling media/AC/something else.

Please do the following simple procedure on any Android Auto-capable cars you may have around.

1. Install attached aa-ll-info-1.0.apk
2. Go to your car, switch on ignition (no need to turn on the engine) and infotainment.
3. Unlock screen of your phone.
4. Connect phone by USB to the car.
5. Email me the info, as shown:
   
   
   
   If the first screen does not appear automatically, try to manually attempt connecting Android Auto in the head unit. Afterwards, in some cars you need to quite quickly select "AA Low-level Info" on the phone.

Thanks,
martoreto

 

[ahhl]

Hi all,

time for a technical post.

I'd like to gather some more info about capabilities of various cars/head units and software versions,
to learn which cars allow access to interesting statistics or may let controlling media/AC/something else.

Please do the following simple procedure on any Android Auto-capable cars you may have around.

1. Install attached aa-ll-info-1.0.apk
2. Go to your car.
3. Unlock screen of your phone.
4. Connect phone by USB to the car.
5. Email me the info, as shown:
   
   
   
   If the first screen does not appear automatically, try to manually attempt connecting Android Auto in the head unit. Afterwards, in some cars you need to quite quickly select "AA Low-level Info" on the phone.

Thanks,
martoreto

sorry i am a bit dumb reading instruction [emoji16]
i believe you want us to disable auto lunch AA?
then launch your app? then only launch AA?
am i right?

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[martoreto]

sorry i am a bit dumb reading instruction [emoji16]
i believe you want us to disable auto lunch AA?
then launch your app? then only launch AA?
am i right?

No need to disable auto launch.

When my app is installed and you plug the USB, the phone will ask what app to use.
Choose my app.

Try doing the instructions exactly from 1 to 5, without any additional steps, and let me know if this does not work.

Thanks for help.

 

[sekino]

I sent you info from my Opel Insignia 2018 - intellilink.

 

[ahhl]

No need to disable auto launch.

When my app is installed and you plug the USB, the phone will ask what app to use.
Choose my app.

Try doing the instructions exactly from 1 to 5, without any additional steps, and let me know if this does not work.

Thanks for help.

sorry, forgot to email can you download here

https://1drv.ms/t/s!Atv0c0e37s8YpWTyPKyU5G8INzwY
its txt file. nothing much there

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[martoreto]

https://1drv.ms/t/s!Atv0c0e37s8YpWTyPKyU5G8INzwY
its txt file. nothing much there

That's a result, too, that the connection could not be finally established with my app.
What car model and infotainment version is this?
If you are at your car again, you may try selecting "Always" instead of "Just once" and try a couple times.
Maybe the car just does not wait long enough for the connection.
After selecting "Always" you will have to uninstall my app to be able to use Android Auto again.

 

[Jackos]

Hyundai i30 2017 info sent

Thanks for developing the SDK.

 

[ahhl]

That's a result, too, that the connection could not be finally established with my app.
What car model and infotainment version is this?
If you are at your car again, you may try selecting "Always" instead of "Just once" and try a couple times.
Maybe the car just does not wait long enough for the connection.
After selecting "Always" you will have to uninstall my app to be able to use Android Auto again.

done. i plug un plug multiple time suddenly it works. it in your email. mercedes gla200 2018 audio20 ntg5

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[sekino]

Added another app to my repo: https://github.com/nerone-github/WebViewAuto

It still needs work, much to improve, but shows that a lot is possible. Even youtube is working

But please don't browse while driving

BACK BUTTON will be appreciated :good:

 

[datrix]

BACK BUTTON will be appreciated :good:

and also a bookmark list

 

[ktwo]

You can add bookmarks via the regular activity in the launcher

 

[sekino]

Added another app to my repo: https://github.com/nerone-github/WebViewAuto

It still needs work, much to improve, but shows that a lot is possible. Even youtube is working

But please don't browse while driving

You can add bookmarks via the regular activity in the launcher

How?

 

[Jackos]

How?

Download the lastest version from github and start the application from the Launcher.

 

[alexey.vasilyev]

tinyCam Monitor PRO uses unofficial AA SDK to show IP cameras video stream on Android Auto head unit.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/116818390313397542132/posts/9zWYwd35qGX

Typical use cases:
1. Watch your IP cameras while you are in traffic jam.
2. If you have WiFi in the car, you can use a cheap IP camera as a rear view camera. Please note that there might be a video delay for a fraction of second - enough to crash your car.

 

[ktwo]

tinyCam Monitor PRO uses unofficial AA SDK to show IP cameras video stream on Android Auto head unit.

Hi, is it closed source? I think especially since the SDK is not official and monetizing is not really an option, since displaying ads on car screens is BAD, we should share all our source, to build better apps.

@all : Please create Github Repos for your apps, we can improve our own apps by analyzing codes of others. At least if the apps do not contain proprietary code which is not allowed to be shared..