TIMOTHY JORDAN: Hello.
I am Timothy Jordan, and this is an introduction
to Android Auto.
Commuters in the US spend an average of one hour a day
in their car, and a person checks their smartphone
an average of 125 times per day.
Now, cars get us where we're going,
while our phones keep us connected.
But using your phone while driving can be distracting.
In fact, 25% of accidents in the US
are caused by people fumbling with their phones.
What if you could stay connected using your phone,
but in a safer and more convenient
way that's integrated with your car?
And better yet, what if developing
for this new platform was easy and familiar?
Welcome to Android Auto, bringing Android to the car.
It's the same platform you already
use for phones, tablets, televisions, watches, and more.
In fact, all these experiences will often be in the same APK.
But now, your app can also extend
to the car in a way that's safer and more
efficient for the driver, so they can stay connected,
but with their hands on the wheel
and their eyes on the road.
Now, using Android Auto is easy.
Users go to the Google Play Store and download apps
onto their phone that support Android Auto.
They then connect their phone to the car.
The phone goes into Car mode and casts the Android Auto
experience to the car's screen.
Now, this means that although all the apps and services are
actually running on the phone, they're
displayed in the car's dash.
And you can interact with them using the vehicle's controls,
such as a built-in touchscreen and microphone.
You know what?
Let me show you how this works.
So I'm here in the Android Auto building,
where the team's getting some developer
tools ready for all of us.
Now, let's see if I can find Daniel and borrow his car.
Hey, Daniel.
DANIEL: Hey, Timothy.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: How's it going?
DANIEL: Good times for Android Auto developers.
Getting ready for the launch.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: Yeah, it's going to be awesome.
Hey, the jet pack's working!
OK.
So I'm sitting in a brand new Kia Soul.
And some people like this car for the panoramic sunroof.
I like it for Android Auto.
I'm going to connect my phone to the car.
And you'll see it goes into Car mode.
I'll touch here, and Android Auto starts up in the car.
Cool, huh?
Now, this is the overview screen.
It's where you start, and it contains contextual cards
based on the location, the time of day, and more.
It's also the place where I can find my notifications.
The activity bar is here at the bottom,
and it contains a set of common actions--
Navigation, Communication, Audio, and car-related stuff.
You'll also notice the microphone up here
in the corner.
I'll get back to that in a moment.
But first, let's play some music.
Let's tap here and play this song.
[MUSIC THE MOWGLI'S, "SAN FRANCISCO"]
You'll notice that even though I'm in someone else's car,
everything is running on my phone.
So it's all my stuff, from my notifications
to my Play music account.
Anyhow, right now we're in the App view.
Now, this is one of the most interesting things for you
as a developer, because this is where your app lives.
For user interface consistency and to ensure
that all apps adhere to the same safety guidelines,
the Android Auto framework will display your app
in the standard UI template.
Now, this is also what makes it so easy
to extend your app for Auto.
You don't need to worry about the wide variety of display
configurations, resolutions, different input
controls, or even that much about driver distraction.
You just provide resources, such as image assets, strings, color
palette, and supported playback controls
to customize your app without having
to define the entire user interface yourself.
[BING]
Oh, hey, look, a text message from Wayne.
I'll just tap it to play.
ANDROID: Hey, Timothy.
I hear you lifted an Android Auto car.
Wanna ghost-ride it?
TIMOTHY JORDAN: Now, this is the other really interesting thing
for you as a developer right now-- message notifications.
You can take advantage of these by using the Car extender
in the same way you use the Wearable extender
for Android Wear.
Now, the last thing I want to show you
is the voice interface, which is where
I can reply to text messages or search.
I just need to tap the microphone
in the top right of the screen.
[BING]
Define "joy riding."
ANDROID: Joy riding-- the action or practice
of driving fast and dangerously in a stolen car for enjoyment.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: [LAUGHS] This thing is awesome.
All right.
Let's head back to the studio and wrap this up.
OK.
Just a few last things.
Android Auto works by projecting apps and services
running on the user's phone onto the car's screen.
Now, this means you just need to extend your existing Android
apps to work on the car.
And there's two great use cases for that today--
audio and messaging.
Audio apps, such as music, radio, and audio book players--
which are an awesome way to stay entertained while you're
driving-- can now be extended to the car.
APIs are available to expose content, receive playback
control, and customize the UI.
Messaging applications, which are a great way
to stay connected while you're driving,
can now be extended to the car, as well.
Now, APIs are available to show notifications, play back
the message, and reply with speech.
Android Auto brings the Android platform to the car.
You can simply extend your existing app
to work in the car, allowing drivers
to be connected to their virtual worlds
while staying focused on the road ahead.
Please check out these great developer resources
at this URL.
I'm Timothy Jordan, and I'll see you on the road.
DANIEL: Where are my keys?
[DANCE MUSIC PLAYING]
TIMOTHY JORDAN: Whoo hoo hoo hoo!
Yee-haw!