Google I/O 2026 brings significant updates to Android for Cars, including new Car App Library releases (1.8.0-beta01 and 1.9.0-alpha01) with expanded templates, modular components, and improved media experiences. Key highlights include: templated media apps now supported on Android Automotive OS with updated emulator images, 60fps HD video playback while parked in Android Auto (rolling out later this year for Android 17+), a next-gen Android Auto UI built on Material 3 Expressive that supports mobile widgets, seamless transitions between templated and native app experiences, agentic/voice-based conversational templates, and Google Maps SDK support coming to cars with Google built-in for POI and weather apps.
Table of contents
Build templated media apps for both Android Auto and Android Automotive OSUnlocking developer creativity with Car App Library 1.9.0 alphaSort: