Add support for Android Auto to your media app
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You need to make a few changes to your app's manifest so that Android Auto
can discover and interact with your app's media browser service.
Declare media support for Android Auto
Use the following manifest entry to declare that your phone app supports
Android Auto:
<application>
...
<meta-data android:name="com.google.android.gms.car.application"
android:resource="@xml/automotive_app_desc"/>
...
</application>
This manifest entry refers to an XML file that declares what automotive
capabilities your app supports. To indicate that you have a media app, add an
XML file named automotive_app_desc.xml
to the res/xml/
directory in your
project. This file should include the following content:
<automotiveApp>
<uses name="media"/>
</automotiveApp>
Report an Android Auto Media issue
If you run into an issue while developing your media app for Android Auto, you
can report it using the
Google Issue Tracker.
Be sure to fill out all the requested information in the issue template.
Create a new issue
Before filing a new issue, please check whether it is already reported in the issues
list. You can subscribe to and vote for issues by clicking the star for an issue in
the tracker. For more information, see
Subscribing to an Issue.
Content and code samples on this page are subject to the licenses described in the Content License. Java and OpenJDK are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-08-26 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-26 UTC."],[],[],null,["You need to make a few changes to your app's manifest so that Android Auto\ncan discover and interact with your app's media browser service.\n| **Important:** This guide assumes that you have already [built a media browser service](/training/cars/media#implement_browser) and you want to add support for Android Auto to your existing project. If you are new to app development for cars, see the [Android for Cars overview page](/training/cars).\n\nDeclare media support for Android Auto\n\nUse the following manifest entry to declare that your phone app supports\nAndroid Auto: \n\n \u003capplication\u003e\n ...\n \u003cmeta-data android:name=\"com.google.android.gms.car.application\"\n android:resource=\"@xml/automotive_app_desc\"/\u003e\n ...\n \u003c/application\u003e\n\nThis manifest entry refers to an XML file that declares what automotive\ncapabilities your app supports. To indicate that you have a media app, add an\nXML file named `automotive_app_desc.xml` to the `res/xml/` directory in your\nproject. This file should include the following content: \n\n \u003cautomotiveApp\u003e\n \u003cuses name=\"media\"/\u003e\n \u003c/automotiveApp\u003e\n\nReport an Android Auto Media issue\n\nIf you run into an issue while developing your media app for Android Auto, you\ncan report it using the\n[Google Issue Tracker](https://issuetracker.google.com/issues?q=status:open%20componentid:192643).\nBe sure to fill out all the requested information in the issue template.\n\n[Create a new issue](https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/new?component=192643)\n\nBefore filing a new issue, please check whether it is already reported in the issues\nlist. You can subscribe to and vote for issues by clicking the star for an issue in\nthe tracker. For more information, see\n[Subscribing to an Issue](https://developers.google.com/issue-tracker/guides/subscribe#starring_an_issue)."]]