Back in May at Google I/O, Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai (then, in charge of Android, Chrome and Apps) stood on stage and announced the “nanodegree“. Which was a degree you could earn online and learn how to make Android apps. It was thanks to their partnership with Udacity. And now, the two have announced a new course. This time targeting Android Auto. The course is ubiquitous computing with Android Auto, and basically it teaches you how to make apps that will work with Android Auto.
The course that Google is announcing today was designed by Developer Advocates at Google. This Udacity course uses your existing knowledge of Android and puts it to work on the new Android Auto platform. Android Auto is primarily based on extensions to the Android framework. So, as many developers already know, you won’t need to rewrite your existing apps to work with Android Auto. In the course, you will also learn how to implement messaging apps by using notification extensions. Also working with audio players and learning how the Android Media API works with Android Auto.
As most of you know, the most common apps for Android Auto are audio and messaging apps, so those developers that have a messaging or a music/audio app, this is definitely the course for you. Google states that this course is part of their Ubiquitous Computing across Google platforms series. This series also includes Android Wear, Android TV and Google Cast. These courses are meant to be standalone and short courses that users can do on their own time and fit into their own schedule.
Android Auto is still fairly new, as it only just opened up to the public in the beginning of the year with third-party head units and select car makers rolling it out in their models. But Google is looking to get more developers into Android Auto and building apps for Android Auto. In the next year or two, we should definitely see a big increase in the number of apps available for Android Auto. Although they will likely still be limited to audio and messaging apps unfortunately. And that’s due to being safe while in the car driving. So it is a bit understandable.