From 6393543bf54d3af49c640ca22e24bac80693e25e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: tajniak81 <13187254+tajniak81@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2026 21:24:30 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] The car is not somewhere you can sideload an app into MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Android Auto's Unknown sources setting covers media, messaging and parked apps; it has never covered the Car App Library, so the README's advice to turn it on could not have worked. A head unit lists DriverVault only when Play was the installer — an internal track is enough — and the Desktop Head Unit is what takes a sideloaded build. Say that instead, and say which APK the DHU wants, since only a debug build allows its host. minCarApiLevel also claimed a floor lower than the screens stand on: GarageScreen asks for ConstraintManager, which is level 2. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 --- Phone App/README.md | 26 ++++++++++++------- .../android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml | 6 ++++- 2 files changed, 22 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-) diff --git a/Phone App/README.md b/Phone App/README.md index 760f335..c4e0dcd 100644 --- a/Phone App/README.md +++ b/Phone App/README.md @@ -295,15 +295,23 @@ Running it on your own car: - The service is declared under `androidx.car.app.category.IOT`. It is the closest of the categories the library defines — DriverVault is a garage, not a map, a media player or a parking service — and a Play Store submission would - be reviewed against it. This build is sideloaded, so what matters instead is - the next line. -- Android Auto refuses apps it did not get from the Play Store until you tell it - otherwise: in the **Android Auto** settings on the phone, tap the version ten - times to unlock **Developer settings**, then turn on **Unknown sources**. -- To try it without a car, run Google's - [Desktop Head Unit](https://developer.android.com/training/cars/testing/dhu). - A debug build accepts any host so the DHU can connect; a release build only - accepts the signed hosts the library ships an allowlist for. + be reviewed against it. Getting it onto a car at all is the next line. +- **A sideloaded build never appears on a real head unit**, and no setting on the + phone changes that. Android Auto's **Unknown sources** developer option is the + one everybody reaches for here, but it covers media, messaging-notification and + parked apps only — [Google's testing + guide](https://developer.android.com/training/cars/testing) says in as many + words that it does not apply to apps built with the Car App Library. A car will + list DriverVault only if the APK was installed *from Play*: an internal testing + track, or internal app sharing, is enough — no public listing, no review. +- To try it without Play — which is how these screens were written — run Google's + [Desktop Head Unit](https://developer.android.com/training/cars/testing/dhu), + which does take a sideloaded build. In the **Android Auto** settings on the + phone, tap the version ten times to unlock **Developer settings**, then + **Start head unit server**; on the machine, `adb forward tcp:5277 tcp:5277` and + run `desktop-head-unit`. Install the **debug** APK for this: a debug build + accepts any host so the DHU can connect, while a release build only accepts the + signed hosts the library ships an allowlist for. ## Configure the API endpoint diff --git a/Phone App/android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml b/Phone App/android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml index 272598f..5f3f547 100644 --- a/Phone App/android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml +++ b/Phone App/android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml @@ -50,9 +50,13 @@ + + android:value="2"/>