Android Auto could soon fix a long standing media playback oversight (APK teardown)

If you own an Android phone and a car, you may already know and use Android Auto. Android Auto brings apps from your smartphone to your car’s display, letting you focus on driving without distractions while taking care of your driving needs, like navigation and media playback. While Android Auto has plenty of apps for media playback, it has had a curious oversight for years that has remained unaddressed: You can’t play any local media connected to your car. But there’s good news on the horizon, as Google could soon fix the oversight.

Android Auto lets you play music via your phone, whether local media files stored on your phone or songs you stream from online services. However, if you have files stored locally on your car’s head unit or a USB thumb drive connected to your vehicle, then Android Auto cannot access or play these files. You will have to exit Android Auto and switch back to your car manufacturer’s entertainment system to access these files, which is the case with AM and FM playback, too.

Recently, 9to5Google discovered that Android Auto could soon let you control your car’s AM and FM controls. Now, we’ve discovered that Google could be building on this functionality with the ability to play “car local media.”

We spotted clues in the latest Android Auto v12.8 relating to “car local media.” Google had added a new service and icons for radio controls in the app, and the latest version adds a new service and icons for local media playback.

There is also a string associated with the service:

It’s possible that Google will roll out these two features together in a future Android Auto update. We don’t know how this feature will be implemented or if it will require an update to your car’s head unit. We’ll keep you informed as soon as we learn more.