Things to consider when creating a car app

More and more aspects of everyday life can be handled by applications. Going to the market, buying clothes and making bank transactions from mobile applications is the new normality that we are all used to. But car applications are currently booming and we give you some reasons.

Now cars are also "intelligent" objects: through integrated devices, drivers can interact with the vehicle, being able to control everything from their lists on Spotify to following routes on platforms such as Waze. And all this is possible thanks to the applications developed for cars. 

Things to consider when creating a car app

Yes, both Apple and Android offer the option for companies to develop applications for cars, in order to make life easier for drivers and to be able to connect their smartphones to vehicles.

For example, CarPlay is the platform for cars created by Apple and is defined as such on its website: "The digital keys and the perfect integration of Apple CarPlay make the iPhone the perfect travel companion. You can open and start the car with your smartphone. And thanks to CarPlay, you can safely use everything you love about iPhone while you're driving".

And this is how Android talks about its Android Auto platform: "It's as simple as connecting the phone to the screen of your vehicle and seeing how your Android apps appear. Press the screen to get car routes or speak to send a message from You can also call your mom hands-free. Android Auto was designed to help you focus on the road while keeping the fun going. Just plug in and go".

Given the great demand for applications for cars, now we explain the main elements to take into account when developing this type of app:

Platforms to create applications for cars

• Car apps can be built for Car Play or Android Auto. It's important to have a real device for testing during app development, because the iOS simulator and Android emulator don't necessarily represent the real thing. So it is very important to have a real device to be able to constantly test during development.

• Speaking of a project in general, assuming you have a QA team and a development team, both must also have this device to carry out the corresponding tests.

• These car apps also have their version for phones. They can run perfectly on devices with Android 10 onwards, as well as on iOS devices from version 11 onwards.

• The QA team and the development team should also have these devices to be able to test that the teams connect to the cart application and that the experience is positive.

It is important to have time to plan and apply for permits

• This type of project requires a lot of time to carry out administrative tasks inherent to car applications, since both Google and Apple are strict in accepting these applications and publishing them in their respective stores.

With Apple it is a bit more complicated because you must request an "entitlement", a kind of certificate that gives you permission to create this application for cars. It is necessary to fill out a form and send it to Apple explaining why the application will be made and they will evaluate this request, if the app makes sense or if it represents a danger to the driver.

• The company has to know what it wants to create. What can be done in terms of car applications is extremely limited, so the team has to understand very well what the application is, why they want to do it and why it is necessary to have it in the car. Google and Apple offer documentation on this.

App pre-release testing

The moment of publication of the application in the store is very important, so before this step the app must be tested with tools such as TestFlight for Apple and Test Track for Android.

The client must also have devices to test the application that the development team is making. An application for cars cannot be tested simply from a cell phone, the corresponding devices must be acquired to carry out the tests, both the client and the development team, to validate that everything is working correctly. This must be clear from the beginning so that the appropriate decisions are made.

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