Android Auto

cloudby ALYT

What it adds to a house

adds nothing yet.

How a person connects it

Method: nativeApp. While parked, open ALYT on your phone, then Settings, then Car and arrival, and connect this home.

What it can look for

Nothing: it does not look for things on the network.

What stops working when it is disconnected

This screen loses access to your home. Remove its connection in Settings, then Car and arrival.

The descriptor

Connection fields are served for a program at /connectors/android_auto.json.

{
  "source": "built-in",
  "visibility": "public",
  "listed": true,
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "docsUrl": "https://developers.alyt.com/connectors/android_auto",
  "kind": "ANDROID_AUTO",
  "logo": {
    "url": "/integrations/logos/android_auto.png",
    "color": "#00A2E5",
    "ratio": 1,
    "background": "#FFFFFF",
    "inset": 0,
    "scale": 1
  },
  "name": "Android Auto",
  "icon": "car-front",
  "connectivity": "cloud",
  "brings": [],
  "connect": {
    "method": "nativeApp",
    "setupPath": "/settings/surfaces",
    "fields": [],
    "help": "While parked, open ALYT on your phone, then Settings, then Car and arrival, and connect this home."
  },
  "discovery": null,
  "disconnect": {
    "consequence": "This screen loses access to your home. Remove its connection in Settings, then Car and arrival."
  },
  "author": {
    "kind": "alyt",
    "name": "ALYT",
    "url": "https://alyt.com"
  }
}

The guide

ALYT’s Android Auto connector lets a household use the home from the phone while parked, through ALYT → Settings → Car and arrival. It connects through the ALYT app on the phone, not as a standalone Android Automotive OS package. Once connected, it shows a car-safe view of the home with the same names, units, icons, and status the household sees on phone and web, plus a limited set of controls and optional arrival monitoring.

Connect

To connect a home, open ALYT on the phone, then go to Settings → Car and arrival while parked. That is the supported setup surface. This connector uses the phone-native flow, so there are no extra setup fields to enter.

The connector’s availability depends on supported native build and host acceptance for release use. Development APKs are evidence for development only and do not make the connector available for public use. Debug builds can accept the development host; release builds validate hosts through the normal allowlist.

What it exposes

The Android Auto screen shows native lists with the same labels and status the home already has in the app. The household can choose up to 12 ordered favourites. Those favourites are the main way to organize what appears in the car view.

The connector exposes:

• simple power controls
• locks and covers
• reviewed saved routines
• optional arrival monitoring

Sensitive actions require single-use confirmation before they run. No camera video, interactive sliders, account setup, or arbitrary routine runs appear on the car screen.

Optional arrival monitoring asks for location permissions in stages. When the household opts in, ALYT saves the chosen boundary privately and sends bounded enter and exit events without coordinates or route history. Initial region registration does not count as an arrival. The backend waits for a sustained exit before it re-arms, and it does not start any routine automatically.

What it cannot do

Android Auto is cloud-connected, so it needs the provider and network path that the connector uses. If that path is unavailable, the connector cannot work as a cloud surface.

The car screen does not expose camera video, sliders, account setup, or free-form routine execution. It also does not support a standalone Android Automotive OS install.

Permissions and access

Household access is narrower than staff access. The visible car experience is intended for the household that owns the home connection. Developer sandbox credentials work in DEV only. LIVE credentials work only for their own installed connector.

When it fails

If the connector does not appear or cannot complete setup, check these first:

1. The phone is parked and ALYT is open on the phone.
2. The household is using Settings → Car and arrival, not another screen.
3. The build is a supported native release build, not a development-only APK.
4. The host and release checks for Android Auto have passed.
5. The phone has the required network path for the cloud connector.

If arrival events do not appear, confirm that location permission was granted in stages and that the opted-in boundary was saved. If a sensitive action does not run, check whether confirmation is still pending or whether the home has a narrower permission boundary for that account.