Android Auto might soon let you cast media right to your car

Andy Walker / Android Authority

TL;DR

Android Auto version 15.9.6551 includes new strings suggesting Google Cast support is in development, potentially allowing media sharing between phones and cars.
This feature would align Android Auto more closely with Android Automotive, which already supports casting functionality.

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These new strings are around the Media Router (mr) framework, and they go on to explicitly mention Google Cast in the context of a car experience:

Code

<string name="mr_button_content_description">Cast</string>
<string name="mr_cast_button_connected">Cast. Connected</string>
<string name="mr_cast_button_connecting">Cast. Connecting</string>
<string name="mr_cast_button_disconnected">Cast. Disconnected</string>
<string name="mr_chooser_wifi_warning_description_car">Make sure the other device is on the same Wi-Fi network as this car</string>
<string name="mr_chooser_wifi_warning_description_phone">Make sure the other device is on the same Wi-Fi network as this phone</string>

Casting functionality already exists in Android Automotive, so it makes sense for Google to bring it over to the Android Auto experience as well.

However, the Android Auto experience is primarily driven through a host phone onto a target display (making it a sort of “casting” solution to begin with), so it remains to be seen whether casting in the context of Android Auto would be casting from a phone to another phone (as alluded to in the last string), or from a phone to the car screen (as alluded to in the second to last string), or both or neither.

Google has teased video support on Android Auto in the past, and there are workarounds to watch videos on Android Auto. It does make sense for casting support to arrive, and we’ll keep you updated when we learn more.

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