[bingobob]

Media and Message apps fit in a framework that google has provided this allows them to update the android auto UI with no changes for any of these apps.

they haven't done this for map apps yet but Waze is now supported. but this took a long time.

it could be possible there building the framework for maps just there not ready for 3rd party's to access it

the internet is quick to judge but you have to walk before you run. this is a system that will run on millions of cars and in the future possibly billions.

with Android Automotive OS its going to be part of the car so getting this correct is a big deal you want it supportable well into the future.

[product50]

This is unlikely to be the reason since the 3rd party app was already developed for Android Auto and Google rejected it thereafter.

[xarball]

I work in the auto industry in HMDs, and I think the last comment was somewhat on the right track, but perhaps missing bits of a larger issue at hand.

We can get the impression that Waze was built on a lot of technical debt by the amount of corners Google had to cut to even get it on screen -- how much it doesn't fit in their UI framework, and how poorly it runs when streamed to the HMD. Even Google Maps in satellite view runs terribly on the 90% of vehicles on the road that implement Android Auto. The underlying protocol used to convey that amount of data to the HMD runs like crap on most vehicles, and for better or worse the current protocol is pretty much frozen in time because most vehicles don't apply OTA updates yet. (Some manufacturers even charge labor for applying updates!)

The reason I'm picking on Waze specifically though is because HMD's have much stranger User <-> Interface considerations for what is safe, legal, and not crappy UI design. Add fire to fury, the performance is barely passable today.

Apps must have this, and so will Google if they are to be successful here. Whether Google even knows where they're going with a reliable HMD framework for using cookie-cutter UI components is largely unknown, but I don't think they're satisfied with the current API.