Car makers and Google provide a basic set of playback controls like
Play/Pause, Next, Previous, and Overflow.
If you want additional features, like queue or custom actions,
you need to make design decisions regarding layout,
icons, and which (if any) provided controls to replace.
To go beyond the playback actions provided by car makers and offer users a
queue or additional playback actions, you need to decide whether
to show the following:
Thumbnails for items in the queue
An icon or elapsed time for the now playing item
Previously played items in the queue
Custom actions on the control bar and whether to replace the car maker's
Next and Previous controls
Visual representations of each action's relevant states
(for example, available or disabled)
App developers must maintain a consistent design for custom actions in media
apps to align with user expectations and maximize text within icons
to ensure readability.
Playback view
One of the most important features to design for a media app is the playback
view.
Playback view examples
This playback view displays the now playing song (Android
Auto).The user has opened the overflow menu on the right side of the
screen, which offers more capabilities (Android Auto).
This playback view displays the now playing song
(Google built-in).The user has opened the overflow menu on the right side of the
screen, which offers more capabilities (Google built-in).
Two examples (list and grid) of media apps on Google built-in
(portrait)
Queue
Provide the users a way to browse the list of audio sources.
Queue examples
Here, the user can review the queue of upcoming media
(Android Auto).Here the user sees the list of upcoming media (Google built-in).Here, the user can review the queue of upcoming media
(Google built-in, portrait).
Requirements
Keep in mind the following requirement and recommendations:
Requirement level
Queue Requirements
Playback control requirements
Must
--
App developers must:
Provide monochrome vector icons
for any custom actions they add, and change them dynamically to indicate
state
Should
App developers should:
If using text (including numbers) in an icon,
make maximum use of the space
in the bounding box to make the text as large and readable as
possible
App developers should:
Provide an indicator for the now playing queue item
[null,null,["Last updated 2025-04-16 UTC."],[[["Design your media app's playback view and decide if you need custom controls beyond Play/Pause, Next, Previous, and Overflow."],["Provide monochrome vector icons for any custom actions, dynamically changing them to reflect the state (e.g., available, disabled)."],["Give users a queue to browse audio sources, ideally indicating the currently playing item and including previously played items."],["For custom action icons, maximize text size for readability and limit the number of custom actions to 6 (or 8 if Next/Previous aren't used)."],["Consider including thumbnails and elapsed time or an icon for the currently playing item in the queue for better user experience."]]],[]]
