Plan navigation tabs

The first step in structuring your media app is determining which content categories you want to appear as top-level navigation options on the app bar.

Car makers and Google take care of implementing the app bar and determining most aspects of its appearance.

Basically, you need to decide the following:

• Which top-level content categories you want represented as tabs on the app bar
• What icons and labels you will supply for each tab

Categories should showcase tailored content, rather than broad categories that will be too large to browse easily while driving.

Tailored content might include content that is:

• Frequently used – for example, playlists or channels
• Preferred – for example, favorite artists
• Timely – for example, recent songs
• Curated – for example, “recommended for you”

Note: Top-level content categories are browsable media items that are the children of the root media item in your content hierarchy. Icons and labels are provided as resources associated with these browsable media items. For details, consult Build your content hierarchy.

Navigation tab example

In this example, the tailored content includes recently-played songs, a way to discover more music, and a listing of all of the user's music.

Navigation tab requirements

Keep in mind the following requirements and recommendation:

Requirement level	Requirements
MUST	App developers must: Implement no more than 4 tabs (for AAOS) Provide a label and a monochrome (preferably white) vector icon for each tab (for AAOS)
SHOULD	App developers should: Keep tab labels as short as possible, to prevent their being truncated

Rationale

• Simplify UX: Support a consistent navigation model for media apps.
• Accommodate all screens: Allow car makers to use only labels when both icons and labels won’t fit.