Little by little, Google is allowing more types of applications for Android Auto in its official store, but the list is still quite limited. An example of this is in the Fermata Auto media player, whose version on Google Play is quite limited than its APK.
Luckily, it is possible to install unsupported applications on Android Auto such as the “full” version of Fermata Auto. With it, you can access folders of videos from mobile storage and to YouTube, to play and control directly from the mobile screen. We tell you how to do it.
Easier with AAAD
As on mobile, it is possible install apps on Android Auto from outside the Google store, although the process is somewhat more complicated. Often you need to connect the help of a PC to connect with ADB to the mobile and use ADB commands to pass and install files. In some cases it is necessary to have root.
With this in mind, AAAD was born, which is basically an application that helps you install Android Auto apps that are not on Google Play. The application is very simple and has a list of a handful of apps ready to download and install. To install Fermata Auto, you must first install AAAD on your mobile, downloading and installing its APK just like any other application.
As we mentioned before, AAAD has a closed list of Android Auto applications ready to download. At the time of writing this article, there are exactly ten applications: Carstream, Fermata Auto, Screen2Auto, AA Mirror, AStrem, AA Mirror Plus, Performance Monitor, AA Passenger, Widgets for Android Auto and Nav2Contacts. With a long touch on one of them you will see a description of what it is for.
To install Fermata Auto, tap on Fermata Auto. A window will appear indicating the version to be downloaded and asking if you also want to download Fermata Control. Fermata Control is a helper application so that you can control the playback with the car controls. Press To accept to install both apps or No, to install only Fermata Auto.
Once this is done, the download of the application will begin, which should not take too long. When finished, you will have the option to Install the application, although beforehand it is most likely that Android will ask you to grant AAAD permission to install applications.
Once this is done, Fermata Auto will install successfully on your mobile and will be accessible from the Android Auto panel the next time you connect it, but before you start using it you must open it to make a small initial setup.
The most important thing is that you grant permission to access the files and media, although if you are going to use Fermata to watch YouTube, then you don’t need to do much else. If you want to use Fermata to play videos you have on your mobile, then you must touch the tab Folders, then on the + button and add folders that you want to be accessible in Fermata.
For example, if the only thing you want to play in Fermata are your vacation videos, which you have saved in a specific folder on your mobile, this setting will make only that folder appears. This way, it will be much easier to navigate between the content that you care about, hiding all the other folders.
At this point, you can now connect your mobile to the car’s Android Auto and it should appear the Fermata Auto icon in the launcher. When you open the app, it appears practically the same as it appears when you open it on your mobile, but in landscape. The playback of videos is quite smooth, including those of YouTube. Remember, yes, avoid distractions when the car is running.
