Play a Directory on Android Auto

[trueboss926]

On Android Auto it doesn't give you the option to play from a directory. On the normal app I go to the browse tab and I saved to Favorites the directory I want to play. But I don't see the option to browse the folder at all in Android Auto. Can you add this please?

[Aza]

While it's technically possible, browsing a file system would be an "infinite" navigation. Everything that can make the user distracted is strongly would break the design principles for Android Auto. See https://developers.google.com/cars/desi ... principles
That why we limited the navigation to content already indexed or played.

[rstone]

As Aza mentioned, the objective of the Android Auto interface is to streamline functions to minimize the number of operations for motorists. There are other media players which do offer file-based navigation, but I think it's a poor substitute for a properly organized media library.

There are two separate solutions for your request: First, ensure all your media are well tagged so the media library can index your files. I have used a number of applications for organizing my media over the years; recently I have been using the open-source app Picard from MusicBrainz. Second, you can create a playlist in VLC from well-tagged files or (perhaps easier for untagged media) based on folders. Select your folder, navigate to the overflow menu "...", select "Add to playlist", and pick "Add this folder and subfolders". Name your playlist something unique for the voice assistant. Under Android Auto, navigate to Playlists and select the playlist you created; also try activating the voice assistant and say "Play <your unique name> playlist" to load the playlist. The Google Assistant may fail to find the playlist--it can be hit or miss--If so, check the search results on the playback screen and select the playlist by name.

Voice commands are documented here: https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc- ... ote_330226

[trueboss926]

While it's technically possible, browsing a file system would be an "infinite" navigation. Everything that can make the user distracted is strongly would break the design principles for Android Auto. See https://developers.google.com/cars/desi ... principles
That why we limited the navigation to content already indexed or played.

It doesn't have to be browsing the entire filesystem but at least have it show the directories that I marked as favorites so I can play those.

[Aza]

That would be a reasonable mitigation. What do you think about that @rstone?

[rstone]

Would you want to browse the folder or recursively play all the audio tracks under that path by selecting the top-level favorite?