@capgo/capacitor-auto

@capgo/capacitor-auto provides a small bridge for apps that need approved, template-based car surfaces on iOS and Android.

It does not mirror a WebView to the car screen. The phone app sends a limited car template, the car host renders it with CarPlay or Android Auto UI, and row selections come back to the Capacitor app as events.

Phone to car

Push a root template with sections, rows, subtitles, and application-defined payloads.

Car to phone

Listen for carAction events when the driver selects an action on the car display.

Connection state

React when a CarPlay or Android Auto host connects or disconnects.

Native entry points

Ships a CarPlay scene delegate and Android Auto CarAppService so the car host can launch the integration.

Core API

• isAvailable() returns platform support and current connection state.
• setRootTemplate(options) updates the car display with a simple list template.
• sendMessage(options) sends an application-defined message through the native bridge.
• connectionChanged reports when the car host connects or disconnects.
• carAction is emitted when a car row is selected.
• messageReceived carries application-defined bridge messages.

Platform model

iOS uses a CarPlay CPTemplateApplicationSceneDelegate and renders a CPListTemplate.

Android uses AndroidX Car App Library, registers a CarAppService, and renders a templated Android Auto screen.

Both platforms require the app to follow Apple and Google car app policies. You still need the correct app category, entitlement, review approval, and platform setup for your use case.

Source of truth

This reference is synced from src/definitions.ts in capacitor-auto.