When the Android Auto platform launches later this year with thirty vehicle brands under its belt, Joyride will be one of the applications leading the way. Joyride is an app that brings personalized audio content to devices while commuting. Rather than limiting itself to radio stations or podcasts, Joyride expands the amount of content by offering shows and news from across the internet.
Joyride focuses on three ways for users to find content — Search, Recommendation, and Social Discovery. The Search function acts as you expect it would. It is a window to something specific that a user wants. Recommendation spotlights content that Joyride expects a user would find enjoyable. Also, Recommendation contains a tool to select a mood and the app will serve appropriate content. And Social Discovery shares what family and friends are suggesting from their own Joyride experience.
The app's listening hours has grown ten times in the past four months and being a launch partner for Android Auto is expected to double that number. While Joyride currently offers voice and simplified controls for use in a vehicle, it will work with Android Wear for in-dashboard controls that are fully accessible with voice interaction and control.
Rather than having a flood of half-baked apps and services to launch Android Auto with, Google is reaching out and selecting appropriate partners. This is to ensure a quality for the platform rather than quantity. Joyride, as you can tell, is one of those partners that Google feels is ready to launch Android Auto.
Jeff Chen, Joyride's co-founder and chief executive officer, had this to say about the service's Android Auto launch:
“Mobile devices will be the key driver for the ‘Connected Car' to go mainstream so the everyday person has access. We Are proud to have been selected by Google as one of the first companies to leverage the innovative Android Auto platform. This is a movement that is going to completely shift how we think of in-car entertainment.”
You can download Joyride today in the Play Store for your Android device.
