Action strip

Action strips put secondary or tertiary actions a tap away.

Includes:

Only 1 label button (with label and optional icon) is allowed per template. Button order is specified by the app.

Android Auto action strip example
AAOS action strip example

Android Auto example

AAOS example

Template support

All templates support the action strip. Sometimes the action strip can reside in the header.

Guidance

Use action strips for secondary or tertiary actions, rather than primary actions – except on the Navigation template. For details about when the action strip is displayed on the Navigation template and when it’s hidden, refer to Visibility of action strips.

Do not include both an action strip and a floating action button at the same time.

Action strip on template with maps

On templates with maps, the action strip can include up to 4 buttons, as shown in these examples.

Android Auto Navigation template with 3 action strip buttons
Android Auto example
Android Auto Map template with 4 action strip buttons
Android Auto example
AAOS button example with 3 action strip buttons
Android Auto example

Pan mode

In pan mode, only the full-screen map and map action strip buttons are visible. Pan mode is used for rotary and touchpad inputs.

For the pan button, apps can provide 2 icons: one for entering pan mode, and one for exiting. The icon for exiting pan mode should clearly indicate that it provides a way to exit. For example, this button can show an **X**.

Mock-up of pan mode

Visibility of action strips

The app library generally takes care of showing and hiding the action strip and map action strip in the map-based templates based on user interactions, as shown below.

Mock-up of pan mode
When a map-based template opens, the action strip and map action strip are visible. If 10 seconds go by with no user interaction, and if the action strip and map action strip do not have user focus for rotary input, they disappear. (Exceptions are noted below.)
Mock-up of pan mode
When the action strip and map action strip are hidden, any user interaction with the screen will cause them to reappear.

Exceptions

  1. Apps can flag actions in either action strip as persistent to keep them from disappearing.
  2. The app library may hide the action strip on small screens after 10 seconds even when there is rotary focus, to minimize clutter.