5 Free Android Auto Apps You Should Be Using

While Android Auto may have its own quirks and shortcomings, it's one of the best and safest ways to use certain functions of your smartphone when driving. If you wish to make a call, play music, or send a message, Android Auto facilitates those actions via voice commands. If you're parked in a safe spot, you can even touch your car stereo to control the various functions of Android Auto. That said, most users don't realize that Android Auto packs in a lot of untapped potential. The most popular use cases and built-in apps are certainly functional, but quite basic. You can extend the functionality of Android Auto in your car by downloading some useful third-party apps. Since Android Auto is effectively an extension of your phone, you can download compatible apps via the Play Store on your mobile device, and they will automatically show up in your car.

Of course, not all Android apps have companion Android Auto versions, so finding useful apps can be a hassle. Well, we've made it easier for you by aggregating some of the best and most helpful Android Auto apps that I've personally been using for years now. These apps offer unique functionality that default apps, like Google Maps, Messages, etc., don't offer. We've also made it a point not to include extremely popular apps like Spotify, Telegram, etc., since most people are already aware of them. From helping you save on fuel costs to planning the perfect route for an EV road trip, here are some of the best Android Auto apps you need to install right away.

The primary use case for Fuelio is to keep a tab on your car's fuel costs, maintenance logs and expenses, mileage, etc. The app lets you input data such as the last time you refueled your vehicle, how much you paid, and which gas station you refueled at. Fuelio then uses this data to determine your vehicle's mileage, how frequently you're refueling, how much money you're spending on gas every month, and more. Fuel aside, Fuelio lets you log other expenses, such as a change of oil and car washes. Think of it as a one-stop shop to learn about how much money you spend on your car every month. While this is useful in itself, Fuelio takes it one step further with an extremely interesting feature.

The app crowdsources fuel prices at gas stations from its users and displays them for everyone to see. If you're in a certain locality and you want to find the cheapest gas station to save a few extra bucks, Fuelio will access your location, find the nearest gas station with the cheapest price, and direct you to it. If you drive over a thousand miles every month, this can result in significant savings over time. Not just that, but you can also gauge if your car is performing in an optimal manner by looking at the mileage value, and decide if it needs servicing.

Navigating through cities is rather straightforward using apps like Google Maps and Waze. You enter your destination, view the ETA, traffic density, and other details, and then start driving towards it. Since most major cities have excellent network coverage, your phone stays connected to the internet at all times, making it easy to navigate and view directions and alerts in real-time. But what if you set out on an off-roading adventure among the mountains, where the connection is patchy and your phone cannot get a hold of a network tower? It's not the kind of situation you want to be in, especially in the wild. Google Maps does have an offline mode, but it's not that helpful in remote areas.

That's where Gaia Maps comes into play. It solves all of these problems with an interface that's tailor-made for campers and hikers. You can browse various spots of interest in a particular area, like different mountain ranges, viewpoints, etc., along with detailed directions to navigate to them. This is also super helpful for those who pursue adventures on a motorbike, since you can use the app on an Android Auto head unit for bikers. Apart from offline maps, other features include the ability to create waypoints, add or view images of a certain location, view weather, slope, the status of wildfires, and even custom trails discovered by other users — at least if you have a paid subscription. If you love adventures, Gaia Maps is an excellent virtual guide.

A big miss on the default Android Auto interface, in our opinion, is a reliable weather app. Sure, you can ask Google Assistant and now Gemini for quick weather updates in your surroundings, or you can fire up the native Weather app to view the temperature or UV index. But a well-designed weather interface that provides timely updates, accurate forecasts, and useful info that can help users plan their trip or make travel decisions is missing. Thankfully, Weather & Radar solves that with one of the best weather apps on Android Auto in terms of functionality.

It displays an animated weather radar of your surroundings, which means you can anticipate rain or snow headed your way. This is helpful to plan and time your commute from home to work, or if you're on a road trip and you want to calculate whether you'll arrive at your destination before harsh weather comes your way. You can also check the speed and direction of winds, view hurricane updates, and even turn on alerts for natural disasters.

Along with listening to music, one of the most popular forms of entertainment when driving is listening to podcasts. After all, a lot of them are quite informative. There are several apps that let you listen to podcasts, but in my opinion, none of them have come close to the experience offered by AntennaPod. AntennaPod is a podcast manager and player that has a massive repository of podcasts from all over the internet. Whether you prefer independent publishers or large media houses, AntennaPod has you covered. The best part about using a podcast manager like this is that you don't have to sift through different apps to find the platform on which your favorite podcaster's content is available.

Import podcasts from multiple platforms, create playlists based on your requirements, and listen away when driving! Features like adjustable playback speed, chapter support, and automatic download of new episodes complete the overall experience. AntennaPod is completely free to use, doesn't have ads, and is open-source. No wonder it has an excellent rating of 4.8 on the Google Play Store, with over 80,000 reviews. The best part is that the smartphone app is also good, so you can use it to listen to podcasts even when you're not in your car. We also like the discovery algorithm that suggests new podcasts based on your listening history.

With lots of users across the globe switching to electric vehicles due to rising petroleum costs and carbon emissions, a new important aspect emerges that many people now have to factor in — trip planning. Unlike gas-powered vehicles, which can be refueled in just a few minutes at any time during your trip, EVs have a fixed battery capacity that provides a certain range. When your car is low on battery, you will have to find a suitable charging spot, connect your car, and wait for a while for the battery to gain charge before continuing your trip. This can be a massive hassle if not planned properly. You don't want to end up in a situation where your car only has 10% of battery left, and there's no charging station in sight. Don't worry, though, as there are several services to tackle this issue.

PlugShare is one such app. Whenever you're planning a road trip with your EV, all you have to do is open the app, enter which car you have or the range of the battery pack, the source of your trip, and your destination. The app will then automatically create a route for you that's optimized for your itinerary. If your vehicle's range is high enough to complete the trip in one shot, PlugShare will show you the shortest route to your destination. However, if the distance is higher than your car's range, the app will route you via charging stations, so that you can top up your car intermittently. No more charging anxiety!

The primary requirement for an app to make it to this list is that it's free to download and use. Some apps also have a paid tier that unlocks additional features, but those are optional. I've personally used and tested all the apps mentioned in this list over an extended period to ensure they offer real-world value when used on a daily basis. Whether you want to save gas money or find an optimum route with your EV once you've moved on from gas-powered vehicles, these apps have you covered.

We've included apps that cater to different niches, and all of them have excellent ratings with hundreds of thousands of downloads. Another key aspect of consideration is that all the apps mentioned above work seamlessly regardless of whether you have a budget-friendly Android phone or a flagship one. They're not resource-heavy and, hence, run smoothly on all types of smartphones and Android Auto car stereos.