Table of contents:
- Waze, the best alternative to Google Maps
- TuneIn Radio, with more than 100,000 radio stations
- Google Play Books to listen to audiobooks in the car
- Audible as an alternative to Play Books for reading audiobooks
- VLC, the all-in-one player for the car
- Anchor, the Spotify application for listening to (and recording) podcasts
- Music (from Sony), an alternative to VLC to play music offline
- Pocket Casts, the best Android podcast player
- OverDrive, the digital audiobook library is also compatible with Android Auto
Android Auto is Google's solution to make smart cars compatible with this system. Unlike conventional systems, this solution comes in the form of a mobile application. This gives us certain advantages, such as the possibility of installing applications to expand the car's functionalities. Music, radio, GPS, messaging, podcast applications… On this occasion we have compiled several of the best apps to get the most out of Android Auto in 2020.
Waze, the best alternative to Google Maps
Along with Google Maps, Waze is the only GPS application compatible with Android Auto. And it is not for less, because today it has more than 100 million downloads only on Google Play.
In terms of the advantages of Waze over Maps, the application's handling of traffic alerts is much better than Google's solution. On the other hand, we can see all the nearby gas stations, as well as the average price of gasoline in each of the establishments. It also has police notices and any type of phenomenon or incident on the road.
TuneIn Radio, with more than 100,000 radio stations
Today the best radio application that we can install on our mobile. And not because I say so. TuneIn Radio has more than 100,000 radio stations and more than 5.7 million podcasts. From national stations, such as Los 40, Rock FM, Europa FM or Kiss FM, to international stations, such as NFL, Fox News, MLB, NBA and NHL.
TuneIn Radio also allows us to select the genre of music or the theme to be treated to classify the stations based on the parameters we have selected. It has a paid version, but the free version is fully compatible with Android Auto.
Google Play Books to listen to audiobooks in the car
Did you know that Google Play Books can play books in audiobook format? And not only within the application, but also in the car if we have Android Auto. Best of all, we can upload our own files to the application cloud to play books that are not in the Google book store. It also has free trials that allow us to play some audiobooks compatible with this option for a limited time.
Audible as an alternative to Play Books for reading audiobooks
Audible is probably the best alternative to Play Books to play audiobooks in the car and mobile. It is Amazon's alternative to Google's proposal, therefore, all audiobooks purchased on Kindle are compatible with the application. If we download the application on our mobile, Amazon will give us a copy for free.
Regarding the functions of the application, Audible allows us to modify the reading speed, in addition to managing pauses to stop the reproduction of the books.
VLC, the all-in-one player for the car
Probably the best music and video player out there for now. Besides being compatible with all audio and video formats, VLC is compatible with Android Auto. MKV, MP4, AVI, MOV, OGG, MP3, FLAC, TS, M2TS, Wv…
Unfortunately, the application only allows us to play sound files if we use it through the Android Auto interface. Probably to preserve safety behind the wheel and avoid unnecessary distractions.
Anchor, the Spotify application for listening to (and recording) podcasts
Anchor is Spotify's streaming application exclusively geared towards your podcasts. Although its function focuses on the creation, editing and publication of podcasts, Anchor also allows us to play podcasts within the application in the same way as Spotify. The good news is that Spotify combines both music and podcasts in the same tool. However, if we only want to listen to podcasts, Anchor will be more than enough.
Music (from Sony), an alternative to VLC to play music offline
If we are looking for an alternative to VLC to play our music locally, the Sony Music application is the best option we can currently find. Not only because it is compatible with uncompressed audio formats, but also because it allows us to edit the metadata of the songs.
Unfortunately, Sony has discarded this option in the latest update, so we will have to resort to an older version from a page such as APK Mirror.
Pocket Casts, the best Android podcast player
Awarded several times by the awards that Google gives to certain applications, Pocket Casts is considered one of the best podcast players on Android. From its version for Android Auto we can filter and search for episodes while controlling the playback line. All without touching the phone screen (and if our car has controls on the steering wheel or dashboard).
OverDrive, the digital audiobook library is also compatible with Android Auto
OverDrive takes the concept of an audiobook one step further and brings a complete library with more than 30,000 sources to lend your audiobooks completely free of charge. To register on the platform we will have to have a valid email from an educational institution, such as a library, a university, a school or an organization participating in the development of the application itself.
