Best music app for Android Auto

Best music app for Android Auto

Nowadays, you can just choose the best music app for Android Auto to have access to thousands of songs, artists, and playlists. Of all the ways to entertain yourself while driving, music is probably still one of the most popular.

Once upon a time, not that long ago, your choice of music was limited to the radio or the CDs that you could fit into your glovebox.

It is likely that you already have a music app on your Android phone and there is a high probability that you will be able to use it with Android Auto.

Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and Google Play Music are generally seen as the favorites. As they are so popular, we won’t insult you by describing how to use them.

Before we go into detail about some of the best music players that are compatible with Android Auto, let’s take a quick look at how these apps work.

Table of Contents

  1. How do you listen to music with Android Auto?
    1. Google Assistant
    2. Through the Display
  2. Best Android Auto music player apps
    1. Spotify on Android Auto
    2. Pandora
    3. AIMP
    4. BlackPlayer
    5. Musicolet
    6. MediaMonkey
    7. Double Twist Pro
  3. Wrap Up

How do you listen to music with Android Auto?

When you download and set up Android Auto, you will see a list of media apps that are compatible with it. Once you have selected the music app you wish to use, you just need to make sure that you are signed into the app on your phone.

When you are in your car, your Android Auto apps will appear on your car’s infotainment system. There are two main ways that you can begin listening to music:

Google Assistant

Amazon Music, Spotify, and Google Play Music are compatible with voice commands. You can activate voice commands by saying “ok Google” or taking a long press on the home button. Say the word “play” and your command, this could be a specific song, genre, or playlist. Here are some command examples:

  • Play Ministry of Sound dance music;
  • Play Ed Sheran on Amazon Music;
  • Play my “Sunday music” playlist on Spotify.

Google Play Music is the default app for most phones, so if you want to listen to music from other apps, you just need to specify the name in your command.

Through the Display

YouTube Music is better used via the display. This is because if you try activating YouTube with voice commands it opens the video on your display, which can be distracting.

From the app launcher, you can select YouTube Music, the Menu and then you can choose from last played, library, downloads, etc.

Best Android Auto music player apps

It is possible that you have tried some apps and they won’t run with your car stereo. Our list contains music apps that are all 100% compatible with Android Auto.

Spotify on Android Auto

Spotify is certainly the better and most known app for Android and Android Auto. Everybody loves it as it offers a great library with more than 50 million tracks and awesome features.

It is a Swedish music streaming app and has been around for some years now.

While basic features are free with advertisements or automatic music videos. Additional features, such as offline listening and commercial-free listening, are offered via paid subscriptions.

Pandora

Pandora is a music streaming app that allows you to search through radio stations to select your favorite types of music or artists. Once you have found a radio station that you like, you can skip through songs or even podcasts.

It’s not quite up there with Spotify but it is highly compatible with a number of infotainment systems and users can now take advantage of voice commands. It’s a good option if you want to know what others are listening to or to discover new artists.

With your favorite songs, you can create your own stations that you can customize in six different modes. Pandora has a free version and a premium paid version.

The premium version is ad-free as well as other benefits like listing 4 stations for offline listening.

AIMP

The great thing about AIMP is that it is free and ad-free. There are a number of supported files including the usual (MP3, MP4, WAV, etc.) APE, AAC, TTA, OGG, and more. You can take advantage of playback speed controls when listening to podcasts, cross-fade tracks, and to mix audio files to mono.

AIMP comes with internet radio, smart playlists, and lyrics support. With a number of themes, you can customize hue and brightness. This really is a solid choice if you are looking for a free music player.

BlackPlayer

The main advantage of choosing BlackPlayer is the UI, a stunning combination of sleek, elegant, smooth, yet snappy. Although it only supports standard music files, it does have plenty of sound options with bass boost, 3D surround virtualize, and amplifier.

With gapless playback and crossfading you have more ways to enjoy your favorite songs. The free version also includes a new “Play Now” feature that provides suggestions for you. The ad-free premium version is only around $3 per month.

Musicolet

Not only compatible with Android Auto, but Musicolet has gained a solid reputation as one of the best free music players for Android.

It has a minimalistic design making it very simple to navigate. It has very similar features to the other apps when it comes to creating your playlists but it is the only Android music player that allows for multiple queues, with a maximum of 20.

It also has good extra features like a powerful equalizer, gapless playback, and supports offline lyrics embedded in audio files. Not only is it free, but it is also ad-free.

MediaMonkey

We liked MediaMonkey and it also has a desktop version. With the trial version, you can sync your music from your desktop wirelessly, making it a great choice for those with large volumes of music.

You can manage your songs and artists, even composers. There are also options for podcasts and audiobooks.

The UI is quite simple but not enough to complain about. With the free version, you can also benefit from the equalizer, cross-fade, and playback features. In-app purchases start at $1.84 up to $3.07.

Double Twist Pro

As one of the newest on the market, Double Twist Pro is set to make it to the top of the list for many. The Pro version is the revamped version of Double Twist Classic, recommended by the New York Times, BBC, and Wall Street Journal. There are multiple themes, advanced sorting options for albums, artists, composers, genres, and more.

It has excellent support for various file types as well as Android Wear and AirPlay. It is probably one of the best music apps to sync iTunes to an Android phone. We have only touched on the features Double Twist Pro offers and it is well worth the $2.22 to buy at the time of this review.

Wrap Up

It’s normal to stick to the most well-known music players for Android Auto. They are the safe bets. But quite often, you have to buy the premium versions in order to really appreciate the app’s capabilities. We have mentioned all of the favorites, for a good reason.

Nevertheless, our list contains the best music app for Android Auto for everyone. Some are free, others have small fees, but they all have excellent sound features to make those long journeys far more enjoyable.

You can also use other apps with Android Auto. For more information on that, check out our article for options on listening to audiobooks and Audible on Android.

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