Those who use the car a lot in the city or on the highway and often find themselves stuck in traffic, can use their smartphone to spend time in a less boring and a little happier way, without getting distracted from driving.
Some apps for smartphones or tablets with Android operating system can be used for entertainment purposes, to control traffic and on-board information, to manage the car and to use the mobile phone without hands, receive voice notifications and control the phone with the voice, without taking your hands off the wheel and without risk.
The Android Google Play Store has a nice choice of applications to use your mobile phone in the car that you can use to do all these things, to use your smartphone or tablet in traffic in order to get out of it as soon as possible, to listen to music and to read SMS, send messages and receive them verbally .
1) Android Auto is the main app that works as an on-board computer and therefore deserves to be installed on every phone. Inside Android Auto it is also possible to receive the voice reading of SMS and Whatsapp messages, integration with the Google assistant, use Google Maps and control listening to music.
In other articles, the guide to configure Android Auto in the car and the best apps to use inside Android Auto .
2) The apps to transform the smartphone into the on-board computer of the machine in order to manage the phone while driving, putting it in Car Mode using it with fast buttons to reach the fundamental functions of calls and messages. In practice, the smartphone is transformed into an intelligent dashboard with lots of information (such as the odometer) and many accessories to be kept in front of the eyes and to be used with a few taps of fingers.
3) ACar is an app to manage the car in all its aspects, not to forget any maintenance and always know the status of each part of the car.
ACar keeps track of full loads, fuel consumption, travel expenses, engine oil, air filter and so on.
Similar applications there are also others that are good alternatives, such as Fuelio to track gasoline consumption .
4) Waze is an app that cannot be missing for any reason on an Android smartphone.
In fact, Waze is not only a GPS navigator to find the roads, but also the best app to know the traffic information in real time on the road you are doing.
In addition, Waze also lets you know where the nearest petrol stations are and those with the lowest petrol prices .
Waze is also fun to use because you can leave messages to other drivers connected to Waze who are nearby.
5) Streaming music
If you connect your smartphone to the stereo system using a trivial audio cable (if there is AUX output on the car radio) or via Bluetooh, then you can take advantage of the apps to listen to music on Android .
Among these, the most important are Spotify and Google Music, which also allow you to control music directly from Google Maps.
Speaking of free solutions I want to remember at least two: Jango Radio to hear random music based on the genre, TuneIn to listen to radios from all over the world and Google Play Music to hear the music that is in the PC (if it had been loaded before )
To these must also be added Podcast Manager, to listen to podcasts
6) Read SMS, messages and notifications in the car
If you are driving, touching the phone to read SMS messages can be inconvenient and even dangerous. For this reason, when you receive a message, it is better to have it read from your mobile phone itself.
The Notification Reader application is completely free and works great for this purpose, reading in perfect Italian.
It automatically detects the apps used to receive SMS and for emails and is also able to integrate with Whatsapp. The app requires access to notifications which will always be read by voice using Android's speech synthesizer. Notifications can be customized, while options allow you to configure a bluetooth speaker directly in the app.
The Google Assistant is also very convenient for using the phone without hands, in the car, with your voice.
In every Android smartphone it is possible to activate the voice commands of OK Google with the voice recognition to dictate messages and perform spoken actions, such as doing a search or finding a road in Google Maps.
In another article, Android voice commands to make calls, read SMS and voice notifications.
In another article, the guide to automatically initiate hands-free calls (in the car)
7) To send automatic replies via SMS or Whatsapp it is possible to use some apps seen in another article or even setting the application to read incoming SMS using the Android text-to-speech engine.
9) The apps to find where the car is parked are listed in another article, as well as the applications to save the parking position.
10) App to find speed cameras on the road, to be more relaxed and always know the speed limit.
11) App to check license plate and insurance of each vehicle, car or motorbike
12) App for highway toll calculation on Android and iPhone
13) App to pay for parking lots, blue stripes and tickets from the phone
I want to conclude the article by inviting those who use the smartphone in the car to always keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the steering wheel. The applications selected here have been chosen to give us the best digital experience while driving, to drive safely and have access to online services as quickly as possible. Since these applications can provide assistance or entertainment while driving, it is important to maintain safety, however, use them with caution. If you travel alone, before opening an app, better to pull over.
READ ALSO: Connect the smartphone in the car: support, music, speakerphone and charger
Some apps for smartphones or tablets with Android operating system can be used for entertainment purposes, to control traffic and on-board information, to manage the car and to use the mobile phone without hands, receive voice notifications and control the phone with the voice, without taking your hands off the wheel and without risk.
The Android Google Play Store has a nice choice of applications to use your mobile phone in the car that you can use to do all these things, to use your smartphone or tablet in traffic in order to get out of it as soon as possible, to listen to music and to read SMS, send messages and receive them verbally .
1) Android Auto is the main app that works as an on-board computer and therefore deserves to be installed on every phone. Inside Android Auto it is also possible to receive the voice reading of SMS and Whatsapp messages, integration with the Google assistant, use Google Maps and control listening to music.
In other articles, the guide to configure Android Auto in the car and the best apps to use inside Android Auto .
2) The apps to transform the smartphone into the on-board computer of the machine in order to manage the phone while driving, putting it in Car Mode using it with fast buttons to reach the fundamental functions of calls and messages. In practice, the smartphone is transformed into an intelligent dashboard with lots of information (such as the odometer) and many accessories to be kept in front of the eyes and to be used with a few taps of fingers.
3) ACar is an app to manage the car in all its aspects, not to forget any maintenance and always know the status of each part of the car.
ACar keeps track of full loads, fuel consumption, travel expenses, engine oil, air filter and so on.
Similar applications there are also others that are good alternatives, such as Fuelio to track gasoline consumption .
4) Waze is an app that cannot be missing for any reason on an Android smartphone.
In fact, Waze is not only a GPS navigator to find the roads, but also the best app to know the traffic information in real time on the road you are doing.
In addition, Waze also lets you know where the nearest petrol stations are and those with the lowest petrol prices .
Waze is also fun to use because you can leave messages to other drivers connected to Waze who are nearby.
5) Streaming music
If you connect your smartphone to the stereo system using a trivial audio cable (if there is AUX output on the car radio) or via Bluetooh, then you can take advantage of the apps to listen to music on Android .
Among these, the most important are Spotify and Google Music, which also allow you to control music directly from Google Maps.
Speaking of free solutions I want to remember at least two: Jango Radio to hear random music based on the genre, TuneIn to listen to radios from all over the world and Google Play Music to hear the music that is in the PC (if it had been loaded before )
To these must also be added Podcast Manager, to listen to podcasts
6) Read SMS, messages and notifications in the car
If you are driving, touching the phone to read SMS messages can be inconvenient and even dangerous. For this reason, when you receive a message, it is better to have it read from your mobile phone itself.
The Notification Reader application is completely free and works great for this purpose, reading in perfect Italian.
It automatically detects the apps used to receive SMS and for emails and is also able to integrate with Whatsapp. The app requires access to notifications which will always be read by voice using Android's speech synthesizer. Notifications can be customized, while options allow you to configure a bluetooth speaker directly in the app.
The Google Assistant is also very convenient for using the phone without hands, in the car, with your voice.
In every Android smartphone it is possible to activate the voice commands of OK Google with the voice recognition to dictate messages and perform spoken actions, such as doing a search or finding a road in Google Maps.
In another article, Android voice commands to make calls, read SMS and voice notifications.
In another article, the guide to automatically initiate hands-free calls (in the car)
7) To send automatic replies via SMS or Whatsapp it is possible to use some apps seen in another article or even setting the application to read incoming SMS using the Android text-to-speech engine.
9) The apps to find where the car is parked are listed in another article, as well as the applications to save the parking position.
10) App to find speed cameras on the road, to be more relaxed and always know the speed limit.
11) App to check license plate and insurance of each vehicle, car or motorbike
12) App for highway toll calculation on Android and iPhone
13) App to pay for parking lots, blue stripes and tickets from the phone
I want to conclude the article by inviting those who use the smartphone in the car to always keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the steering wheel. The applications selected here have been chosen to give us the best digital experience while driving, to drive safely and have access to online services as quickly as possible. Since these applications can provide assistance or entertainment while driving, it is important to maintain safety, however, use them with caution. If you travel alone, before opening an app, better to pull over.
READ ALSO: Connect the smartphone in the car: support, music, speakerphone and charger
