Next week, millions of people will be traveling, whether it’s by car, boat, train or plane, they’ll be traveling for the holidays. Most people will be driving somewhere for the holidays, and that means you’re going to need some music or entertainment in the car, especially if you’re traveling a long way. And remember that everyone has Android Auto now. As your phone can be turned into a head unit running Android Auto. All you need is a car mount. So you’ll want to be sure you download the Android Auto app before you head out.
Google Play Music
Perhaps one of the more popular apps on this list, but Google Play Music is a great one to take with you on the road. Whether you subscribe to Google Play Music Unlimited or not, you can still enjoy Google’s large library of music. With Google Play Music, there are plenty of radio stations to choose from and even more playlists. Making it the ultimate resource for Christmas music on your smartphone.
Google Maps
Now you should already have this installed (as it is typically pre-installed on most Android devices), but it’s still a great app to have. Especially if you’re heading somewhere that you’ve never been before. This way you can get to your destination without getting lost or spending a ton of time going out of the way to get there. Google Maps also shows you where there might be heavy traffic, and with next week being the most traveled week of the year, it’s definitely going to be a big help.
Pocket Casts
If you have a long trip ahead of you, then downloading some podcasts to listen to in the car is another great idea. With Pocket Casts, you can download plenty of great podcasts ranging from technology to sports to news and be caught up by the time you arrive at Grandma’s house. The app does work with Android Auto so you can listen to your podcasts over the speaker system in your car without having to touch your smartphone, always a good thing.
Spotify
Another great app for listening to music is Spotify. Much like Google Play Music, it’ll provide plenty of great playlists for you to choose from. This includes countless Christmas playlists with all kinds of Christmas songs available. These songs can be streamed or downloaded for offline playback, which may be a good idea, depending on where you are headed this holiday season.
Audible
If you’re a subscriber to Audible, then this app is a must-have. If not, you can subscribe and check out a free trial and see how great the service is. Audible is full of thousands and thousands of audiobooks, which can be streamed through Android Auto as well. If you’re worried about using up all of your data, you can also download these audiobooks offline, ahead of time. However, streaming an audiobook won’t use that much data, at all.