{"id":629967,"date":"2026-10-14T03:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T03:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/629967\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T03:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T03:36:11","slug":"got-an-old-car-android-auto-is-easy-to-add-2-ways-starting-at-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/629967\/","title":{"rendered":"Got an old car? Android Auto is easy to add: 2 ways, starting at $20"},"content":{"rendered":"

ZDNET\u2019s key takeaways<\/p>\n

There are several ways to install Android Auto in an older car.<\/p>\n

You can purchase an external display or use an old device.<\/p>\n

Using an old device is the most affordable option.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s essentially standard these days to get into a car and expect to see some kind of infotainment screen. As part of that, Android Auto has is usually par for the course in most cars made within the last decade and a half \u2014 enough that if you have an older car, you might feel left out. <\/p>\n

Sure, you can use your car\u2019s Bluetooth or aux connection, but Android Auto offers an always-on display you can safely glance at while on the road (phones can be considerably more distracting). <\/p>\n

Also: I was a big wireless Android Auto fan, until I tried wired \u2013 now I won\u2019t go back<\/a><\/p>\n

There\u2019s good news: It\u2019s fairly easy to add Android Auto to an older vehicle. <\/p>\n

You\u2019ll need some sort of display (a wireless screen, tablet, or old phone), a phone to host it (your current phone works), and a Bluetooth connection to link the screen to your car. For that, you can use an adapter<\/a> if you only have an aux connection and no Bluetooth. <\/p>\n

The easiest way: Mounting a wireless screen<\/p>\n

The easiest way to add Android Auto to any car is to purchase a wireless screen<\/a>. You can buy an entire head unit with Android Auto, which is a screen that replaces your existing stereo, but that\u2019s fairly involved and can get expensive. Instead, with the wireless screen method, you\u2019re essentially buying a display with Android Auto on it to mount on top of your dashboard.<\/p>\n

Also: I\u2019m an Apple Maps fan, but I switch to Google Maps for these 3 tasks<\/a><\/p>\n

Prices vary depending on the size, but you can get a 7-inch screen that connects via Bluetooth to your car for under $50, and reviews are generally pretty good. One of the biggest advantages of adding Android Auto to your car this way is that it requires no wiring outside of plugging into a power source like a cigarette lighter. Your display will sit on your car\u2019s dashboard and function just like an original screen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a cheaper method, as long as you have an old phone or tablet sitting around.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The under-$20 way: Using an old phone as a display<\/p>\n

I recently explored adding Android Auto to an old phone<\/a> and using it as a distraction-free music, call, and text hub while I work. It gave me a surprising productivity boost by keeping my phone in my pocket, and it helped give an old device new life. I realized that it would also be possible to use this as an actual Android Auto screen if I didn\u2019t already have one (as long as the car has Bluetooth).\u00a0<\/p>\n

The process here is pretty straightforward. Start by taking an old phone or tablet and installing either the\u00a0Headunit Revived<\/a>, which is currently $4, or the\u00a0Headunit Reloaded<\/a>\u00a0app, which is currently $5 (I went with the former). This turns your old device into a head unit or receiver for Android Auto, taking the place of what would usually be a car screen. Install a free corresponding app, Wi-Fi Helper<\/a>, on your current device and go through these setup steps<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Also: 3 Android Auto automations that make my drives much easier \u2013 and how I set them up<\/a><\/p>\n

I tried to find a friend or family member with a car old enough to have no screen so I could fully test this workaround, but my search turned up nothing. I was able to test out the functionality of this trick, though, by switching my car\u2019s Bluetooth connection to my old device with Headunit Revived installed. Since I already had the connection established from my in-home test, I didn\u2019t need to set up Android Auto again, but you will need to do that your first time.<\/p>\n

I tried my new Android Auto workaround on a drive today, and while it definitely wasn\u2019t as snappy as my built-in connection, it got the job done. This way won\u2019t have a dedicated power supply like installing a screen \u2014 it could, but I\u2019m assuming you\u2019re charging your main device in the car \u2014 but it\u2019s definitely doable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The biggest advantage of this method is affordability. Considering all you need to buy is a $4 or $5 app and maybe a $9 mount<\/a> for your old device, the total cost stays under $20.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Artie\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArtie Beaty\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tContributing Writer\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArtie Beaty is a freelance writer, based just outside Charlotte, with a passion for smart home tech and tech news. He has a bachelor’s in journalism from UNC Charlotte and has been writing for over 15 years. On the weekends you’ll find him leading haunted ghost tours of uptown Charlotte.
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSee full bio\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ZDNET\u2019s key takeaways There are several ways to install Android Auto in an older car. You can purchase…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[342,111,139,69,145],"class_list":["post-629967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-mobile","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}