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Open Headunit

Turn a spare tablet into an Android Auto screen for your car

⭐ 2.2k GitHub stars 📜 AGPL-3.0 Tools 🧪 In testing

Made by andreknieriem · free & open source ✅

🧪 Early version: this app is still being built and tested. Things may change or break — trying it and telling the makers what you find is a big help.
Heads up: the makers say this app talks to services that aren’t open source.
⬇️ Download the app (APK)

Version v.3.3.0-beta2 · 10.8 MB · updated 2 days ago

This comes straight from Open Headunit’s own GitHub page — it’s free. Need help installing? →

About this app

Open Headunit turns an old Android tablet or phone into an Android Auto display, so you get maps, music and calls on a proper screen in the car without buying a head unit or a new car. It is a revival of Michael Reid's original headunit project, brought up to date for current Android versions.

The dependable way to connect is a USB cable from your phone to the tablet, with the tablet in USB host mode and Android Auto installed on the phone. Wireless is possible too, either through the project's companion Wireless Helper app, the headunit server hidden in Android Auto's developer settings, or a wireless Android Auto dongle. Settings let you set the resolution, DPI, frame rate and video codec to suit your screen; mapping steering wheel keys is possible too, but the tablet has to be rooted or have Shizuku installed for that part.

This is a project for tinkerers: you supply the tablet, the cable, the power and the mounting, and the wiki is worth reading before you start. Android Auto 17.4 broke most wireless connection methods, the Wireless Helper included, so a wired connection or a dongle is the safe choice for now. Android Auto itself is a Google app and is not open source.

From the app’s home page

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Last worked on 23 hours ago · Listed here since 2026 · info updated 2 hours ago

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