What are the best in-car apps?

Download these car apps to help make your day-to-day journeys a breeze

Whether you’re nipping to the shops, commuting to work or heading off on a family holiday, it’s likely you’ll turn to an app for help.

From sat navs to music apps to apps that turn your phone into a dash cam, there’s a whole world of car apps out there that you might not know exist.

Luckily, we do.

And the best thing about apps? They’re universal. 

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got a Tesla lease or a Nissan lease – all you need to take advantage of the tech is a relatively new mobile and a good internet connection. Yes, you might struggle a little if you’re deep in the depths of the English countryside.

But with most of us spending our time in towns and on the motorways, nine times out of ten you should have no issues.

Read on to discover our favourite in-car apps – including those you’ve probably never heard of before – and make your daily car journeys that little bit easier.

Your Parking Space

Your Parking Space is an innovative, but pretty simple app, that allows you to find a parking space easily, keeping track of your spending and parking permits all in one place.

Download the app to find spaces near you, as well as their prices. 

Anyone can add a parking space to the app. If you’ve got a parking space and you’d like to rent it out and earn a bit of spare cash, it’s easy to add it to the marketplace.

Your Parking Space has locations across all UK major cities, including airports, train stations and stadiums. To find out if your local area is included, head to their locations page for the full list.

Smart Dash Cam

Charles Cridland, co-founder of Your Parking Space, actually told us about this little gem. 

One of his favourite in-car apps is Smart Dash Cam, which allows you to turn your humble mobile phone into a dashcam. It means you don’t have to invest in a dashcam, and it allows you to easily move your camera from car to car.

It has some clever settings which allow you to decide how long you want each recorded loop to last, so your recordings don’t eat up all of your memory.

The footage won’t always be useful, but we’ve all had that time where you wish you had a camera recording.

iCarMode

iCarMode is a one-stop-shop for all your in-car needs.

With a large and easy to use interface, the app includes all the things you could need for a long journey. From radio stations and music control, to maps and car parking apps, it makes your journey as easy and stress-free as possible.

We spoke to Diego Resnik from iCarMode, who told us why the app is a must-have for all drivers:

‘iCarMode is the first app I open whenever I enter my car. It’s part of my car’s dashboard. I love listening to music while I’m driving, and with iCarMode and its big buttoned interface, I can play my favourite tunes with minimum taps and distractions.

This app has everything you need. It has great radio feature so I can listen to radio stations and podcasts from around the world. It also allows me to easily call my favourite contacts, find a good coffee shop or restaurant when I go to a new place, and even help me find my parked car.’

Speaking as someone who once spent over an hour trying to work out where they’d parked the car, we’re sold.

Waze

Waze is one of the most popular in-car apps on the market – and for good reason.

It’s the ultimate app for navigation and live traffic updates, as well as telling you when there’s a speed camera nearby.

Rachel Bustin, who writes the blog Home In The Pastures, recommends Waze as one of her favourite car apps. She said, ‘Waze is an easy to use app, and it’s very accurate for alerting you to traffic jams, accidents and speed cameras. It’ll give you an instant route change and tell you when you’ll arrive. 

‘It does many other things too, like letting you know where the cheapest petrol station is on your route.’

Netflix

Bit of a rogue one, granted, seeing as you won’t be catching up on Bridgerton while you’re keeping your eyes on the road ahead, but hear us out.

If you’re off on a longer journey and you’ve got kids, having Netflix (or a similar streaming app) downloaded on your phone or tablet is a great way to keep them occupied. Provided they don’t get travel sick easily.

‘One of our most used in-car apps has to be Netflix on long journeys,’ says Hayley from Devon Mama. ‘While we’re all for wholesome family activities and days out, trying to entertain small and often tired children in the car can turn into a huge battle.

‘Instead, we’re able to stream their favourite shows, lock the screen and let them watch in peace. It’s great for those moments where you want to stop them from falling asleep before you get home, or when you need to concentrate on finding the right directions.’

Spotify

Again, not aimed solely for car use – but one that’ll absolutely elevate your journeys – Spotify (or your music app of choice) makes it easy to listen to your favourite songs and podcasts in your car.

Hayley also thinks Spotify is a top choice for longer car journeys, and it’s something the whole family can get involved in, picking their favourite songs and curating the perfect playlist for every trip.

She said, ‘We’re also big fans of Spotify for playing our favourite tracks on the go. Whether that’s songs for the kids or ones for us to sing along to (badly) when we’re in the car alone, having the variety at our fingertips makes any driving experience more enjoyable.’

Car-aoke, anyone?

Petrol Prices

With fuel costs rising and falling on what can feel like a daily basis, we all keep a tally in our heads of the cheapest fuel stations near to our homes.

Free up that mental real estate with the Petrol Prices app.

It notifies you of the cheapest petrol garages near your location, allowing you to fill up with that smug feeling that you’ve got the best price for your fuel. 

You can even sign up for alerts that send you the cheapest option each week, ensuring you’re never overpaying for that liquid treasure that keeps you on the move.