Car Music
Your music collection, in your car.
Car Music plays the songs on your home computer on your car’s screen through Android Auto. And when you’re out of the car, the same music is on your phone and your other computers. No subscription, no uploading, nothing to sync.
Built for the dash. Ready everywhere else.
Years of CDs you ripped, albums you bought, live recordings nobody streams. Car Music puts all of it on your car’s screen next to the map, and keeps it with you after you park.
Made for Android Auto
Browse by artist, album, genre or song on your car’s screen, with album covers and artist photos. Big, simple lists that are easy to use while driving.
Just ask
Say "play Pink Floyd" or "play Comfortably Numb" and it finds it in your music.
Keeps playing when the signal drops
The next songs download ahead. If you lose signal, the song waits right where it stopped and carries on when you’re back in range.
Then take it anywhere
Out of the car, the same library is on your phone, for headphones at work or the gym, and in the desktop player on your other computers.
Private by design
Songs go straight from your computer to your phone. They’re never uploaded or stored anywhere else.
No setup headaches
No account, no router settings, no port forwarding. Scan one code and you’re paired.
Plays your files as they are, FLAC included
No converting, and no squeezing a lossless collection down to MP3. Car Music plays your files exactly as you keep them, on your phone, in the car and at your desk.
- FLACLossless, full CD quality or better
- WAVLossless, straight from the CD
- MP3The classic, from any collection
- AAC.m4a files: iTunes purchases and rips
- OGGOgg Vorbis files
- OpusSmall files that still sound great
Song names, albums and cover art are read from the files themselves. Lossless files are bigger, so streaming them over mobile data uses about five times more than MP3; downloading the next songs ahead keeps playback smooth.
How it works
Your phone and your computer can't normally find each other over the internet; your home router keeps outsiders out, and your phone's address changes as you drive. Car Music solves that in three parts.
Your computer holds the music
Car Music Server runs quietly on your home computer. It knows where your music folder is and keeps a list of every song.
A meeting point introduces them
When you open the app, a small meeting point on the internet passes a quick hello between your phone and your computer, like a mutual friend swapping phone numbers. It never handles any music.
Then they talk directly
From then on, songs stream straight from your computer to your phone, the same way video calls connect. Your phone plays them on your car’s screen through Android Auto, or on its own speaker and headphones when you’re not driving.
Set up in about ten minutes
You do this once. After that, just get in the car and press play.
- 1
Install the server on your computer
Download Car Music Server below for your computer and open it. Its setup page opens in your web browser.
- 2
Choose your music folder
Point it at the folder where your music lives. It reads your songs, albums and covers. A big collection can take a few minutes the first time.
- 3
Install the app on your phone
Download the Android app below and install it. For the car, also turn on Android Auto’s developer settings so it shows apps installed this way (see the note under the downloads). Only needed for the car.
- 4
Scan the code
On the server's setup page, click "Show pairing code". In the app, open Settings, then Music servers, then Add a music server, and scan the QR code with your camera. On the desktop player, type the code shown under the QR code instead. Your songs start loading right away.
Download
The server goes on the computer that has your music. The app goes on your Android phone. The desktop player is for listening on your other computers.
Car Music Server
Linux
Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora and others on a regular 64-bit PC
Downloadcarmusicserver-linux-x64Raspberry Pi 64-bit
Pi 3, 4 and 5 with 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS, and other ARM64 boards
Downloadcarmusicserver-linux-arm64Raspberry Pi 32-bit
Pi 2 and 3, or any Pi running 32-bit Raspberry Pi OS
Downloadcarmusicserver-linux-armWindows: if a blue "Windows protected your PC" box appears, click "More info", then "Run anyway". Linux and Raspberry Pi: make the file runnable first. Right-click it, choose Properties, and tick "Allow executing file as program", or run chmod +x on it. Not sure which Pi download you need? Run uname -m: "aarch64" means 64-bit, "armv7l" means 32-bit.
Car Music for Android
Android app
Plays on your car’s screen with Android Auto, and on the phone itself with headphones or its speaker.
DownloadCarMusic.apkGoogle Play
Car Music is on its way to the Play Store.
Coming soonInstalling the app: open the downloaded file on your phone and allow installs from your browser when asked. To see it in the car: open the Android Auto settings on your phone, tap "Version" ten times to unlock developer settings, then in the ⋮ menu open Developer settings and turn on "Unknown sources". Car Music then shows up with your other music apps.
Car Music desktop player
Listen at your desk too. The desktop player connects to your Car Music Server just like your phone does.
Windows
Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit. Unzip it and open car_music.exe.
DownloadCarMusic-Windows.zipPairing: on the server’s setup page click "Show pairing code", then in the desktop player open Settings, Music servers, Add a music server, and type the code. Linux: after unpacking, open the folder and double-click car_music (or run ./car_music).
Questions
Does my music get uploaded somewhere?
No. Your songs stay on your computer and stream directly to your phone. The meeting point only passes a short hello so the two can find each other.
Does my computer have to stay on?
Yes, while you want to listen. Car Music Server can start by itself when the computer starts, so you don't have to think about it. Songs your phone already downloaded ahead keep playing either way.
How much mobile data does it use?
About as much as any music streaming: roughly 1 MB per minute for typical MP3s. Lossless files like FLAC use about five times more.
Which music files does it play?
MP3, FLAC, M4A and AAC, OGG, Opus and WAV. Covers and song details come from your files, and missing covers are looked up online.
Do I need to change my router or make an account?
No. There's no account and no router setting to change. Pairing your phone with a QR code is the only setup.
Can I use it on more than one phone or computer?
Yes. Show a new pairing code on the server's setup page for each phone or desktop player you want to add.