Android Auto will run right on your tablet's screen with the Open Headunit app. Max Miller for Engadget When a tablet gets old, it can often become nothing more than an expensive coaster. That's doubly true of Android tablets, which run the gamut from premium to ultra-budget in quality. Once they can no longer reliably run modern apps, Android tablets have few paths forward. They may be handy as e-readers or smart home control panels, but frankly you can probably find better ways to accomplish those tasks. But one unexpected use for an Android tablet is as a head unit for Android Auto, using it to control your phone, navigate and play media on the go. Using the Open Headunit app, which costs just shy of $4 on the Google Play Store (though you can get it free from GitHub if you've got a bit more tech know-how), you can trick your phone into seeing your tablet as an Android Auto unit and displaying a big, car-friendly infotainment system right on the larger screen.

Your tablet can become your car's infotainment system Max Miller for Engadget Getting the Open Headunit app running requires some fiddling. It allows multiple connection types — USB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and running Android Auto directly on-device if your tablet supports it — and you'll need to do some experimenting to figure out which plays nice with your combination of hardware. Additionally, you'll need to connect the tablet to your car's audio system in order to play music or other media through it. Open Headunit has a handy built-in configuration tool that will walk you through all the most important settings and adjust them to work with your setup. Gemini in Android Auto is supported, too. In my case, the issues with wireless Android Auto got me good, and USB ended up being the easiest solution. Once I spent some time enabling all the various permissions for Open Headunit and making it the default for USB connections, plugging my phone into my Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra would reliably open Android Auto and resume playback on my Spotify through its speakers.

Open Headunit isn't a perfect replacement for built-in Android Auto Max Miller for Engadget You might not want to leave a tablet visibly mounted in your car at all times, as even an older tablet may be a tantalizing target for thieves who don't know any better. Personally, my tablet pulls double-duty as my primary computing device, so if I stick with Open Headunit long-term, I plan to install multiple MagSafe car mounts in a r...