The best CarPlay radio app

Radio Dad brings 50,000+ live stations to your car's CarPlay screen, laid out as four simple lists, Favourites, Recents, Browse and Genres, so you can pick a station at a glance and keep your eyes on the road. The spinning globe stays on your phone by design; CarPlay is for choosing quickly and safely, not exploring. CarPlay is part of Premium ($4.99 a month or $34.99 a year, with a 14-day trial), and if you do not have CarPlay or do not subscribe, a free Driving Mode gives every user the same big, glanceable controls, flips to a dark theme for night driving, and can start on its own when your car connects over Bluetooth. Either way, you get a radio that is easy and safe to use while driving, from anywhere in the world.

What a good CarPlay radio needs

A car radio has one job: let you change the station in a second and get your eyes back on the road. That means big targets, short lists, and no fiddly discovery while you drive. Bonus points for remembering what you played last, and for starting up on its own when you get in.

Radio Dad on CarPlay

On the CarPlay display, Radio Dad keeps it to four lists:

Favourites, the stations you saved, one tap away.
Recents, so last night's station is right there this morning.
Browse, a short list of what is trending, for when you want something new.
Genres, to drop into a mood without hunting.

Everything is big, glanceable, and made to be safe at a stop light. The globe, Zap and search stay on the phone, where they belong. CarPlay itself is free; Premium adds the Browse and Genres tabs.

Screenshot: Radio Dad on the CarPlay display

Favourites, Recents, Browse and Genres on CarPlay.

No CarPlay? Driving Mode is free

Not every car has CarPlay, and not everyone wants Premium. So Radio Dad has a free Driving Mode: a full-screen, high-contrast layout with large controls, a dark theme for night, and the option to launch on its own when your phone connects to the car over Bluetooth. It turns the phone itself into a safe, simple car radio, no CarPlay required, no subscription.

Yes, and it is free. Radio Dad appears on your car's CarPlay display with Favourites, Recents and Now Playing so you can pick a station at a glance and keep your eyes on the road; Premium adds the Browse (trending) and Genres tabs. The spinning globe stays on your phone; CarPlay is for choosing quickly and safely.

CarPlay itself needs Premium ($4.99 per month or $34.99 per year, with a 14-day free trial). But a car-friendly interface is free for everyone: Driving Mode gives you big, glanceable, high-contrast controls that flip to a dark theme for night driving, and it can start on its own when your car connects over Bluetooth.

Driving Mode is a free, glanceable interface for the car that works without CarPlay. It shows large, high-contrast controls, switches to a dark theme at night, and can launch automatically when your phone connects to your car over Bluetooth, so you get a safe, simple radio on the phone screen even if your car has no CarPlay.

Yes. Radio Dad's catalogue is more than 50,000 live stations from 230+ countries, so you can save stations from anywhere to Favourites and reach them on CarPlay. It is a genuinely global car radio, not just your local dial.

Eyes on the road

Radio for the drive.

Get Radio Dad for iPhone. Free CarPlay, and a free Driving Mode for cars without it.

Get the app