NavRadio+

Review by eFreeware

If you own an Android head unit and the factory radio app feels like an afterthought, NavRadio+ is the sort of thing you go looking for. It replaces that stock tuner with an FM/AM receiver built around customization: station logos, editable lists, custom layouts and widgets. It is not a streaming service, which matters if you drive where signal is patchy and data is expensive.

The catch is right at the front: this app is written for a specific set of car radio firmwares, and the developer lists them in detail. If your head unit is on that list, you get a tuner that behaves like a proper radio component rather than a bundled extra. If it isn't, the app tells you at first launch that your unit isn't supported, so there is little risk of guessing wrong.

The app has been on Google Play since early 2020 and sits at a 4.3 average from 947 ratings, with more than 10,000 installs. Those numbers point to a small, specific audience rather than a mass-market one, which fits what the app is: a focused tool for people who already know what firmware their head unit runs.

The core job: listening without a data plan

The central point of NavRadio+ is that it tunes FM and AM directly. There is no web radio here, so the radio works the way a car radio always has: you pick a frequency and it plays. For anyone who has watched a streaming app buffer on a rural highway, that is the whole appeal.

The free version covers the essentials. You get a 2x3 grid interface, FM, AM and a favourites band, plus the basic RDS functions and a radio region selector. Alternative frequency handling is there in manual form, which is the kind of detail that matters on long drives where the same station appears on several frequencies.

Station elements are editable in the free tier too: position, frequency, name, logo and favourite status. That means you can arrange the dial around the stations you actually listen to instead of scrolling past the ones you never touch. Full-screen mode can be triggered by a double tap or on a timer.

Customization is where Premium does its work

Premium is a one-time purchase rather than a subscription, and it builds on the free feature set rather than replacing it. The most visible additions are display modes: a vertical list, a horizontal grid and a carousel that can run automatically or be moved by hand. Backgrounds extend to roughly thirty presets, the system wallpaper, a solid color, personal images or something derived from a station logo.

Themes, fonts and font sizes are adjustable, and day/night mode can switch manually, on a schedule or automatically. You can also toggle the frequency bar and button bar, set how long full-screen mode waits before timing out, and hide the status bar while it is active. These are small controls individually, but together they let the radio screen match the rest of your dash instead of looking like a stock component.

On the radio side, Premium adds FM1, FM2 and FM3 alongside AM and favourites, which effectively gives you three separate FM presets to organize. Automatic alternative frequency merge is included, and PTY logos are offered as an alternative to station logos. The developer also describes a logo database covering more than 100 countries and regions, with personal logo upload and assignment through the gallery as a fallback for anything missing.

Widgets, launchers and the smaller extras

Even the free version sends metadata notifications to launchers such as Agama, FCC and CarLauncher, so station information can appear in whatever front end you already use. Two home screen widgets come with the base app as well. That matters in a car, where the radio is one tile among several and you want it to cooperate with the rest of the interface.

Premium adds a few more of these connective touches: an in-app language selector, configurable behavior for the next and previous buttons, and the ability to point the equalizer button at an app of your choosing. Media notifications can be customized too, and there are speedometer, clock and floating widgets on top of the two that come free.

None of this is essential to hearing a station, but it is the difference between an app that works and one that fits. If you have spent time arranging your head unit's home screen, the Premium extras are the part that keeps the radio consistent with everything around it.

Checking compatibility before you install

This is the section to read carefully, because NavRadio+ is not a general-purpose radio app. It is built for Android car radios with particular firmware. The supported families include MTC units with PX3, PX5, PX6 and PX30 CPUs; TopWay firmware running Allwinner, SC9853 (TS9), UIS7862 (TS10), UIS8581A (TS18) or UIS7870 (TS20); and FYT/DUDUOS firmware with UIS7870, UIS7862, UIS8581 or SC9853i chips.

The list continues with the S32F0 chip, where a rooted ROM is recommended, ROCO K706/QF01-3-5 firmware, the K2001, K2401, K2501 and K4811 models, QS G5 units, ZA001 and ZE001 firmware, MT8163, MTK8259 and MTK8667 models, and SPD G298* models. Firmware outside that set is not compatible. The app shows a message on first launch if your car radio is not supported, which is the quickest way to find out where you stand.

Setup itself is mostly about restoring what you had. The free version backs up and restores the full app settings and the station list, so moving to a new head unit or reinstalling does not mean rebuilding your presets by hand. Anyone who bought NavRadio+ before it moved to a free-plus-Premium model gets Premium recognized automatically at first launch, and there is a Restore Purchase option in the settings if that does not happen.

Recent updates and who this suits

The app was last updated in early October 2026, and the changes are the kind you would want from a tool tied to hardware: audio loss fixed on some FYT7870 units, functionality restored across all MT8163 models, the record audio permission now requested only for MT8163 models, and refreshed logos for Morocco. That pattern suggests the developer is maintaining the app against the firmware quirks of the units it supports rather than adding unrelated features.

As for who it fits, the answer is narrow by design. This is for someone whose head unit appears on the compatibility list and who wants the radio portion of that unit to be better organized, more legible and more customizable than what shipped with it. It suits drivers who listen to broadcast stations regularly and want logos, presets and layouts that reflect their own listening rather than a generic dial.

It also suits anyone who wants a dedicated in-car audio tool. The region selector and alternative frequency tools are aimed at exactly that kind of driving. If your head unit is not on the list, the app cannot help you, and that is worth confirming before anything else.

A tuner upgrade for the right head unit

NavRadio+ is a well-defined tool with a clear boundary. On supported hardware it turns the stock radio into something you can shape: editable stations, logos pulled from a large international database, several display modes, day/night handling and widgets that cooperate with your launcher. The free version already covers tuning, RDS basics, region selection, manual alternative frequency management and full-screen mode, so you can judge the core experience before paying anything.

The one-time Premium purchase is where the customization lives, and the absence of a subscription is a point in its favor for an app you might keep for the life of a head unit. The trade-off is that the app is only as useful as your firmware allows. The developer's compatibility list is long but specific, and the first-launch check is the deciding factor.

My recommendation is straightforward: if your car radio is on that list and you want a more capable FM/AM tuner with real customization options, this is worth installing and trying in its free form. If you are unsure which firmware your unit runs, find that out first, because everything else here depends on it.

What's new in version 4.19

Fixed Audio loss on some FYT7870 units Fixed functionality for all MT8163 models Record audio permission is now requested only for MT8163 models Updated logos for Morocco