You Tube is rolling out support for Android Auto, but there are quite a few catches with it — and it could be another way to get you to sign up to Premium | Tech Radar

Overview

News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest smartphones

News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets

Details

Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more

Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Unlock instant access to exclusive member features.

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.

You Tube has rolled out support for Android Auto with playback controls

The catch is that it doesn't play videos, and you can only stream audio

You also need You Tube Premium for it to work, as it's essentially background play

You Tube is finally rolling out support for Android Auto, the app that allows you to mirror your smartphone screen to your car’s dashboard — but before your excitement takes over, you should note that it comes with a slew of limitations.

The video platform has been quite silent with this launch however, and instead of formally announcing the integration, users online have come across it themselves like in this Reddit post. As it stands, Android Auto is pretty strict with what you can and can’t do while your car is in motion which, when it comes to eliminating visual distractions while driving, is a safety no-brainer. That said, You Tube on Android Auto is not the You Tube you know and love.

For starters, Android Auto removes one of You Tube’s key elements and that’s its video player, meaning you won’t be able to watch anything and can only listen to audio playback just like the best music streaming services. In theory, you can play any type of content you want, but you’ll only be able to listen to its audio — which won’t be a huge setback if you exclusively listen to podcast episodes or videos that are ideal for audio-only listening.

You Tube Premium Lite just got better with two new upgrades we've been waiting a year for

Google rolls out unskippable ads to You Tube's TV experience to lure more Premium users

You Tube might be planning to charge users to use its playback-speed tool

Though it takes away You Tube’s biggest functionality, it doesn’t come as a huge surprise and is arguably the most sensible thing to do to ensure safe driving. Not only that, it doesn’t offer full-screen viewing or the option to browse for content, and playback controls are also limited on top of that.

As reported by 9to 5 Google, you won’t be able to skip forward within a video, and the current skip button will take you straight to the next video in the queue. You can still pause and play audio from the player screen, but you won’t have access to You Tube’s complete slew of playback tools.

Until now, users have been relying on workarounds to get You Tube working on Android Auto, so I can see this integration being widely welcomed. But it wouldn’t be classic You Tube if there weren’t a You Tube Premium catch.

Did you think you could get away with streaming You Tube through Android Auto for free? I hate to break it to you, but you’re going to need a You Tube Premium subscription in order to do so.

In typical You Tube style, Android Auto integration is another functionality that’s being paywalled behind Premium and it’s all because of background play, which is required for streaming through Android Auto. As this is a tool only available to paying subscribers, only those with a membership will be able to stream You Tube on a car dashboard, and the way I look at it is this is yet another strategy You Tube is using to get more people signing up to Premium.

The cheapest way to do this is through You Tube Premium Lite which costs

7.99 / £7.99 / AU

8.99 a month, a relatively new tier that was launched last year. Background viewing and offline downloads were added just a few months back, but while it offers majority ad-supported viewing, this doesn’t apply to music and other music-related content. If you’re like me and use You Tube for all things music and live performances, the standard Premium plan is your best option.

Follow Tech Radar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course, you can also follow Tech Radar on You Tube and Tik Tok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on Whats App too

Rowan is an Editorial Associate and Apprentice Writer for Tech Radar. A recent addition to the news team, he is involved in generating stories for topics that spread across Tech Radar's categories. His interests in audio tech and knowledge in entertainment culture help bring the latest updates in tech news to our readers.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

1 Whats App is getting a native Car Play app — and you can grab the beta version now

3 Last One Laughing UK season 2 episode 6 release date and time on Prime Video

4 European Commission confirms platform data breach — admits 'data have been taken' from official websites

5JBL just upgraded two of our top Bluetooth speakers — one big, one small

Tech Radar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Key Takeaways

News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest smartphones
News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets
Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more
Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission