YouTube for Android is rolling out support for Android Auto, but before you get too excited, remember that what you can actually do with it is pretty limited.
Android Auto will always stream through the audio playing on your phone, but it doesn’t always give you additional controls for it. Over the past few months, we’ve seen more apps show off functionality through Android Auto’s media controls, and now it looks like YouTube has been added to the list.
Through recent updates, YouTube has added Android Auto support, which is now widely available. We’re seeing the functionality across multiple devices, accounts, and app versions in both beta and stable tracks, as well as users on Reddit. report the same.
this no YouTube app on Android Auto. You can’t play videos or even see the media controls full screen. YouTube only appears in the media widget of the dashboard with the ability to play/pause content and also skip to the next video – it’s a full video transition, not a skip ahead. within video and the same action applies to the steering wheel controls as we tested.
This is sure to come in handy for some – there are plenty of podcasts, clips and even full YouTube videos that make for a great audio-only option while driving. But this is definitely not the full “YouTube for Android Auto” release that many were hoping for. According to Google, that’s not off the table.
You’ll also need a YouTube Premium subscription for this to work, as background playback isn’t possible otherwise. Until February 2026although the background game is included in the $7.99/month Premium Lite plan, which is a more affordable option.
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