Android Auto Finally Gets YouTube – Minus Its Most Important Feature

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As part of an ongoing process to improve how you use your car’s infotainment screen and make the in-car system tie into your Android phone and its applications better, Google has reportedly brought YouTube to Android Auto. Now, before you start jumping for joy, the feature — at least based on the comments we’re seeing on Reddit so far — appears to be somewhat limited. That’s because while Android Auto users have reported seeing YouTube playback controls on their Android Auto home screen, there doesn’t yet appear to be any way to watch videos on the car’s built-in screen. At least not yet.

The ability to watch videos and do other interactive things in your car has been a bit of a hot topic since the screens within our vehicles began to grow much larger. We’ve seen support for gaming in Tesla vehicles, and even Rivian has jumped on board with support for streaming videos with Google Cast. However, any real native support for YouTube in Android Auto has been basically nonexistent until now. Previously, users say they had to control YouTube from their phone if they wanted to listen while they drove. This, of course, can be extremely dangerous, and it is never recommended to mess around with your phone while operating a vehicle.

While the playback controls do appear for some Android Auto users now, reports suggest that you don’t have as much control over the video as you do in the app. You can’t fast-forward through videos, as pressing the “Next” button will just…

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