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New Year, Same Android Auto: Music Apps Hit by Unexpected Issue

The experience with Android Auto obviously can’t change overnight, so 2021 has brought us the same struggles with the app as the previous year.
YouTube Music set as default player on Android Auto 1 photo
Photo: Google forums
This time, we’re highlighting a glitch hitting music players, as users report they’re unable to play their favorite tunes with a voice command because Google Assistant throws an error saying they “don’t have a default app for playing music.” Despite a default music player actually configured, that is.

The issue most often seems to hit YouTube Music, Google’s big bet in the music streaming battle and the one replacing Google Play Music on Android and Android Auto.

Users explain they manually configure YouTube Music as the default music player in Android Auto settings, yet Google Assistant can’t figure out what app it should use, and therefore the playback isn’t started. This seems to happen on both Android 10 and Android 11, so it’s unlikely to be an issue caused by the latest operating system update.

Same here on a brand-new Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite with the latest upgrade to Android 11. The music won't play even if YTMusic is explicitly specified in the voice command (as in ‘play XXX from YouTube Music’),” one user explains on Google’s forums.

The good news is the search giant has already started looking into the whole thing, though as we learned the hard way, it’s better not to hold our breath waiting for a fix.

Thanks for reporting this issue. We've forwarded your issue to the rest of the team. We'll reach out to you if we need more information. Thanks!” a member of the Android Auto team said.

Is there anything you can do in the meantime? Not really, as users in the linked thread claim the generic workarounds don’t make any difference. So if you’re thinking of clearing the cache and the data, resetting apps, and everything, these are likely just a waste of time for now.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
Bogdan Popa profile photo

Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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