If you can play Angry Birds in your Mercedes, take selfies in your BMW, why wouldn't you be able to watch YouTube in your Audi? The Inglostadt-based carmaker is the first brand in the Volkswagen Group to bring video streaming on board cars. Porsche and Bentley will follow up next.
Starting this month, drivers of selected Audi models will be able to click Play on their favorite content via the YouTube app and watch the video on their car’s infotainment display. Audi has developed the new app store with Volkswagen's software company CARIAD and its partner, Samsung subsidiary HARMAN Ignite.
Audi owners will be able to integrate the apps they use every day into their cars. Music, video, gaming, navigation, charging, weather, and news apps are part of the plan. The YouTube app, as well as the others, can now be installed directly in Audi's MMI (Multimedia Interface) system.
It will work just like on a smartphone. Following the installation of the app from the app store, it will appear in the MMI system. Those on board can launch it by simply tapping the icon.
And just like on a smartphone, drivers who are YouTube Premium members will watch ad-free content. More than 500 hours of content are uploaded to YouTube every single minute. That means that those on board will have plenty to watch.
What drivers must know is that they cannot watch YouTube while driving. They can make the most of their time but only when stationary to avoid putting themselves in danger. That would mean charging stops, driving breaks, or waiting times.
Photo: Audi
YouTube is the first video platform that will be available for download in Audi's native app store. It will be available starting with the 2024 model year in models equipped with the latest hardware and software, meaning the third-generation infotainment system MIB 3. A data link, established with the help of an embedded SIM, is necessary to use the third party app.
The Audi A4 and A5, the Q5 crossover SUV, the A6 and A7, the A8 sedan, the Q8 e-tron, and the e-tron GT quattro are the models that will be getting the ability to play YouTube content. They will be optionally equipped with the store ex-factory for the European, Canadian, and American markets, with other regions of the world set to get it at a later date.
The Audi app store will also include Spotify, TikTok, and Webex, as well as The Weather Channel.
Other brands in the Volkswagen Group are to follow soon. The Porsche Cayenne facelift will be one of the models to get YouTube playing on its 9.2-inch passenger display. Bentley models will also get the possibility to play the content of the video platform.
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