CarStream (previously YoutubeAuto) for Android Auto APK download and setup

2,440 Replies

Play Youtube Video on Android Auto using this app

Screen Shot 2017-12-31 at 10.04.28 AMVersion history :

29th Dec 2017 : v1.0 released

29th Dec 2017 : v1.0.1 released to fix install errors on Android API level < 21

30th Dec 2017 : v1.0.2 released with safety disabled. Safety was showing blank screen when fullscreen. Controller support for nontouch screen still pending.

30th Dec 2017 : v1.1.0 Controller support for non touch devices done. Includes fullscreen and back nav support as well.

1st Jan 2018 : v1.1.1 Fix for app not installed on Marshmallow and lower Android phones. Install this version if you face “App not installed” error

1st Jan 2018 : v1.1.2 Stability fixes and support to resume video if was playing before app was minimized.

2nd Jan 2018 : v1.1.3 Ability to open any website via “Google search” option. Also send any custom url from the phone app. The car app remembers the last url visited and loads it automatically.

2nd Jan 2018 : v1.2.0 Speech to text for youtube searches. Minor fix to controller inputs.

2nd Jan 2018 : v1.2.1 Possible first fix for audio volume not controllable.

3rd Jan 2018 : v1.2.2 Full screen videos can be toggled more easily due to floating toolbar. Speech recognising view not hiding bug fixed. Its clickable just in case it doesnt hide. Progressbar to show page load progress.

3rd Jan 2018 : v1.2.3 Possible second fix for audio volume not controllable on some cars

5th Jan 2018 : v1.2.4 Fixed black screen which appears sometimes. Possible third fix for volume control in some systems.

6th Jan 2018 : v1.3.0Night mode support for Youtube added. Switch on your headlights to see the magic.

9th Jan 2018 : v1.3.1 Full screen mode now persists across videos. No need to switch fullscreen mode for each video on a playlist. It also stays on across app launches. You also should see a slight page speed boost.

9th Jan 2018: v1.3.2 Initial implementation of playing local offline videos/music/images. To enable, open phone app, grant “external storage” permission, then long press on the home icon (to the right of back button) on the car to open the SDcard folders. Now you can select a file and play it fullscreen. (Demo)

12th Jan 2018: v1.4.0 Now you should be able to use steering mounted controls (for next and previous video). This update also allows a “somewhat” background playback which allows you to listen to the audio without the video, but the catch is that you have to select the video first using the UI and then switch to background mode. This update should fix any volume control issues you have been facing in the past. (Watch the Demo)

12th Jan 2018: v1.4.1 If you have crashed when accessing youtube purchased videos, this build will fix it.

13th Jan 2018: v1.4.2 Please uninstall all previous builds and install this one if “youtube auto” has suddenly disappeared from Android auto (from last 1-2 days). If you dont uninstall previous builds, there is a chance that 2 similar looking apps show up.

This is possible because Google has blocked my previous app. Still not 100% sure.

13th Jan 2018: v1.4.3 About link redirecting to 404 page fixed.

14th Jan 2018: v1.4.4 Safety Warning popup added which pops up everytime you start driving. This warning will disappear if you use handbrake/parking mode.

15th Jan 2018: v1.5.0Aspect ratio support to remove black bars. You can toggle between aspect ratios in full screen mode. Also irritating notifications have been removed.

15th Jan 2018: v1.5.1Fullscreen controls support for controllers, use right,left,up and center to seek, change aspect ratio and play/pause.

15th Jan 2018: v1.5.2Bug fixes for “I understand the risk” not clickable for some users. Fixed steering mounted controls not working the first time.

15th Jan 2018: v1.5.4Fix for “I understand the risk” button not clickable. Irritating notifications are back because without them there is no way to make steering controls work reliably. Will be fixed soon

18th Jan 2018: v1.6.0Youtube auto renamed to CarStream with new logo. Looks like google bannned again. So if previous app is not showing up, use this app.

19th Jan 2018: v1.6.1Youtube auto renamed to CarStream with new logo. Looks like google bannned again. So if previous app is not showing up, use this app.

25th Jan 2018: v1.7.0Bookmarks support added. Click on last icon on the top toolbar. Long press on a bookmark to delete. Demo

25th Jan 2018: v1.7.1 Italian and chinese translations added. Check the credits section for how to add more languages. Thanks to everyone (mentioend in credits) for translating.

26th Jan 2018: v1.7.2 External SD card support works with most devices. Look for the ‘external storage’ bookmark. French translation added.

27th Jan 2018: v1.7.3 Basic keyboard input added. Translations to finnish, portuguese, danish, turkish, french added. Thank you everyone

6th Feb 2018: v1.8.0 More translations added. Revamped local offline player. Now play SD Card videos with next and previous support. Also supports formats like MKV. Also Bookmarks issues have been fixed. For a full list of supported formats read ‘Standalone container formats’ on this page

6th Feb 2018: v1.8.1 Bug fix release,
issues related to local videos not playing correctly fixed.

7th Feb 2018: v1.8.2 Bug fix release for bookmark dpad support in non touch screens

8th Feb 2018: v1.8.3 Bug fix release for audio focus issues. If carstream overwrites other players, this version fixes it. Also local audio/video continues to play in background.

21st Jun 2018 : 2.0.0 Introduces a way to unlock carstream in rooted phones. Thanks to ‘slashmax’ for figuring out the trick.

The following message is shown if handbrake is not applied. Please make sure you use this app safely.
Android auto youtube warning

8th Feb 2018 : For raising bugs or enhancement requests please visit https://github.com/thekirankumar/youtube-android-auto/issues

Youtube Auto Latest Version
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Youtube Auto Latest Version
Download

How to install the app

How to watch local videos of all formats on SD Card

Raising bugs, enhancement for new features

CarStream is developed and maintained by me in my free time. In order to efficiently manage my time, it would be great if you can use github for raising bugs and feature requests. I have been using this blog’s comments section till now for this, but it doesnt scale well. So if you put anything here, it will mostly get ignored. So please use github. I know its painful to create a github account, but it helps me. Before raising a github issue, check if the same issue exists, otherwise it will most likely be closed.
Use this link to reach github issues page

Debugging black screen issue

Black screen when switching on Youtube auto is usually related to Power saver mode on your phone. Some phones have it as “aggressive doze mode” or “advanced battery optimization”. For youtube auto to work seamlessly, you have to switch off power saver mode completely or disable it just for Youtube auto.

Also sometimes you can follow this trick of switching on youtube auto phone app on phone and then connecting to the car. Please try this on Xperia and Huawei phones. Also some huawei phones are not compatible with android auto in general. Even Waze doesnt work. Source

Disabling the bottom bar in fullscreen mode

Many users have requested this feature of hiding the nav bar when in fullscreen mode. Unfortunately google doesnt support this feature and we can expect google to give an API in future version of android auto. So this is not feasible.

Source code

If you want to add new features or checkout the code visit https://github.com/thekirankumar/youtube-android-auto/ Pull requests for new feature are welcome.

Donation

If you like this app, please make a donation.

My bitcoin (BTC) address 1MHUymspbm3FgJexAFcvxxq6QdHS9bJjZh

My paypal address https://paypal.me/thekirankumar2

My litecoin (LTC) address LXRkN1JDm1weqDL6WKCQRTcqqfPnSiGaCQ

Credits

Unofficial Android SDK https://github.com/martoreto/aauto-sdk Without this SDK this project wouldn’t exist. Thanks to Martoreto for reverse engineering the Waze app and coming up with a easy to use SDK and a sample app.

VideoEnabledWebview https://github.com/cprcrack/VideoEnabledWebView This webview makes fullscreen videos easy to implement.

Thanks for helping with translation :

German : Timo Neumeier
Russian : Ilja Skobelev
Italian : Gabriele Rizzo
Chinese : Nelson
French : Adil Bousfiha
Finnish : Joona Ahveninen & Raitsa
Portuguese: Daniel Stuart
Turkish: Ufuk Ata
Danish: Hayrullah Celik
Bulgarian : Boby
Polish : Krzysztof Białek
Estonian : Magnus Jaaska & Olev Kaas
Spanish : César Formica & Miceot

If you want to translate to your local language, please visit the github repository and raise a pull request or just mail me the strings.xml file at [email protected]

Note

Disclaimer :This is my personal project and I maintain it in my free time. The work here is in no way related to my Employer. It is a hobby project where I have not committed to anyone about maintaining it. With Google blocking every move, its getting more difficult to progress. You can imagine how it would be to fight as a one man army against google.

Unblocking instructions

[21st Jan 2018] Google has blocked the app multiple times till now and its becoming difficult for me to release just a new version to unblock it. Here are some tricks to do it yourself when google blocks the app.

Google blocks the app’s package name. This is how apps identify themselves and google is able to block the app easily by just identifying my app’s package name and then blocking it. As a workaround, if you are an android developer, just clone the source code and change the package name in build.gradle as well on the google-services.json file.

If you are not a developer, I recommend you use APK Editor Pro app (Its a paid app, but the apks are available everywhere). It allows you to change package names of any app without creating the APK yourself.

  • Download APK editor PRO (free version doesnt allow many features)
  • Open the settings and click “sign APK with” and select “key created by APK Editor”
  • Exit settings and come back to main menu
  • click “Select APK from app”
  • select the car stream apk
  • select “Full Edit”
  • click on the third tab on bottom called “manifest”
  • click on the second line from top called “manifest xmlns:android….
  • click on “package” and change the package name to anything you want. This is the most important step. You should use something which is unique to you. Use maybe your name or username in it. Do not use special character except “dot”. If your name is john doe, use maybe “com.johndoe.testapp” as the package name. Be creative here, because this is what google uses to block the app
  • Click save button, be careful not to press cancel.
  • Now click the build button on the top-right corner of the screen
  • This will take a few seconds and finish the creating a new APK
  • [IMPORTANT] Once it finishes, uninstall the old version of car stream. If you dont uninstall, the new APK wont install
  • Now go back to APK pro and press install the new apk you created which has your custom package name
  • After installation, Car Stream should work for you


If you get install issues with APK editor, try APK cloner. It doesn’t let you change package name, but it automatically chooses a package name and is easy to use and free.
If google blocks the apk again, come back here to this section for a new workaround.

8th Feb 2018 : For raising bugs or enhancement requests please visit https://github.com/thekirankumar/youtube-android-auto/issues

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2,440 thoughts on “CarStream (previously YoutubeAuto) for Android Auto APK download and setup”

      1. Max

        Hi Kiran,

        me and some others people are getting the app crashed when open it on AA, with black display, getting an error message like the one below (..I’m using phone Honor 9)..can u help to issue this problem? Thanks in advance for your great support!
        Maxcar crashed
        java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to create serrvice com.thekirankumar.youtubeauto.service.CarService: java.lang.RuntimeException:com.google.android.gms.car.b:java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException at andorid.app.ActivityThread.handleCreateService(ActivityThread.java:3362) at andoidapp.ActivityThread.-wrap5(ActivityThread.java) at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1662)

        Reply ↓
  3. rreis

    Kiran,

    When you update a new version app, its necessary to install the app once again and follow the “unblocking instructions “another time ?

    Reply ↓
  4. miyoly

    Good job,but new video player (v.1.8.0) can not appear file address and bookmarks (like v1.7.3),can you fix it ? thanks a lot.

    Reply ↓
  6. Edmund

    Hi, is there a way to increase the font size? In earlier version, the font size is just nice to read. But it is quite small in recent few updates. Maybe can consider putting up a setting to allow user to adjust the font size. Thanks.

    Reply ↓
  7. Isaias

    Hi, in version 1.8.0 when I want to see a video, y touch de file, only a small rectangle appears exactly in the navigation bar above, and when the bar is hidden, only that piece of video appears in the visualization and stays in the browser and a floating box where you can select how much the video covers but it is not achieved, as I mentioned before, it stays in the browser with the background audio of the video and it only expires in the area of the navigation bar above when it is hidden

    Reply ↓
  9. ahhl

    kiran
    new apk suggestion
    slashmax have created workable mirrorshare but only for touch screen car. i tested it and it works. clickable works ( random whatever display on screen) but i can’t select or or do anything

    can help to modify for non-touch screen car
    slashmax not into developing for non-touch screen car like me
    https://github.com/slashmax/AAMirror

    Reply ↓
      1. ahhl

        not sure cause i do not have touch screen. and i am not rooted.
        but for sure if i execute the apps from the car controller. it works and can launch the apps. ( depends where the cursur at that time)

        pls..pls…

        Reply ↓
  10. Deniz

    hi Kiran, in new version 1.8 when i try to add a favorite to bookmark, carstream application crashes and need to open again and adter i restart application i can see the favorite link which i try to add.

    Reply ↓
    1. cannot log into plex account via car stream due to missing keyboard symbols

      Why cannot log into plex account via car stream due to missing keyboard symbols.

      Please the keyboard has missing symbols like @,cannot be found so cannot type the email address fully,and do not allow username Log on

      Reply ↓
          1. leonardo iodice


            Shehan:

            Hi Kiran… Is it possible for u to add a web browser… That would be great feature if u can… All the best

            ….Hello, I want to compliment you for this amazing app that works really well on the FORD FIESTA PLUS 1.5 TDI on board the SYNC 3. There are some things to improve:
            - the keyboard, first of all, lacking of SPECIAL CHARACTERS, including the snail, without which it becomes difficult to log into the various internet sites;
            - there is no possibility to make LO ZOOM of the photos and, the same photos, when they are opened never come out PROPORTIONALS WITH THE MONITOR of my car;
            - poor integration with MICROSOFT SILVERLIGHT videos that often stop and are without sound: they do not work on premia play and skygo mediaset when used by the browser;
            - lack of support to see IPTV and open the relevant m3u lists;
            - finally, there is no possibility to HIDE / FAR DISCOVER the navigation bar below when viewing the videos in FULL SCREEN.

          2. Gabriele Rizzo

            Visto che già ho risposto esattamente a questo stesso commento un po’ di giorni fa, presumo tu abbia problemi di comprendonio e ti rispondo nella tua lingua:

            -Aggiungere dei caratteri speciali alla tastiera richiederebbe rifarla da capo. Se fai il login nei siti dall’app CarStream il login rimarrà
            -Silverlight non è disponibile per Android, e probabilmente non lo sarà mai. Quindi i siti che usano Silverlight non saranno mai possibili da riprodurre su CarStream
            -Com’è scritto nella descrizione dell’app sopra, basta leggere, a causa delle API di Android Auto, la barra inferiore non si può nascondere.

            Per il resto delle richieste, fai una segnalazione su GitHub (info sopra)

  13. cannot log into plex account via car stream due to missing keyboard symbols

    How do i do that please can you explain to me,when i connect my phone to my car dashboard to adroid auto,i can only see the car stream and the keyboard function dont allow me to sign in to plex account

    Reply ↓
  14. Matteo

    1.8 is the better version !!!!
    All is working well , function “next/prev” working well ….all video are in fullscreen mode as default….
    With button in my stearing well i can control video (next/prev)
    You are great !!!
    Can you add a little clock as overlay ?

    Thanks thanks thanks !!!

    Reply ↓
  15. cannot log into plex account via car stream due to missing keyboard symbols

    i have downloaded plex media server through apk and installed in my mobile,am also logged on in my mobile plex account,so now when i connect my android phone to my car to use login to plex account.i cannot because of missing symbols in the youtueAuto/Carstream keyboard

    Reply ↓
  16. Max

    Hi Kiran,

    me and some others people are getting the app crashed when open it on AA, with black display, getting an error message like the one below (..I’m using phone Honor 9)..can u help to issue this problem? Thanks in advance for your great support!
    Maxcar crashed
    java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to create serrvice com.thekirankumar.youtubeauto.service.CarService: java.lang.RuntimeException:com.google.android.gms.car.b:java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException at andorid.app.ActivityThread.handleCreateService(ActivityThread.java:3362) at andoidapp.ActivityThread.-wrap5(ActivityThread.java) at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1662)

    Reply ↓
    1. Andrea

      Anche io stesso problema con honor 8, appena scarico android auto è ok funziona, ma al secondo avvio mi da l’errore

      Reply ↓
  18. Luca

    Si può implementare la tastiera con i caratteri speciali,in maniera tale da poter effettuare l’accesso a siti in streaming,accedere alla mail,ecc ecc?grazie mille sei un grande

    Reply ↓
  19. Wolf Christoph

    Hi Kiran!

    I use version 1.8.0, in this version i cant hear any sound if i look a mkv video on my samsung s5 neo mobile. If i look the same video as a mp4 file, sound is clear!

    Reply ↓
      1. Fame T.

        Google does not allow to run YouTube in Android Auto for safety reasons too. So, I think, if you make an app that already violates safety rules, it makes sense to violate them all.

        If there is a line in app’s code that handles it, please show me, I will change it and compile my own app with all the bells and whistles. I’m not Android dev. but I think it’s not rocket science.

        Reply ↓
        1. Gabriele Rizzo

          Look it on GitHub then.

          The one that comes with CarStream is the stock Android Auto keyboard. And even if you are able to make it pop out at 0 km/h, then as you star moving it will say “Blocked for safety reasons”

          So, do you wanna write down a code for a new keyboard by yourself? Do it

          Reply ↓
  21. Wellington

    Hi Kiran!

    I’m using version 1.8.0, the sequential playback of all the videos in a folder is very good, but the videos are playing without audio, although in any player they play normally. Thank you very much for sharing.

    Reply ↓
  22. Js

    Keboard is missing symbols.. I dont have access to @ for example.. is this a possible fix or limited in android auto?

    Reply ↓
    1. Gabriele Rizzo

      Limited in Android Auto. It would require writing the keyboard from scratch. If you’re trying to login into a site, do it from the mobile app of CarStream

      Reply ↓
  25. TN

    Does anyone else have video and audio being off by about 1 to 2 seconds? Is this just the way it is because the way my phone is connected via Bluetooth? Any recs to fix so the audio and video sync up? Thanks in advance.

    Reply ↓
  27. Renz

    Would be excellent to include in the keyboard icon the @ button. Once active i will be able to login in Netflix. Will be able to assess if the video there will play.

    Reply ↓
    1. Gabriele Rizzo

      Netflix support is still under development and really hard. Anyway, login from the CarStream app on phone, and login will stay. But for now, Netflix won’t work.

      Reply ↓
  28. Dario

    Hello!

    Build errors: there are strings that are not fully translated and this creates build errors.

    Bug: When I play a YouTube video and switch to the audio player section, the play button has a circle around it that never ends loading. Local media does not have this problem

    Feature request: is it possible to add picture display capabilities for local file?

    Thank you a lot!!!!

    Reply ↓
      1. Dario

        I see problems in BG, ES, IT and TH

        The strings to be fixed are:
        send_to_car
        receive_from_phone

        (or something similar)

        Reply ↓
  29. Marco

    Can you please make playing YouTube videos not show when I am picking a video while driving to listen to background music i always have to play from the video before i can switch to background music. don’t want the cops thinking I am watching videos. Maybe YouTube music app like in the future thanks!

    Reply ↓
    1. Gabriele Rizzo

      Innanzitutto, se continui a scrivere in Italiano probabilmente Kiran non ti darà mai retta. Seconda cosa, se fai il login dall’app CarStream sul cellulare, risolvi il problema. Aggiungere una tastiera con simboli richiederebbe riscriverla da capo.

      Reply ↓
  31. Angel

    Probada la versión 1.8.1 y sigo sin poder ver los vídeos en pantalla completa. Solo se escucha el audio en pantalla completa. Alguna solución? Mi móvil es un android 6.0 doogee X5 Max pro.

    Reply ↓
  32. Eric

    Is it possible to get directvnow working to stream live tv? Within the web browser it takes you to the mobile site and trays to open the app, which it can’t. But, if it sees the site as the desktop version, potentially it would work. Same thing with Netflix which would be amazing!
    Great app keep up the great work!

    Reply ↓
  35. Cafhhj

    ….Hello, I want to compliment you for this amazing app that works really well on the FORD FIESTA PLUS 1.5 TDI on board the SYNC 3. There are some things to improve:
    - the keyboard, first of all, lacking of SPECIAL CHARACTERS, including the snail, without which it becomes difficult to log into the various internet sites;
    - there is no possibility to make LO ZOOM of the photos and, the same photos, when they are opened never come out PROPORTIONALS WITH THE MONITOR of my car;
    - poor integration with MICROSOFT SILVERLIGHT videos that often stop and are without sound: they do not work on premia play and skygo mediaset when used by the browser;
    - lack of support to see IPTV and open the relevant m3u lists;
    - finally, there is no possibility to HIDE / FAR DISCOVER the navigation bar below when viewing the videos in FULL SCREEN.

    Reply ↓
  36. Ned

    Hi Kiran,

    I can’t get v1.8.1 running on my AA. I followed your video with changing the package name but when i do that the app crashes after i reinstall it. How do i get the app being recognized by AA? Please help <3

    Reply ↓
  37. g88

    Hi Kiran! Great app!
    I would like to make some suggestions:
    You could add refuse to the BIT RATE control app in the videos display. This feature would help users who have slower internet connections.
    Another feature would be to hide the address bar of the sites, for better visualization, this feature is even realized by the chrome web browser.
    Another feature would be to keep the screen, for those who use the app in smarphone, always connected, because in the current version in the videos playback smarphome screen does not stay connected.

    Success!

    Reply ↓
  38. Eduardo

    Hello! I initially installed one of the older versions of youtube auto and it did not work because my car could not read the application. I even tried the apk application method but the message always appeared was “first type is not attr”. But then I installed a more current version and it turned out perfectly. But now I uninstalled the application to install the latest version and whenever I go to open the application, it stalls. Can you help me, please?

    Reply ↓
  40. Johnny

    keyboard issues cannot login to plex account on car dashboard.why why why whygive me better solution on how to fix this issue,youre a genius

    Please help am waiting

    Reply ↓
  41. CJ

    Great job! I couldn’t believe that I could stream from my Plex server in my car, haha! Will donate. For those having trouble logging into Plex because the @ symbol can’t be typed, logging into Plex via Carstream app before connecting to car worked for me. Loaded right up. I can’t believe how polished this is even though I don’t think I’ll use it that much.

    Reply ↓
  43. CHlebaCZ

    when running mkv or mp4, sound only works when the mp3 player in AA is running.
    if I turn off or pause the media monkey or googlemusic, the sound will also be muted at the carstream

    Reply ↓
  46. Laur

    Hello Kiran. I am trying since the release of this product to make it work for me. I have followed all the steps to clone it with APK editor PRO, but all the time, the only result when launching the app from Android Auto is a white screen (with only the buttons in the top row…) Any ideas ?

    Reply ↓
  47. flyfoxx

    Those with non-touchscreen HU should download 1.8.2. I tested it on Audi A4 and it works fine now. Dpad support works well in Bookmarks area. Buttons on steering wheel for “next” and “previous” video works well too! It is a complete app for me now. Thanks Kiran for the relentless effort in building and maintaining the app, even at your leisure time.

    Reply ↓
  48. Keke

    I don.t have sound and subtitles while playing mkv files from external memory of my phone using carstream 1.8.2…is there anyone who succeded in managing it?

    Reply ↓

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