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
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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”

  3. Ruslan

    According to this logic, Google or Apple should ban all phones in car. 2 million accidents every year occurs because of texting while driving, checking phone etc. Who to sue then? Apple, samsung? Google for providing platform to use Whatsapp? If you are a little experienced driver you should know what to do, what not to do while driving. You may get distracted while checking torque or output power of car on screen while driving. Why to insult people with good intentions?

    Reply ↓
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    beats а real dictionary аny daү.

    Reply ↓
  5. Wil

    1.8.3 not working since android auto 2.9. It shows up as a media source but the far right icon doesn’t show car stream any more.

    Reply ↓
  6. Egen

    all a bit more complicated. use of the phone when driving is prohibited in many countries and it is spelled out in the legislation. Responsibility is borne by the driver. Watch movies on the screen is not prohibited and therefore in the event of an accident, the responsibility lies with google, because they did not close this function.

    Reply ↓
  7. Ruslan

    Phone standing on car mount and I am watching movies over there. Physically I dont touch and use phone, right? Ooooo yes Googles great invention AA mirrors your phone to screen and this guy made it little more interesting. Who can watch movies while driving anyways? It is impossible in all terms.

    Reply ↓
  8. Ron

    great work from you. Thank you for this top app ;) it works on a samsung, but with the huawei mate 10 pro it does not work because somehow always throw it out. what can you do there?

    Reply ↓
  11. Goutam

    Hi sir
    Thanks for the guide but unfortunately I am not able to see the you tube auto icon or msg on my android auto i am only seeing return to Suzuki plz help on this

    Reply ↓
  13. Daniele

    hi…I want to play video on my phone so i decided install on Plex media server. But when i download plex media server apk, it doesn’t install in my samsung s4…are there another version of plex media server or another way to play my video on car’s display? Tnksss

    Reply ↓
  14. Blacky

    First, this is great app. Second, There is no sound when playing mkv/mp4 from bookmarks internal/external storage (Samsung A5-2017). Any idea how to fix it? I followed turtorial for plex.tv and this work but consume mobile data when playing videos. So i still searching for the better way to play videos from phone storage, any tips?

    Reply ↓
  15. Goutam

    I had tried to change the package name via APK editor pro but not able to do the same getting an error msg again and again plz help

    Reply ↓
  17. Goutam

    I had tried to change the package name via APK editor pro but not able to do the same getting an error msg

    A/ (29264): First type is not attr!

    Reply ↓
  21. anubhav

    tried using the app but send to car option missing. tried changing the package name but after rebuild the car stream app just crashes as soon as i start it.

    Reply ↓
  23. Fotbalgol

    For those that say Google is responsible for accidents if I watch a YouTube video. I say this you are wrong:
    It is not he same thing if i watch Google Maps and I have an accident. So i can watch google maps on my screen but not a youtube video ….

    Reply ↓
  24. Android user

    Does car stream still work after the A.A 3.0 update? Just wondering. So far everything works great .
    I guess I can hold off on the update for a while. Are you working on a fix it it does shut car stream down.
    Thank you

    Reply ↓
  26. Almir

    After upgrading the AA to version 3.0, CarStream stopped working. I made a clone of CarStream and uploaded version AA 2.8.5745. All again earned. Hurray!

    Reply ↓
  28. RUDRA MANI

    I have been using this app since long and loving it. Offcourse don’t recommend people to watch movies while driving neither I do myself.
    What is like is when I drive my kid watch her favourite movie song and enjoy the ride..

    Thanks..

    Reply ↓
    1. datsource

      It wont work anymore after Android Auto 3.0. because Google pushed the nuke button. Bye Bye Youtube Auto. If you still want this feature to work you need to downgrade Android Auto to v2.9. But believe me, there are better options!

      Reply ↓
  34. Resül tarhan

    Hello, thank you very much for the car stream program. This program is a great gift for us. Thanks to this program you won many people’s love. We are very pleased to add in the following features.

    1. Adding video shuffle feature.
    2. When playing video, there are still frosts, if possible.
    3. Display videos with thumbnails.
    4. Mp3 play in the mix.
    5. Changing the background image while playing Mp3.
    6. If possible the background image of the main screen of the android auto program can be changed.

    Thank you very much:)

    Reply ↓
  35. thanks

    Thank you so much for your app. It works great and is invaluable to me for long trips with family. Please keep it going. I’m donating some LiteCoin to you right now!

    Reply ↓
  37. victor

    Will a any further updates be released in regards to improvements or to make the carstream app work with the 3.0 AA update?

    Reply ↓
  38. AnilKumar

    Again Blocked by the latest version of Android Auto v 3.xxx, (even with renaming of Package name using APK editor Pro),I uninstalled latest version of Android Auto and installed Previous version of Android Auto v 2.9.57.
    Now everything working Fine.
    Thanks a LOT for the AWESOME app.

    Reply ↓
  40. RSowner

    I have had a custom build of AA 3.0 installed prior to ever downloading carstream (I started with v1.1.2) and I had no issues until now. The option to switch to carstream is gone even after editing the package name. Hope you are able to come up with another fix.

    Reply ↓
  47. Mike

    I got the carstream option to show on my radio but it says “click last icon in bottom bar & start playing from YouTube…” But what bottom bar?

    Reply ↓
  49. Oswaldo

    Aunque regreses a otra versión anterior de AA no permite activarla sin actualizar. Me enfada mucho esa situacion. Hasta ayer funcionaba bastante bien.

    Reply ↓

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