How ironic that an Alphabet company, Waymo, only works with a competitor streaming music service, Spotify, and not their own, YouTube Music. I guess that shows how separate they are.
I think it's also a privacy thing; you have to go into the Waymo app and “connect” your YouTube Music account (even though both have the same @gmail.com address), because otherwise the terms of service of one do not allow sharing data with the other without user consent. (Contrary to popular perception Google is very finicky about privacy, at least privacy as defined as conforming to the terms of service.)
Couldn't it just be a Bluetooth audio device? That way you could play anything you want, be it from YouTube, Spotify or your own music collection.
We do support YouTube Music and actually supported that before Spotify. But we only do ad-supported on Spotify and iHeartRadio (also paid Spotify).
It looks like YouTube Music was only added in October? I took the ride in September.
Maybe you could recreate it now, but with better music?
How about some games to pass the time? Make some exclusives so I look forwards to a 20 minute cross-town drive!
why does the car need games? Just use your phone/tablet/laptop
Because those are the same games I have available while not in a Waymo and I can play them anytime/anywhere. By having Waymo exclusive games that save state between rides that aren't available outside the Waymo, it builds the "only in Waymo" excitement.
In January YouTube music worked fine when I took Waymo in Menlo Park.
This was in September, so I'm happy to see the change!
That's good news, if I can't use the Youtube Music I've paid for in the Waymo then I'm not going to put up with Spotify Ads instead, better to sit in silence (or use my headphones and my own music)
Can you not steam arbitrary audio to it from your phone?