How to Play and Stop Music on Google Maps on Android and iPhone

Google Maps for both iPhone and Android is a wealth of features. This map app lets you do a lot, from making it easy to find parking spots to adding multiple tags for home and office. You can also control the music on your phone from the app. This way, you can focus on the road instead of switching between different apps.

Google Maps, at the time of writing in February 2022, supports Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Wynk, etc. supports applications. If you prefer Apple Music, you can choose songs and playlists from the Maps app. Is not it beautiful?

Enabling music in the Google Maps app for Android and iPhone is easy and simple.

Here’s how to play, pause and stop music in Google Maps.

How to Enable Music in Google Maps on iPhone

First, you need to enable the corresponding music app in the Google Maps app to access the music and control the playback.

Stage 1: Open Google Maps and tap on your little avatar in the top right corner. After that, select Settings from the menu and then Navigation.

Step 2: Scroll down until you see the Music playback controls option and tap to select it.

iPhone gives you two options at the time of writing in February 2022 – Apple Music and Spotify. Unfortunately, YouTube Music support is not available in all regions.

Choose one of them and save the settings. Depending on the app you choose, you may need to grant different permissions.

Stage 3: Now open Apple Music and play the song you want. Once done, open Maps and start navigation.

Playback controls will appear below the navigation details. The only limitation is that you cannot access the player settings if there is no song playing in the app. You will have to play the songs manually before or after you start navigating.

But the good news is that you will be able to see your playlists with just one tap. Just tap on the little Browse icon and the playlist will be available on the next page. Alternatively, you can ask Siri to change the song for you.

Note that Apple Music does not allow you to browse playlist content. Fortunately, there’s a nifty Open Apple Music button on the top.

On the other hand, Spotify gives you the option to Continue Playing when you start the navigation. You can also select songs directly from playlists.

Spotify’s integration looks smoother on the iPhone.

How to Enable Music in Google Maps on Android

Google Maps offers several options compared to iOS. For example, you can customize the Pinned Trips and Location settings according to your preference. The same goes for the music player. For example, Google Maps for Android supports players like Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music and other local music streaming services.

Stage 1: Open Google Maps and tap the avatar icon in the upper right corner. This will bring up all the options. Scroll down until you see Navigation Settings.

Step 2: Under Navigation settings, scroll down until you see the Assistant default media provider option.

By default, the system selects YouTube Music. However, to play songs on Maps, you need to subscribe to YouTube Premium. If you’re on the free version, YouTube Music will stop playing the song when you switch to Maps or any other app.

The good thing is that you can choose from other services like Spotify and Apple Music.

Stage 3: After selecting the desired music application, open the music application of your choice and play a song.

Meanwhile, start navigating in Google Maps and player controls will be available at the bottom just above the Assistant settings.

Unlike iPhone, Android does not allow you to change the playlist in Maps. And when you tap the song, just open the song detail page. Fortunately, there’s a nifty Maps icon at the bottom to help you get back to Maps.

However, if you need to select an entirely new song or playlist, you’ll have to return to Spotify by tapping the Browse Spotify button at the bottom. When you’re done, return to Maps by swiping on the Navigation bar.

If you can’t take your hands off the wheel, ask Google Assistant to switch songs.

Jam Sessions

So you can play and pause the music directly from the Google Maps app. Sure, you don’t have as much control as a full-blown music player, but the options are good enough for you to have basic control over songs without distractions.