Many of us use a phone for navigation in the car — the benefits of apps like Waze can't be overstated to commuters in busy cities. Waze is especially useful since the app even integrates controls for other music apps directly, so you don't have to swipe between apps or pull down the notification tray just to pause or skip tracks. Fixing a noteworthy and somewhat embarrassing omission, YouTube music now joins the ranks of other music apps which can integrate directly with Waze's controls.

Instructions for enabling the integration, as provided by Google, are just below:

  1. Open the Waze app
  2. Tap the music note icon to select YouTube Music as your audio app, and start enjoying your audio content directly from Waze.
  3. Don’t see the music note icon? Head to Settings > Audio Player to turn on “Show Audio Player.”

Selecting an application for music integration in Waze.

The integration is rolling out today for both iOS and Android, eventually coming to all 50 markets of overlapping availability. It isn't clear if the functionality is provided by a server-side change, or if a recent update to either YouTube Music or Waze accounts for it — neither app's changelog indicates if it is responsible, so make sure both are updated to the latest version before trying.

Source: YouTube