YouTube Music as a service has been around for about three years now, though it really only existed in earnest once the revamped version of the YouTube Music app and dedicated website, as we know it today, launched in May. Whether you look at it as three years or just six months old, one thing is clear: YouTube Music isn't finished yet, is filled with issues and is incredibly frustrating to use on a daily basis considering it costs the industry-standard $10 per month. YouTube Music is so unfinished and lacking features that I question whether Google has any intentions of following through with its vision of replacing Google Play Music entirely. Put simply, I can't believe Google thinks anyone will pay $10 per month for it when all signs point to Google itself not caring about YouTube Music's success. Verizon is offering the Pixel 4a for just $10/mo on new Unlimited lines

YouTube Music effectively doesn't work with Google Home. Yes you can select "YouTube Music" as your music provider in the Google Home app, but that only gives you access to a music catalogue when you ask for specific songs or artists. You can ask any way you want, but a Google Home won't play your YouTube Music "Mixtape" or any custom playlists. It'll try its best to play some music from YouTube on your Chromecast instead, but that's not helpful. And most times when you think you do get a Google Home to play YouTube Music, it isn't actually playing YouTube Music — it's playing Google Play Music, of course, so there's a good chance it'll start pulling your old GPM playlists and sending listening history there instead. Great. YouTube Music also still doesn't work with Android Auto, which is just as inexcusable as not working with Google Home. Android Auto and YouTube Music apps have both been updated at least half a dozen times since the music service re-launched with this new direction, and I still can't use it to play music in the car. You can start up YouTube Music and then open Android Auto to at least get a player for play/pause/seek, but it won't show up as a media choice in the app. YouTube Music doesn't integrate with Google's other hardware or services, so why should I care? Then there's the Music app and website, which are just rudimentary. Building playlists is clunky and feels tacked-on. Search is an odd mix of actual songs, tracks from compilation albums, and a weird sprinkling of YouTube videos. I want music, not music videos or weird tracks uploaded at low fidelity to YouTube then transposed over to the Music side. Nor do I want my YouTube history and home page filled up with "YouTube Mixes" suggestions. I want YouTube to be where I go for video content, and YouTube Music for just music. Stop trying to make this cross-pollination happen, because it just adds a bunch of cruft and hurts both services. The YouTube Music Android app is updated regularly, and actually has a good rating on Google Play. And that's somewhat justified — it works well enough for the basics, is stable, and has a good amount of customization in the settings. Unfortunately, it's not getting appreciably better or fixing any of these major compatibility gaps.