Nintendo Music 1.6.0 Adds CarPlay, Android Auto and a Web Player

Nintendo Music version 1.6.0 began rolling out on June 2, 2026, and it finally drags the app off the phone screen. The update adds iPad support, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and Siri track search, alongside a long-requested browser player at music.nintendo.com. For the first time since the service launched, you can play Nintendo soundtracks on a car dashboard, a tablet or a desktop without a workaround.

The checklist reads like routine housekeeping. The timing does not. The same week, Nintendo dropped the Mario Kart World soundtrack into the library, and the two moves together tell you what this service is really chasing: the everyday listening moments that game-music fans had been getting from YouTube and Spotify rips instead.

What Version 1.6.0 Adds Beyond the Phone

Until this week, Nintendo Music was a phone-only app. That was the single biggest knock against it. You could not pipe it through a car’s built-in display, you could not cast it cleanly to a laptop, and a tablet just stretched the phone layout. The new build closes most of those gaps in one pass.

Here is the full patch note set Nintendo published for the release:

• The app now supports iPad, with a layout built for the larger screen.
• The app now supports Apple CarPlay and works with a car’s built-in display.
• The app now supports Android Auto.
• The app now supports searching for tracks with Siri.

Separate from the app update, Nintendo also switched on a Nintendo Music browser player on the web, letting Nintendo Switch Online members stream the full library from any browser on a PC, Mac or tablet. The patch is distributing on iOS and Android now, so not every account will see it the same hour.

Why the Browser and the Dashboard Matter More Than the Checklist

Streaming services live or die on where you can listen, not on how many tracks they hold. A library you can only reach through a phone app loses every commute, every desk-bound work session and every living-room speaker setup to whatever else is already on the car screen or the browser tab.

That was the quiet weakness in Nintendo Music from day one. Game soundtracks are background music by nature, the kind of thing you queue up while driving or working, which is exactly where a phone-only app cannot follow. CarPlay and Android Auto fix the commute. The web player fixes the desk.

Closing the Convenience Gap With Spotify

Spotify and Apple Music have offered car integration and browser playback for years, and plenty of Nintendo fans simply used those services, pulling official or fan-uploaded game music into their existing playlists. Every listening occasion Nintendo could not serve was an occasion handed to a rival app. The 1.6.0 release is Nintendo reclaiming the dashboard and the desktop it had been ceding by default.

Part of a Wider Mobile Push

The update also fits Nintendo’s steady expansion of services that live outside the console. The company has been pushing more apps onto phones and tablets, including its recent photo-driven mini-game collection the Pictonico mobile launch in late May. Music is the piece of that push most exposed to outside competition, which is why getting it onto every screen matters.

The Copyright Crackdown That Made the App Inevitable

To understand why Nintendo built a music app at all, rewind to 2019. That is roughly when Nintendo’s takedown campaign against game-music uploads on YouTube shifted from a trickle into the thousands, stripping soundtracks that fans had no legal way to stream anywhere else.

The criticism wrote itself. Nintendo was pulling the music down while offering no official alternative, leaving decades of Mario, Zelda and Metroid scores stranded. The pattern fed years of speculation that an official service was coming to fill the void the takedowns had opened.

It arrived on October 31, 2024, when Nintendo launched the app for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. The numbers below frame how cautious that debut was:

• 2019 is when the YouTube takedown push escalated into the thousands of videos.
• October 31, 2024 marked the app’s launch on iOS and Android.
• 23 soundtracks were available at launch, with more added most weeks.
• 45 markets were covered at release.

The crackdown made the case, but for nearly two years the official answer was a phone app with no car support and no web access. The 1.6.0 update is Nintendo closing that distance.

Mario Kart World Joins a Catalog With Visible Gaps

The platform expansion shares the week with the catalog headliner. Nintendo added the soundtrack from Mario Kart World, the 2025 racing title, free for subscribers. It lands as 130 songs running more than four hours.

That total is incomplete on purpose. Nintendo has not posted the entire score yet, and the Free Roam tracks are missing, flagged for later updates. It is a familiar pattern for the service: drop a marquee soundtrack, then fill it in piecemeal over following weeks.

The gap matters because the catalog is still the easiest thing for a rival upload to beat. A fan channel can post a complete soundtrack the day a game ships. Nintendo’s official version trades that speed for legitimacy, lossless quality and extras like extended loops, and it is betting convenience now closes the gap that completeness leaves open.

Where Nintendo Music Sits Against the Big Streamers

With car and browser support live, Nintendo Music is closer than ever to feature parity with the mainstream streamers on the mechanics that matter. Where it stays different is catalog and price, and that is the trade a subscriber is actually weighing.

Access starts at $3.99 a month through an individual Nintendo Switch Online plan, or $19.99 for a year, and a Family membership extends the app to up to eight accounts. Nintendo has signaled subscription price revisions for the United States, Canada and Europe later this year, so that entry figure may not hold. You can confirm current tiers on the Nintendo Switch Online membership comparison page.

The catch is obvious from the table: Nintendo Music is cheap as an add-on but does only one thing, and the moment you let your subscription lapse the music goes with it. The mainstream apps cost more and carry everything else you listen to, and they keep working even when reliability slips, as it did during the recent Apple Music outage across ten countries. For a fan who mainly wants legitimate, complete Nintendo scores in the car, the math now leans toward the official app in a way it did not a week ago.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Nintendo Music free?

No. Nintendo Music is included with a paid Nintendo Switch Online membership, which starts at $3.99 a month or $19.99 a year for an individual plan. There is no standalone purchase and no free tier for the app.

What is the Nintendo Music browser URL?

The web player lives at music.nintendo.com. Sign in with the Nintendo Account tied to an active Switch Online membership and you can stream the full library from any browser on a PC, Mac or tablet.

Does Nintendo Music support CarPlay and Android Auto now?

Yes. The version 1.6.0 update, rolling out from June 2, 2026, added both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so the app can run on a car’s built-in display. Siri track search was added in the same update for iOS users.

Is the full Mario Kart World soundtrack on Nintendo Music?

Not yet. The service added 130 songs running over four hours, but the complete score is not up. The Free Roam tracks are missing and Nintendo says they will arrive in later updates.

Can I use Nintendo Music on an iPad?

Yes. Before this update the app ran only on phones, but version 1.6.0 adds native iPad support with a layout built for the larger screen, alongside the new web player.

Do I lose access to downloaded music if my subscription ends?

Yes. Nintendo Music access is tied to an active Switch Online membership. If the subscription lapses, the app and any saved tracks stop working until you renew, unlike a music library you own outright.