If you’re deep into Twitch content, there’s an indie app out there that can make your car trips much more exciting. CarStream for Twitch, available on the Apple App Store, integrates Twitch streams into the iOS-powered CarPlay system.
On the relevant App Store listing, CarStream developer CodeStep describes the app as a tool that “transforms your car into the ultimate Twitch listening experience.” Once enabled, CarStream locates active broadcasts from Twitch accounts you follow and displays them within the CarPlay interface. Obviously, the functionality of the app is limited to audio. We don’t need anyone crashing their car because they were trying to watch a wombo combo in action.
Consuming digital entertainment platforms within cars has become a notable — if unexpected — development over the past few years. Mercedes-Benz arguably kicked off the trend when it announced in 2023 that it would put the TikTok app in its new line of E-Class vehicles. The integration was designed so that it only functions when the car is not in motion.
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Automakers like Porsche and Rivian soon followed suit by bringing YouTube into their automobiles. This type of integration has been an active playing field for third-party developers, who have found inventive ways to access apps like YouTube in CarPlay.
Twitch is arguably the most natural platform for an in-car listening experience. Many of its streams are passive by nature, as they put the viewer in a leaned-back role. Many people who watch Twitch streams use the long-form broadcasts as background noise while they tidy up or get ready for bed. (Sometimes, the streamers themselves get in on the cleaning and sleeping, too.)
The age of the average Twitch viewer is a factor here. About three-quarters of the platform’s users are under the age of 35. That means many Twitch denizens are either new drivers or are still learning. Once they get behind the wheel, they’ll be more interested in CarStream than what the radio has to offer.
With all that in mind, will Twitch ever roll out a first-party version of CarStream? The Amazon-owned hub hasn’t made any indications that it plans to launch in cars, but if it passes on that opportunity, rivals like Kick might want to give it a try.
