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Google Drive Is Back in Cloudist Play and Watch

Google Drive is working again in Cloudist Play and Cloudist Watch. Since November 1, 2026, you can connect a new Google Drive account or reconnect one you added before, on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and the web. If you held off adding your Drive library while this was paused, or if an old Drive connection in your account list has been sitting idle, here is what changed, what Google checked, and how to connect it now.

This only ever affected Google Drive. Nothing about how you use the rest of Cloudist — your other cloud accounts, your downloads, your playlists — changed while this was in progress.

Why Google Drive Was Paused

Any app that reads files in a user's Google Drive has to go through Google's restricted-scope OAuth verification before that access can be offered to the public. Cloudist went through this process for the drive.readonly scope it uses to browse and play your music and videos. While Google reviewed our access, we paused new Google Drive connections in both apps rather than offer a feature that could stop working partway through the review.

Restricted-scope verification exists for exactly this kind of permission: before an app is allowed to read files in a user's Drive at scale, Google wants confirmation that the access requested is actually needed for what the app does, and that it's handled safely once granted.

That review has now concluded. Google approved Cloudist's use of the restricted scope, and Google Drive connections were re-enabled in both apps on November 1, 2026.

What Google Checked

Restricted-scope verification looks at exactly how an app uses the data it asks permission for: what the app can actually read, how it handles your sign-in session, and how data is protected both in transit and wherever it is stored. As part of getting approved, Cloudist also completed an independent security assessment under Google's CASA program, which checks the same kind of safeguards — session handling, encryption, data storage — against a written set of requirements rather than just a description of how the app is supposed to behave.

None of this changes what the app does day to day. It is the same Google Drive browsing and playback you used before, now backed by a documented, Google-reviewed security assessment instead of an unverified claim.

Read-Only, on Purpose

Cloudist asks for the drive.readonly scope when you connect Google Drive, and nothing broader. With this scope, the app can list the folders in your Drive and read the contents of the files you choose to play — it cannot create, rename, move, or delete anything in your Drive, and it never will, because the permission to do so was never requested.

Your files stay exactly where they are: in your own Google Drive. Cloudist does not keep a copy of your music or video files on its servers; when you play or download a track or video, it comes directly from your Drive, the same way it always has. Your Google sign-in token for that account is not stored on Cloudist's servers either, so each device you use needs its own sign-in — that's also why switching phones or adding a Mac means connecting Google Drive again on the new device, rather than it simply appearing.

Connecting still works the normal way Cloudist handles any cloud account: a standard OAuth sign-in and consent screen, so your Google password itself never passes through Cloudist. The app only ever sees what Google's consent screen told you it was asking for.

How to Connect Google Drive

To add your Google Drive account, open Settings → Accounts → Add Account and choose Google Drive. You'll land on Google's own consent screen, which spells out exactly what Cloudist is asking to access before you sign in and approve it — that screen is Google's, not Cloudist's, and it's the same one you'd see when linking Drive into any app.

Once you're back in Cloudist, you'll see an Account added confirmation with a prompt to start a full scan of that Drive account right away. You don't have to do it immediately — you can also start the scan later from the account's own menu — but running it once gives the app a complete picture of what's in that Drive folder so your library, playlists, and favorites all line up correctly.

Already Connected Before?

If you had Google Drive connected before the pause, Cloudist may show that account with a Re-login required label in Settings → Accounts. Tap it to open Re-login to Account and sign in again; the app will recommend rescanning your library afterward so it catches anything that changed in your Drive while the account was disconnected.

If you're not sure whether an old account needs attention, the safest move is the same either way: open Settings → Accounts, tap the Google Drive account in question, and sign in again. Nothing about your library, playlists, or downloads is lost by doing this — you're only refreshing the connection, not starting over.

Get the Update

Google Drive works again in the current versions, Cloudist Play 1.0.34 and Cloudist Watch 1.0.28. Learn more about Cloudist Play and Cloudist Watch, or grab them here:

Same read-only access, same library sitting in your own Drive — just open to everyone again.

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