What you need to know
- Rumors claim that Google is in development of a proper Now Playing app for the Pixel-exclusive feature on the Play Store.
- While the report is barebones, what’s evident is that the app will host many features users remember, while also adding “more.”
- A previous rumor suggests that Google is working on Now Playing improvements, such as a persistent “searching for song” notification.
Google is supposedly working on making a useful Pixel-exclusive music feature a proper app in the future.
A post by 9to5Google highlights its deep dive into the Android System Intelligence’s latest version, which reportedly held insights about “Now Playing.” This is a Pixel-exclusive feature that lets the device listen for songs and identify them for the user (think Shazam, but Pixel). It’s been reported that Google is preparing to update Now Playing’s icon to a music note set inside a magnifying glass.
More than that, the publication found a notification in the code. To be specific, the publication discovered an “upgrade_notification_action,” which will supposedly instruct users to go to the Play Store for this new “Now Playing app.” An alleged description states that this “new home” will house your songs and song history.
However, the description mentions “other features,” though it’s not entirely clear what those could be. This discovery is quite barebones, as the publication couldn’t unearth the app’s would-be design and the “other features” its description teased.
What song was that?
Perhaps Google is shifting its focus toward the Pixel-exclusive feature, as this is the second time in half a year (give or take) that Now Playing has been mentioned. Last summer, there was a rumor that Google was working on improving the Now Playing experience for Pixel users by including a new option in its quick settings. This option would let users immediately activate the feature’s song identification function, so that audio doesn’t slip past them.
Additionally, the tipster at the time noticed that Google was also working on a persistent “searching for song…” notification in your notification panel. Perhaps this would evolve into showcasing the most recent song the feature has identified, in case you’re taking a gander. The alleged code’s brief mention of “other features” is a little more than interesting now.
This feature has continued to play an important role in Google’s phones, as even the Pixel 10 Pro XL features it. Now Playing’s database is pretty light, coming in at under 500MB. Moreover, it hardly hogs up your battery life.
Android Central’s Take
I don’t have a Pixel phone; however, I know someone who does. The amount of times that I’ve been told to look up a song because their phone identified it, but they weren’t paying attention is hilarious. The songs end up being a complete vibe, and it’s because of Google’s Now Playing feature that we can both vibe together with the music. Imagine not really paying attention to a song, but the part that you did listen to hooked you—yet you don’t know the title or the lyrics. That’s one area that features like this that Google slips in make them so handy to have.
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