Now Playing on Pixel phones is a very handy feature that recognizes music around you and surfaces the results on the lock screen. This eliminates the need to open a separate app. However, Google made this feature less convenient for users earlier this year. But things seem to be changing now, as reports are coming that Pixel’s Now Playing notifications are finally coming back.
Google is bringing back Pixel’s Now Playing notifications
Pixel users on Reddit are reporting that they are seeing recognized songs appear in the notification shade. The restored notifications show the song title and artist. Tapping the drop-down arrow should also give quick access to favorite songs or Now Playing history. This lets you check what’s playing without unlocking your phone, opening the app, or using Quick Settings.
The return of this feature isn’t very surprising, though. Evidence of its comeback was first spotted in August, which revealed that Google was preparing to restore the feature. The code inside Android System Intelligence referenced a toggle for music-recognition notifications. However, it wasn’t functional back then.
Not widely available yet
Google removed silent notifications when it turned Now Playing into a standalone app with the March Pixel Drop. It replaced them with the Quick Settings tile. The tile still exists and vibrates your Pixel when it identifies a song and shows the song title and artist on the tile.
Pixel owners need to ensure that both Now Playing and Android System Intelligence are updated and that notifications are enabled for the latter. Google’s support page also says Now Playing notifications can appear when the phone is locked or unlocked, suggesting the feature is officially making a comeback.
That said, it doesn’t seem to be widely available at the moment, as not everyone is seeing notifications just yet. This suggests that Google is rolling it out to a small set of users in a phased manner. It shouldn’t be long before it’s widely available.
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