If you have a Pixel phone, then you have likely seen the Now Playing feature at work at some point during your ownership of the device. It’s a pretty easy way to tell what song is playing, whether it be on the radio or anywhere else you might have music in the background. It doesn’t always work properly, but it works fairly well most of the time.
Now Playing isn’t available on anything other than Pixel phones, but the function it provides isn’t Pixel-specific. There are apps available on the Play Store that do exactly the same thing. However, they’re not necessarily as convenient, because you’ll usually have to open the app first and start the function to have it listen for music.
Google’s search bar on Android has a similar function, where you can tap the microphone and then tap a button to listen for a song. Now Playing works in the background, though. So, it’s always sort of just persistent and available without the user having to do anything. Although Google did add a quick settings tile that allows manual song searches. The ironic thing is that Google is now reportedly turning this into an app.
The Now Playing feature on Pixel phones is getting its own app
According to a new report from 9To5Google, Now Playing is getting a dedicated application. This will allow users to get a little bit of extra functionality out of the feature. It’s not clear how far along the development is exactly. However, it’s far enough along that strings of code mentioning the app are already in the B.21 version of Android System Intelligence, which powers the Now Playing feature.
When this app is released, it’s not likely to replace the Now Playing function as a background tool. Rather, the app will serve as a means for users to see the song history that’s recognized by Now Playing. It will have other functions as well. That being said, it’s not quite clear what the other functions might be. It seems unlikely that Google would develop and launch an entire app without planning more features. So, expect additional functionality to become available.
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