GoKawiilJoe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR Google updated the Now Playing app on Pixel earlier this year — and removed the option to show notifications.
It may now be working to bring notifications back.
Google also appears to be working to add support for multiple users, which isn’t supported yet.
Now Playing remains one of the most compelling reasons to buy a Pixel still. In March this year, Google brought a major update to Now Playing, advancing it with its own dedicated app. But the update also brought a few feature cutbacks and challenges, such as removing notifications about tracks being played in your surroundings. This broke popular use cases for using Now Playing’s notifications to import songs into apps, such as Last.fm.
What followed was dissatisfaction from users, which Google is now looking to address. It is working to add notifications for the currently playing track back to the app with a future update.
You’re reading an Authority Insights story. Authority Insights brings you all the latest exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage from the Android Authority team that you won’t find anywhere else.
In the latest version of the Android System Intelligence app for Pixel 11 devices, we found cues signaling the return of Now Playing’s notification on Pixel phones. The app’s code now mentions the following string, which strongly suggests users would soon be able to toggle the app’s notifications:
Code Copy Text enableMusicRecognitionNotifications
The feature doesn’t seem to work at the moment, so we have to wait for a few more updates before we can share a working proof.
... continue reading