Welcome to Ask Jerry, where we talk about any and all the questions you might have about the smart things in your life. I’m Jerry, and I have spent the better part of my life working with tech. I have a background in engineering and R&D and have been covering Android and Google for the past 15 years.
Ask Jerry
Ask Jerry is a column where we answer your burning Android/tech questions with the help of long-time Android Central editor Jerry Hildenbrand.
I’m also really good at researching data about everything — that’s a big part of our job here at Android Central — and I love to help people (another big part of our job!). If you have questions about your tech, I’d love to talk about them.
Email me at askjerryac@gmail.com, and I’ll try to get things sorted out. You can remain anonymous if you like, and we promise we’re not sharing anything we don’t cover here.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Is Auracast what we’ve been waiting for?
Jaqueline asks:
I know a bit about Auracast but I’m not sure how it will work when it arrives in Android 16. I understand I can tune into broadcasts, but can I create one? My husband and I would like to share a podcast on our daily walk, but he wears hearing aids and I do not. Will there be a way to broadcast to his aids while listening on my own Pixel buds at the same time?
Hi Jaqueline and thanks for the question, as well as the kind and encouraging words that came with it. Please accept this virtual internet hug of appreciation.
And this happens to be a great question. It’s about something new and potentially really cool, but also very specific concerning the feature itself. When they tell us all the wild things something new can do, companies never talk about any real use cases. So we’re gonna 🙂
First, the good news: Auracast is able to do exactly what you want. You are able to create a password-protected broadcast of audio from your phone that any compatible equipment can connect to, so you can play your podcast and listen through your buds while your husband connects with his hearing aids.
In fact, Samsung told me its compatible phones can do this right now since they have incorporated Auracast already and pointed me to an article it has already written that details the process. Without the right hardware here, I can’t test it for myself. I believe them, though, because this is exactly the type of thing Auracast was advertised as able to do.
You knew this part was coming, but that doesn’t mean it will work that way everywhere.
Auracast is a Bluetooth LE feature and has a set of complete specifications, meaning it should work universally no matter what hardware you are using. If it’s compatible, it should be 100% compatible. That never happens in the real world.
In fact, Bluetooth is a great example of how “standards” are already seemingly random, and the version number and the equipment manufacturer mean more than anything it says on the box. Ask anyone with two different brands of phone and a Bluetooth infotainment system from a car maker all about it.
I would not be surprised if things didn’t work the way we expected or were told they would, especially at first. Normally, that’s not a big deal as long as we get some sort of functionality, but in this case, you might be buying new hearing aids and making sure your phone is advertised as capable, so it could get a little pricey.
No amount of money is too much to spend if it makes you and your husband happy or have a better life, but if it was supposed to and doesn’t, that’s a bitter pill to swallow.
I hate suggesting this, but I am going to anyway — wait. Let the feature arrive on more devices and somebody will test it to make sure it works the way we expected it to work. Look at your favorite tech websites and audio/Hi-fi websites until someone tries it. If it works, you’ll even know what hardware it works with.
I’m very interested in the accessibility aspect of Auracast myself, so I’m in the same boat. Listening in a crowded bar or to a sports announcer seems pretty cool, but to me, the best part of the tech is its (hopefully) better functionality with hearing aids. If I can source the things I need, I’ll be sure to give it a load of testing myself and would definitely share any and all experiences.
In the meantime, I’m holding on to a few dollars until I know it will work the way I want it to work with the things I spend my own money on. If you do check it out, please drop me a line and let me know how it went!
