Google has a fix for Pixel’s ‘Now Playing’ bug, plans an update

What you need to know

• Now Playing has been broken for many Pixel owners dating as far back as November 2024.
• The feature is a way of automatically identifying the names of songs playing around you from the lock screen.
• Google finally identified the problem and has a fix coming with a future Android update.

Now Playing is a handy Pixel feature that can identify songs playing around you automatically using an on-device library. When a song is playing, it’ll appear on the Pixel lock screen, and you can go back and see the full list of songs you’ve heard throughout the day later. Unfortunately, the feature hasn’t been working for many since Android 15 QPR2 rolled out, according to an Google Issue Tracker thread. Luckily, a fix is now incoming, as first spotted by Android Authority.

The bug saw Pixel phones unable to recognize songs with Now Playing that it would have identified in the past. It’s a tricky bug to discover, because Now Playing works in the background — unlike manual alternatives, like Shazam. Now Playing is a neat party trick for Pixel owners, though, and many users noticed it not working as expected in recent months.

On the Issue Tracker thread, a Google employee now confirms that a bug did indeed break Now Playing and that a patch is on the way. “Thank you for reporting this issue,” the Google employee wrote. “We have a fix rolling out in an upcoming release.”

While that statement doesn’t include specifics about what went wrong or when an update will roll out, it stands to reason that a patch could be included in the upcoming March Feature Drop for Pixels. As Android Authority notes, that update is already slated to include fixes for other annoying Pixel bugs, like the back gesture that doesn’t always work.