The Google Pixel-exclusive Now Playing feature underwent a significant overhaul last month. While it became a standalone app, it didn’t support manually identifying songs via the “Tap to see what’s playing” shortcut on the lock screen.
While the updated Now Playing app already has a lock screen corner shortcut and a dedicated Quick Settings tile, the absence of this manual option didn’t go unnoticed. Thankfully, a report over the weekend suggested that Google may bring this shortcut back.
It now appears that Google has quietly begun rolling out this option to Pixel users, with the “Tap to see what’s playing” shortcut appearing more widely. According to 9to5Google, this addition is making its way to Pixel phones as part of the version B.23 update of Android System Intelligence. It appears to be live on my Pixel phone as well, with the feature working as intended.
Hitting the “Tap to see what’s playing” button on the lock screen activates the “Identifying song…” indicator, with the result then appearing with the full album art, along with shortcuts to mark it as a favorite or open it in your preferred music player app.
The silent notification remains missing
It’s worth noting that Now Playing can already identify songs playing around you and display them on the lock screen without your intervention, which should be ideal for most users.
This recently removed lock screen option, however, has been the easiest way to manually identify a song, at least in my experience. As I’ve noticed before, not all songs are automatically recognized by Now Playing, so having the “Tap to see what’s playing” shortcut on the lock screen does come in handy.
At the same time, we can understand why some users may find this too intrusive on the lock screen. Based on a quick look at the settings, there doesn’t appear to be a way to disable “Tap to see what’s playing” from the lock screen without entirely disabling Now Playing.
Soon after launching its standalone app, Google gives native Now Playing an upgrade
Lock screen album covers are here
Although this new inclusion is handy for Pixel owners, we’re still not seeing the return of the silent notification for each identified song. This was another convenient way to see which songs have been identified on your device in the background.
We currently see no evidence to suggest that Google will bring back this silent notification. But considering how “Tap to see what’s playing” was brought back, one can surely hope.
What do you make of this recent addition to the Now Playing app?
