Pixel’s “Enhance Now Playing” feature is now rolling out to users

Google’s December 2024 Feature Drop brought a promised update to the Pixel’s Now Playing experience, introducing an “Enhance Now Playing” setting. While the concept is promising, the rollout had yet to actually happen: until now.

Rolling out now to Pixel 6 and newer, “Enhance Now Playing” replaces the old “Show search button on lock screen” setting and will use Google Search to identify songs your device might miss and even fetch the album artwork.

You’ll find this new option nestled within your Now Playing history and in Settings > Sound & vibration > Now Playing. Interestingly, we’re also getting a new “Default music player” option, featuring YouTube alongside usual suspects like YouTube Music, Apple Music, and Spotify. Additionally, tapping on an identified song in your history now expands it, showcasing a prominent “Play on [service]” button. An overflow button reveals the familiar bottom sheet with all your music listening options.

Google is rolling out “Enhance Now Playing” as a server-side update and for what its worth, I have it on the Pixel 9 Pro XL. To ensure you can take advantage of the update, make sure you’re running the latest version (V15) of Android System Intelligence. You might need to head over to the Play Store listing directly to force the update.

While the “Enhance Now Playing” feature is a better overall experience, the missing album artwork is really holding it back for the moment. We’re hoping Google irons out this wrinkle soon, and when it does, this entire update will really make identifying and later finding great music that much easier from your Pixel device.

VIA: 9to5 Google