Google’s bringing some next-level music magic with Tap to Cast, a new feature set to debut on the Pixel Tablet and compatible Pixel devices. We wrote about this feature back in August but with an announcement at CES 2024, we now have details about this handy new feature that promises seamless music streaming handoff with a simple tap.
Although we weren’t at CES to experience Tap to Cast first-hand, Tim Schofield was there and captured the full Tap to Cast demo that you can watch in his Reel below. As you can see, when the Pixel Phone is playing music with YouTube Music or Spotify and is close to the docked Pixel Tablet, a pill-shaped notification appears on the top of the phone screen, and the music automatically moves to the Pixel Tablet. And it works both ways, so as soon as you want the music back, just tap the Pixel tablet and it will move the stream back to the phone. As for availability, Google says Tap to Cast is coming “this year” so that could mean next week or December.
But how does this musical teleportation work? According to the folks at 9to5Google, the secret weapon is UWB (Ultra-Wideband), a super-precise short-range radio technology. Because of the hardware requirements with UWB, this feature is only compatible with the Pixel 6 Pro, 7 Pro, 8 Pro, and Fold for now and will only work with a docked Pixel Tablet at this time. A Google rep at CES told Android Police that “it’s likely the feature will make its way to Google’s smart displays eventually, but there’s no timeline for that yet.”
Overall, it’s been a big year for the smart home at CES. Along with announcements of Fast Pair for Chromecast, TikTok Casting, and Chromecast built-in expanding to more devices, Tap to Cast is another example of how Google wants to make it easier to seamlessly enjoy content in 2024 and I cannot wait to try it out with the Pixel Tablet I’ve been using around the house. I will keep an eye out for it and will report back as soon as I can!
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