Now Playing is one of the Pixel’s oldest features, and Google is gearing up to give it a big app “upgrade.”
About APK Insights: In this “APK Insight” post, we have decompiled the latest version of the application that Google has uploaded to the Play Store. When you decompile these files (called APKs for Android apps), you can see various lines of code that hint at future features. Please note that Google may or may not provide these features, and our interpretation of them may be incomplete. However, for those that are near completion, we will be able to show you what they will look like when shipped. Please keep that in mind as you read on.
Currently, background song identification is powered by Android system intelligence, which also powers features such as live captioning and smart text selection. The interface is quite old-fashioned, with a two-tab layout: History and Favorites.
Now Playing will soon become a “dedicated app.” Version B.21 of Android System Intelligence includes a string that describes this “upgrade.”
Go to Play Store
Download the new Now Playing app
Play has a new home. You can check settings, song history, etc. with the dedicated app.
Go to Play Store for installation. You can see what the new icon will look like thanks to the stubs you already have on your Pixel device. The app will be com.google.android.apps.pixel.nowplaying.
The hope is that this approach will allow Google to introduce more features to Now Playing, similar to when Weather became a Pixel-only app. The modern design helps a lot, but it requires you to sync your play history when switching devices.
As for when this will be released, the next feature drop in March would be a good candidate.