Google may soon give one of the best features in Pixel phones a bigger spotlight. The company is working on a dedicated app for Now Playing, the built-in tool that automatically identifies songs playing nearby.
This Shazam-like feature shows the song title and artist right on the lock screen and saves a history of tracks your phone has recognized. The key appeal has always been that it runs on the device, meaning songs are identified locally without sending audio clips to the cloud.
For Pixel users, Now Playing currently runs as a background service tucked inside Android System Intelligence. It’s the same system software that runs tools such as Live Caption and Smart Text Selection.
A closer look at Google’s plans for Now Playing
Recent code changes suggest Google is working to turn Now Playing into its own standalone app. 9to5Google has uncovered strings that explicitly reference a prompt to “download the new Now Playing app” and direct users to the Play Store.
New icon for the Now Playing app 9to5Google
This means that settings, song history, and associated controls will be placed in a dedicated application. A brand-new icon has also been spotted in testing builds, further hinting that this isn’t just a minor UI tweak.
Whether the new Now Playing app will remain exclusive to Pixel phones or arrive on other Android devices is an open question for now. Google has not officially confirmed anything yet; however, speculation points to a possible release alongside an upcoming Pixel Feature Drop in March.
Nevertheless, turning Now Playing into a dedicated app could make it easier for Google to update it more frequently, improve its design, and introduce enhancements without waiting for a full system software update.
Meanwhile, Google has also resumed rolling out the Android 17 beta to Pixel phones after briefly pausing the update due to a bug, restarting access for users who were temporarily blocked from installing it.
