Compared to speakers, Smart Displays open up a world of possibility for selecting and controlling what’s currently playing. Google is now testing a “Move to” ability on the Nest Hub to transfer what’s currently Casting to other Assistant devices in your home.
The Now Playing screen on Smart Displays can be accessed when Casting to speaker groups. A handful of Reddit users today reported a new “Move to…” option that allows them to send the audio that’s currently streaming to a specific device in their home.
This is very useful when moving around the house, but not wanting to stop playback and progress. The example below shows the feature available for a long-form podcast, but it presumably also works with music.
There is no equivalent voice command to “move” Casted media verbally, with a tap of the Nest Hub’s screen required. Depending on how many Assistant and Cast devices you have, the list could be particularly long. Other speaker groups do not appear, which might be a hassle if you have more than one speaker in a room.
The “Move to” Cast controls have so far only been spotted on the Nest Hub, with Google usually rolling out the latest Home firmware to its first-party devices. So far, it’s not live on three units we checked this morning. These features will more than likely also come to JBL, Lenovo, and LG Smart Displays.
However, it’s still unclear whether this functionality will launch as Google has a history of just testing features and then pulling them.
More about Smart Displays:
- [Update: Removed] You can now create impromptu speaker groups on Smart Displays
- Google readies ‘custom’ Assistant volume for Smart Displays, Home speakers
- Best Google Assistant speakers & smart displays you can buy
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