Google says ‘Now Playing’ on Pixel will let you set a default music app, not live yet

Ben Schoon | Dec 6 2024 - 8:20 am PT

One of the clever features of Google Pixel has long been “Now Playing,” a feature that can ambiently recognize music, and it appears Google is working on some new additions including the ability to set a default music app.

As we reported in November, Google is working on a new “Enhance Now Playing,” a somewhat mysterious update that includes the ability to show album art alongside recognized songs. This has yet to go live, though, and it seems the door is open to other additions as well.

Google recently updated a support page with mention of being able to set a “default music player” for Now Playing on Pixel. The feature is described as being able to pick a default service to automatically pick songs. As it stands today, opening a song opens a new menu every time that asks you which app you want to open the song in.

Google describes being able to adjust this setting through Now Playing settings.

To set your favorite music service as the default to automatically play songs:

Open your phone’s Settings app.

Tap on Sound & vibration Now Playing Default music player.

Choose your default music player.

The problem, though, is that these settings do not currently exist, implying that this is a forthcoming update on Google’s end that just hasn’t gone live yet.

The updated page was first spotted by the folks at Android Police, who also note that the section wasn’t in place as recently as mid-November. For now, it remains unclear when this will actually roll out.