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[Update: 14 more] Motion Sense on Google Pixel 4 will work with these 9 media apps at launch

One of the features we’re most looking forward to on the Google Pixel 4 is the ability to control things like music without touching our phones by simply gesturing over the screen. Now we’ve now learned that Motion Sense on the Pixel 4 will certainly work with these media apps.

Motion Sense on the Google Pixel 4 is powered by Project Soli, which uses radar technology to detect hand gestures. One of the main use cases Google demonstrated for it, in their official promotional video, is the ability to skip songs with a wave of your hand.

Up until now, we had assumed that Motion Sense would simply send a “Next Track” or “Previous Track” signal, which all music apps would understand. Most Bluetooth headsets are able to implement media controls in a similar way.

However, in the Motion Sense app — provided to us by the awesome folks at NextRift — our Dylan Roussel discovered a list of nine applications that have been whitelisted as “Supported Apps.” This would seem to suggest that only apps that have been marked as “supported” will work with the Pixel 4’s Motion Sense track skipping capabilities. Or perhaps these will have greater functionality than simple next and back.


Update 9/29: The folks at XDA-Developers also took a look at the Motion Sense app and claim that Google should be able to easily update the list of media apps that can be used with the Pixel 4’s Motion Sense. In fact, such an update was already available on Google’s servers, and featured an additional 14 applications.

We’ve added them to the original list down below, in italics.

For the US, the two biggest apps added are definitely Apple Music and Tidal, but things get interesting when you look at the international list. Gaana , Hungama, JioSaavn, and Wynk are all India-based services, despite the fact that India has not yet been listed as an approved country for Motion Sense. Perhaps Pixel owners in India won’t have to wait long for Motion Sense to become available.


Here’s the full list:

  • Amazon Music
  • Anghami
  • Apple Music
  • AWA
  • 벅스 (Bugs Music)
  • Deezer
  • Gaana Music
  • 지니 뮤직 (Genie Music)
  • Google Play Music
  • Hungama Music
  • iHeartRadio
  • JioSaavn
  • KKBOX
  • MyMusic
  • Napster Music
  • Pandora
  • Shazam
  • SiriusXM
  • Spotify
  • Spotify Stations
  • TIDAL Music
  • Wynk Music
  • YouTube
  • YouTube Music
  • YouTube TV

More Exclusive Google Pixel 4 Leaks:


The most surprising app to still be included is Google Play Music, which has been set to be replaced by YouTube Music for some time now. The most notable missing app is, of course, Apple Music (see update above), which has been gradually rolling out new features to Android, including dark mode and Chromecast support.

For what it’s worth, we dug into many of these apps and found no evidence of any special integration with the Pixel 4’s Motion Sense capabilities. It’s possible Google has just arbitrarily chosen these nine apps to support Motion Sense, or a deeper integration could be coming to each with a later update. It’s also possible it will be compatible with more apps, and these are just the officially-sanctioned ones.

This post was made possible by APKs shared with 9to5Google by Nextrift.

Dylan Roussel contributed to this article.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

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Author

Avatar for Kyle Bradshaw Kyle Bradshaw

Kyle is an author and researcher for 9to5Google, with special interests in Made by Google products, Fuchsia, and uncovering new features.

Got a tip or want to chat? Twitter or Email. Kyle@9to5mac.com

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