What you need to know
- Google’s Now Playing feature may soon gain a Summary tab.
- It can showcase stats of songs picked up from the Pixel, including genres and artist names.
- The updated Now Playing feature was spotted on a recent Android 14 build.
Google's Now Playing feature on Pixel smartphones is a well-regarded tool that can identify any song playing in the background and is extremely helpful for unenthusiastic music lovers. Fans of the feature may be happy to know that the handy music discovery app is likely to get new functionality.
A newer version of Now Playing has been found in the latest Android 14 build, notes 9to5Google. It was spotted by a developer, who showed a new interface that now includes a “Summary” tab sitting next to the existing history and favorites tabs. From the shared screenshots of the new interface, we get to see recent statistics pulled up based on the “Now Playing” history.
The showcased stats involve a 30-day summary of songs, next to their genres, artists of the listened tracks, the time during the day when songs were heard, and the "more songs heard" section. The genres categorized are shown in a colorful ring format. In contrast, the other parameters are shown through a progress bar format.
It looks a bit like the yearly (or seasonal) recaps streaming services offer to users, breaking down the songs they listened to throughout the year. This would give users yet another reason to visit their Now Playing history, which currently just shows a list of songs and favorites that you can open from your preferred music streaming service.
First up, we have Now Playing Summary in the Now Playing History. This is a likely upcoming Pixel feature, which displays stats of your recognised tracks from the last 30 days. It's already enabled in Ambient Music Mod, and can be tweaked to display from 1 day to 1 year of data. pic.twitter.com/1eh40O4lhIApril 18, 2023
While it is unclear when this feature will roll out to Pixel devices, it's possible it could arrive alongside Android 14 or even a separate feature drop. Nonetheless, it is a great addition for Pixel device owners who want a deeper look at the songs their Pixel phones pick up.
Those interested in trying the mod before the official release can head to Quinn’s GitHub page and test the "Ambient Music Mod," which brings the feature to other Android phones outside Pixels.
