New Android 15 Feature: Connect and Share Media Audio Wirelessly

Imagine you and your pals are touring collectively and wish to hearken to music as a bunch. If the app you’re utilizing doesn’t have a function like Spotify’s social listening, it’s not simple to share the music with everybody within the group. Auracast, part of Bluetooth LE Audio, goals to resolve this downside. Auracast permits you to share audio with close by gadgets utilizing Bluetooth Low Energy, while not having to undergo the difficulty of pairing. However, each the machine enjoying the music and the gadgets receiving it should help Auracast for this to work.

Audio Sharing Coming with Android 15

Even although Auracast was launched greater than a yr in the past, there aren’t many headsets accessible that help it. This may change in 2024, as many accent makers plan to launch new merchandise that help Auracast, particularly since most new smartphones additionally help it. To prepare for these new gadgets, Google is getting set to incorporate a particular “audio sharing” web page in Android 15. This web page will let customers simply share or hook up with close by LE Audio streams.

When I used to be exploring the Android 14 QPR2 Beta 3 launch, I discovered many phrases within the Settings app about audio sharing. These phrases discuss a web page with a “change” (a toggle) to share audio, a button to scan a QR code and hook up with a close-by audio stream, one other button to decide on a distinct Bluetooth machine for listening, and a piece that reveals a listing of close by audio streams.

The upcoming audio streams web page can be situated in Settings beneath Connected gadgets after which Connection preferences. I managed to manually open the web page and see its structure. Unfortunately, I couldn’t check beginning or connecting to a close-by audio stream as a result of I don’t have a tool that helps Auracast broadcasting.

Google has been engaged on together with Bluetooth LE Audio in Android since Android 13. It’s presently attainable to start out and hook up with close by LE Audio broadcasts via a button in Android’s media output switcher. What’s vital in regards to the Android 15 replace is that Google is prominently that includes this functionality within the Settings menu. This means that Google is on the point of spotlight Auracast help as a key function of Android 15, much like the way it did for LE Audio help in Android 13.

Audi Sharing Already Available in Tensor-Enabled Devices

Google hasn’t launched earbuds that help LE Audio but. However, all gadgets powered by Google’s Tensor chip already help model 5.2 of the Bluetooth Core Specification. This model is the primary to help LE Audio. If Google decides to launch new Pixel Buds with LE Audio this yr, most current Pixel telephones would have the ability to get pleasure from the benefits of LE Audio. However, it’s unsure if Google intends to introduce new Pixel Buds this yr. Therefore, we are able to solely guess why they’re including this function right now.