Solid quantity controls for speaker teams on Pixel telephones are again!

Final week, Google introduced the second beta of Android 15, bringing long-awaited options like Personal Area, App Pairs, Predictive Again, and extra. The second beta additionally quietly launched a revamped quantity panel UI, however we weren’t too shocked by this since we already knew it was coming. Nonetheless, the second beta surprisingly introduced again a volume-related function we weren’t positive was ever going to return to Pixel telephones: the flexibility to manage the amount of speaker teams whereas casting!

If you create a speaker group consisting of a number of Assistant-enabled units within the Google House app, you’re capable of forged audio to that group out of your cellphone utilizing a Solid-enabled app. For instance, let’s say I make a speaker group named “Nest Hubs” that consists of my bed room Nest Hub and my lounge Nest Hub. If I open the YouTube Music app, begin enjoying a track, after which faucet the forged icon, I can choose “Nest Hubs” to begin playback on each my Nest Hubs concurrently.

If I maintain the YouTube Music app open, I can management the amount of my speaker group by urgent the amount keys on my cellphone. This performance is accessible it doesn’t matter what system I take advantage of. Nonetheless, if I open one other app whereas YouTube Music is casting, whether or not I’m capable of nonetheless management the amount of my speaker group utilizing my cellphone’s quantity keys is dependent upon what cellphone I’m utilizing and what software program model it’s operating. If I’m utilizing a Pixel cellphone that’s operating a software program model earlier than Android 15 Beta 2, then I’m unable to manage the amount of my speaker group until I re-open the YouTube Music app. If I’m utilizing a cellphone from another producer, then I received’t have any points controlling the amount of my speaker group.

The rationale for this bizarre discrepancy is that Google deliberately blocked Pixel units from having the ability to management the amount of Google House speaker teams whereas casting. Google did this out of an abundance of warning whereas they had been combating a authorized dispute. Again in 2020, speaker firm Sonos sued Google for alleged patent infringement. This led to Google eradicating a number of options from its lineup of Nest audio system and good shows but in addition led to them eradicating speaker group quantity controls from Pixel telephones. Different Android telephones weren’t impacted by this variation since solely Google was named by Sonos in its lawsuit, which is why solely Pixel telephones have been unable to manage the amount of speaker teams outdoors the app that’s casting.

Again in late 2023, although, a California choose overturned the jury verdict that favored Sonos. Google responded by instantly re-enabling the flexibility so as to add Nest audio system, shows, and Chromecast units to a number of speaker teams. Nonetheless, they by no means introduced again the flexibility to manage the amount of speaker teams from a Pixel cellphone, a minimum of till now. With the discharge of final week’s Android 15 Beta 2, we are able to verify that Google lastly restored this performance.

In late 2021, Google launched the config_volumeAdjustmentForRemoteGroupSessions flag, which determines whether or not “platform degree quantity changes are enabled for distant periods on grouped units.” The default worth of this flag is about to ‘true’ in AOSP, however it was particularly overridden to ‘false’ on Google’s Android builds for Pixel units. That’s not the case within the Android 15 Beta 2 builds for Pixel telephones, although, which is why speaker group quantity controls lastly work.

One different casting-related function that’s nonetheless lacking on Pixel telephones (however is current on different Android units) is stream enlargement. If you forged music to any speaker after which open the media output switcher, you must have the ability to choose extra units to forged to. That’s the case on a number of non-Pixel units that I checked, however it isn’t the case on any of my Pixel units, even ones which can be operating Android 15 Beta 2. This performance ought to hopefully even be restored on Pixel units sooner or later, however we aren’t positive when that’ll occur.