This secret Android 15 feature could finally give you more media control with a Wear OS smartwatch
Android 15 looks set to bring in the ability to control your phone’s media output with Wear OS smartwatches.
In an code deep-dive of the Wear OS companion app function (which grants Wear OS app a host of phone data access, such as access to contacts and calendars) in the Android 15 beta by Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman, a mention of “MEDIA_ROUTING_CONTROL”. This new permission reportedly grants the companion app “access a list of available devices and control which one streams or casts audio or video from other apps.”
A somewhat vague description, Android Authority noted one such privileged control permissions are granted to the companion app, they also apply to the connected smartwatch. This basically means the smartwatch would have access to a list of available connected devices (presumably ones paired with a companion smartphone) in order to route audio to video through them.
So that reportedly means a you could, for example, start playing music on your phone through a pair if connected headphones and then use a Wear OS smartwatch to switch playback to a paired smart speaker without needing to use the phone; this wold be handy if you wanted to swap where audio was playing from but had left your phone in another room.
As it stands, Wear OS provides some control over media playback directly from a smartwatch and within watch-based apps, but for greater control over audio from services such as Spotify, one need to use the connected phone.
But adding more direct control over media feedback via a Wear OS smartwatch could allow for a lot more to be done from a wrist-worn wearable device, bypassing the need for one to dip into a pocket or purse to pluck out a connected Android phone. And by building out Wear OS functionality and interconnectivity, Google could help bolster its device ecosystem and the interplay between such devices to provide an experience that’s closer to Apple‘s product and software ecosystem.
It’s not clear if such functionality will come to all Wear OS devices or be for select Google devices like the Pixel Watch and Pixel Watch 2, or if it makes it to the full release on Android. We’re likely to find out at Google I/O 2024 on on May 14, where we expect a good look at what’s next for Android, Wear OS and other Google software.
You might also like
Android 15 looks set to bring in the ability to control your phone’s media output with Wear OS smartwatches. In an code deep-dive of the Wear OS companion app function (which grants Wear OS app a host of phone data access, such as access to contacts and calendars) in…
