{"id":384499,"date":"2026-04-06T10:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/384499\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T10:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:16:10","slug":"pixel-update-restores-a-key-feature-to-the-now-playing-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/384499\/","title":{"rendered":"Pixel update restores a key feature to the Now Playing app"},"content":{"rendered":"

What you need to knowGoogle removed the manual search button in March, frustrating users when automatic detection failed.The latest update to the Now Playing app restores the \u201cTap to see what\u2019s playing\u201d option.The button triggers a cloud search, allowing broader and more accurate song recognition.<\/p>\n

If you have a Google Pixel, you probably agree that Now Playing is one of those features that makes it tough to switch to another phone. It\u2019s just cool to look at your lock screen and instantly see the name of that obscure indie song playing in a coffee shop, all without doing anything.<\/p>\n

But recently, Google made a change to the interface that confused many users. When the standalone Now Playing app launched in March<\/a>, the manual search button was removed, taking away the one tool you need when automatic recognition doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The good news is that Google listened. A new update is rolling out now that brings back the “Tap to see what\u2019s playing” prompt on the lock screen, as a Reddit user<\/a> noticed (via 9to5Google<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Article continues below <\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Offline recognition is great \u2014 until it isn’t<\/p>\n

For the uninitiated, Now Playing uses a database on your phone to identify songs, which helps protect your privacy and saves battery. However, since this database only includes a limited selection of popular tracks, it often misses less common songs. The manual search button helps with this by starting a cloud-based search that can identify almost any song.<\/p>\n

The newest version of the Now Playing app puts the manual search tool back on the lock screen right after your phone can\u2019t automatically recognize a song.<\/p>\n

Other than that, 9to5 didn\u2019t notice any major changes after the update. This probably means the release is mostly about background fixes instead of new features.<\/p>\n

You can expect this update to reach all compatible Pixel devices<\/a> in the next few days. It\u2019s a small step back in the right direction, but for people who love discovering music, it\u2019s the best update this month.<\/p>\n

Get the latest news from Android Central, your trusted companion in the world of Android<\/p>\n

Android Central’s Take<\/p>\n

Honestly, I\u2019m glad Google finally fixed this, but we shouldn\u2019t have to make a fuss just to keep a basic feature from being removed. It\u2019s frustrating to be expected to celebrate the return of a button that should never have been taken away. It feels a bit like being asked to thank someone for giving back your wallet with half the money gone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What you need to knowGoogle removed the manual search button in March, frustrating users when automatic detection failed.The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[61,60,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-384499","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}