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Google is working on a new pair of truly wireless (TWS) earbuds, supposedly called Pixel Buds A. The wearable has been popping up in leaks quite frequently in recent times, including in a possible inadvertent leak from the company itself. Now, the latest information about the new Pixel Buds is that they may not feature swiping gestures for volume control, a signature feature of the series. The evidence comes from an APK teardown of the latest version of the Google Pixel Buds app.
The Google Pixel Buds app received an update to version 1.0.367372739 earlier this week. As they tend to do quite often, the folks over at 9to6Google performed a teardown of the latest APK. While there weren’t any noticeable changes for current the Pixel Buds within the new APK, they discovered some interesting details about the upcoming Pixel Buds A.
Google is apparently referring to the new buds as “type_two” in the APK, with last year’s models referred to as “type_one”. While there were no explicit indications of this, the “type_two” buds seemingly lack a charging indicator inside the case. If you recall, the recent inadvertent (or not?) leak by Google showed that the Pixel Buds A do not have an interior charging indicator. This more or less confirmed that the “type_two” buds are none other than the upcoming Pixel Buds A.
A deeper digging inside the APK file revealed further interesting information. According to the report, code related to “swipe_forward” and “swipe_backward” is missing from the “type_two” file. This suggests that the Pixel Buds A may not feature swiping gestures for adjusting volume.
Pixel Buds A may lack swiping volume control gestures
The ability to swipe forward or backward to adjust volume has been one of the signature features of Google’s Pixel Buds lineup. The feature existed since the original 2017 Pixel Buds. However, for reasons best known to Google, it seems to have removed that ability from its next-gen TWS offerings.
It’s unclear whether Google plans to add a different gesture for adjust volume on its upcoming Pixel Buds. Perhaps, the company will entirely remove physical volume controls from the new wearable as a cost-cutting measure.
Reports suggest the Pixel Buds A will be an affordable TWS offering from Google. A surface that cannot detect your finger’s movement would certainly come cheaper and enable the company to keep the price down. Perhaps not adding a charging indicator inside the box is also a move to bring the price down. Hopefully, the Pixel Buds A would not lose more smart functionalities for the sake of a lower price.