Newsletter
Over the past nearly two decades, smartphones have been getting better at sharing content between other devices. Be that as it may, they can stand to get better at that. One area where they can improve is in sharing audio. Auracast aims to fix that, and Android 15 might make this feature even better.
What is Auracast?
Auracast is a new technology established by Bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group) that revolutionized the way that Bluetooth devices communicate with one another. With traditional Bluetooth, your device is only able to transfer audio to one device at a time. You do this when you pair the devices. However, with Auracast, you’ll be able to broadcast audio to more than one device at a time.
Say, you want to share music between you and some friends. Well, you’ll use your phone to transmit the audio to all of your headphones at once, making you the DJ of your own portable radio station.
That sounds amazing, and it’s technically a reality now. However, adoption hasn’t been all that speedy. Auracast was introduced back in 2020… though, the world was a little distracted at that point. In any case, the technology has been around for some time, and some phones are already compatible with it. However, accessories that support the technology aren’t too abundant.
Android 15 could make using Auracast much better
Again, let’s say you’re with your friends, and you want to share some music. Well, You can transmit your audio to the other devices in the room, but it’d be nice to have a single and unified way to view and manage all of the devices. This is what Google is planning on doing. According to an APK deep dive, it looks like Android 15 could bring an Auracast hub that will let you keep an eye on all of the devices you’re broadcasting to.
Hidden within the settings app in Android 14 QPR Beta 3, Android engineer Mishaal Rahman found some strings of code that all point to audio sharing:
<string name=”audio_sharing_switch_title”>Share audio</string>
<string name=”audio_sharing_title”>Audio sharing</string>
<string name=”audio_streams_category_title”>Connect to a LE audio stream</string>
<string name=”audio_streams_empty”>No nearby audio streams were found.</string>
<string name=”audio_streams_pref_title”>Nearby audio streams</string>
<string name=”audio_streams_qr_code_summary”>Connect to an audio stream using QR code</string>
<string name=”audio_streams_title”>Audio streams</string>
The strings point to a dedicated page that will allow you to toggle the feature on and off. Also, they point to a QR code scanning function to connect to audio streams, the option to change which device you’re listening with, and a hub that lists all of the nearby audio streams. Below, are screenshots of three different pages showing these functions.
So, this feature possibly coming to Android 15 could make listening to music as a group so much better. You will be able to scan a QR code on the broadcaster’s phone and listen in on what they’re streaming. The broadcaster will be able to see and manage which devices it’s streaming to, it seems. All in all, it seems like a very easy and straightforward way to broadcast music to multiple devices.
It’s already here, actually
Technically, there are phones on the market that support Auracast. According to the report, all of Google’s Tensor-powered Pixel devices support the version of Bluetooth that facilitates Auracast. However, in order for this to become a standard, two things need to happen. Firstly, Google needs to advertise this to the masses so that people know it exists. Secondly, accessory makers need to make their devices compatible with Auracast. Either Google advertises this feature and makes it the next big thing in tech, or Apple will invent the technology five years from now.