Android 11 looks set to allows cast devices to work with the audio output switcher. However, there is are still some big issues to overcome, as reported by 9to5Google.
The news was first revealed by Ron Amadeo in a tweet. He noticed that an Android support page notes that the functionally will come to devices.
Android 11 comes with a lot of useful features, one of which is the ability to easily switch audio output. More functionality has been allowed through Android 11 such as Google’s GO Edition announced recently.
However, one of the main issues with the audio output switcher was that it only worked with Bluetooth device. This was a pretty niche in terms of how useful it is. Potentially the only time it would work was moving from your phone’s speaker into your car’s. However, that is all set to change now but not in the most obvious way.
Audio output switcher coming to cast devices
The Android 11 audio output switcher will come to individual audio apps. Many would have thought one overall update would allow all cast devices to support this feature.
But no, each individual Android app will have to specifically add it to gain functionality. This means the likes of Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube Music as well as others will have to actively make changes to support the feature.
The important change that they will all need to make is the ability to support the “mediarouter” library. This is currently in beta as of now.
The reason for this is likely because not every app that puts media in the notification shade actually supports casting to speakers and TVs.
This means that if the change occurred for every app then there would be a problem for those that do not support casting. Meaning for end-users it would be very frustrating to see the audio output switcher when it is not functional.
This, therefore, means that we will have to wait for individual apps that support Chromecast to support an update. Google has created a video for developers, explaining what they need to do in order to get this working.
Hopefully, these updates will not take long to get pushed out. For bigger names, they should be able to turn this update round fairly quickly. However, for smaller apps, it may take a little bit longer which is a shame.
Despite this, at least audio switcher is coming to casting devices meaning that it becomes a much more useful feature than in currently was.