The Ability to Switch Between Tracks in Now Playing Mode May Be the Most Useful New Feature of Android 17.
If you’re like me, you probably use several audio apps simultaneously throughout the day. I listen to audiobooks on Audible, switch to music on Spotify , listen to podcasts on Pocketcasts , and always have something playing on YouTube in the background. Typically, switching between audio sources means opening the app, finding the playback feature (or the media file itself), and pressing play every time you want to listen to something new. In Android 17 ( currently in beta ), Google is offering us a more advanced version that makes it easy to switch between playback sources directly from the notification bar. The new “Now Playing” playback switcher is gradually rolling out to Android 17 QPR Beta 3 users worldwide and is expected to be included in the stable version in a couple of months.
On Android, switching between media files is more convenient using tiles.
Technically, this isn’t exactly a new feature: it’s an update to one that no one really used. In Android 16, you could swipe up on the “Now Playing” bar in the notification shade to access previously used apps and media. But this gesture often works flawlessly, and you’ll often end up swiping up on the media rewind bar itself. There’s also no clear indication that you can switch between playback sources in this bar.
The new design in Android 17 fixes all of these issues and makes this feature truly useful every day. After using several media apps recently, you’ll notice two icons next to the “Now Playing” bar in the notification bar. Tap one of the icons, and the source will be displayed, along with its name, background image, and last listened to position. From there, you can tap the large “Play” button to switch to that source. You can also swipe between the icons. This also works on the lock screen, so you can switch between audio sources without even unlocking your phone.
A maximum of two other tiles are displayed at a time, but this feature works with four recent audio sources. You simply swipe the screen to see the fourth in the “Now Playing” panel. However, there is a drawback. When you have two other sources, the playback tile itself shrinks, losing horizontal space. YouTube titles, in particular, are severely cut off. However, in my time using the toggle, I didn’t find this particularly annoying. The added functionality outweighs the loss in readability. Furthermore, this feature is still in beta, so things may change before the official release.
The updated Now Playing panel is one of many new features coming to Android 17. For example, Google recently announced the Continue Playing feature, which brings Apple’s Handoff functionality to the Android universe.