Pixel’s Now Playing is about to get its lost feature back, and we saw the proof

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Now Playing is a Pixel-exclusive feature with few haters, but Google managed to rile up users when it refashioned it as a separate app this March . The supposed upgrade broke key functionality for users, including the ability to sync tracks with third-party services like Last.fm.

Now the app is getting a new update with certain functionality tweaks — and the bigger promise of getting lost features back.

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First, let’s address the changes that are coming to Now Playing for all users. The three-dot button alongside tracks in history now opens a sheet that slides up from the bottom of the screen. Previously, it opened a floating context menu.

Alongside the menu, the app now also displays a card reminding users that if they can’t find a song with Now Playing, they can always fall back to searching tracks with that Google Search feature that lets you sing or hum a song.

All of these features are now available to all Pixel users with version 2026.08.27.972147369.0 of the Now Playing app.

Now, coming to features that Google has been working on but hasn’t released yet. Last week, we discovered that Google was working to bring back Now Playing’s notifications while also adding support for multiple users. While we spotted cues in code, we couldn’t get it to work at the time. But with this latest version, we’ve been able to activate the features by fiddling with the app, even though they aren’t live for everyone just yet.