Media management on your Android phone has certainly improved a lot over the years. We now have a fancy media player in the notification bar, volume button controls, and easier ways to switch between devices. This week Google teased a couple of new ideas it’s working on with Spotify and another one they’ve also used YouTube Music for, both of which we’d love to see.

The first is in partnership with Spotify, where Google is working to make it easier to switch between devices running Spotify Connect (such as your Google Home devices).

This will work when you click on the device switcher in the media player and the familiar popup will appear. You do it now to switch between Bluetooth devices (and some YouTube Music Cast targets), but Google and Spotify are teaming up to make it even more reliable if the device works with Spotify Connect.

As you can see in the image below, their vision includes being able to see all of your available devices (such as a smart speaker) and then being able to not only play on one, but possibly combine them. You want it today, right?

Another Google idea is using a notification system that tries to follow you throughout the day to help you easily continue your music or podcast from device to device. For example, you can listen to music in the car and then return home. Once inside, a notification might ask if you want to continue listening on your home speakers or TV. If you plug in a pair of headphones, it may trigger a notification to do the same.

Google is working with Spotify and YouTube Music on this notification idea.

Google hasn’t said when they might implement any of these new media control ideas, so don’t expect them in the next Pixel Feature Drop or anything like that. These may be Android 14 ideas that may not launch for a while. Or who knows, maybe we’ll see them in Android 15. Anyway, just know that Google is working on them.

// Google