It seems like only yesterday we were talking about using third-party apps like Commr to make up for Now’s limited support for controlling hardware other key features with voice comms. Okay, maybe it was only yesterday—but what a difference a day makes.
appears to be hard at work bringing more voice control capabilities to Android devices. The latest voice comm feature to show up is playback control for audio apps like ay Music or third-party podcast apps.
The feature was first reported by Android lice thanks to two tipsters, but as luck would have it, the feature is also active on my Nexus 4, so I took it for a little spin.
Okay resume music
The new feature, at least on my device, lets you move to the next song, the previous song, or stop resume music. It works like any other voice comm; you say, “Okay stop music,” whatever you’re listening to stops. To get going again, you simply say, “Okay resume music.”
To be clear, this function of Now appears to work with any app that controls your audio is not explicitly for ay Music. If, for example, the last thing you were listening to was a podcast on cket Casts then that’s what will start playing with the “resume music” comm.
is working on controlling audio playback with voice comms via Now.
To see if the feature works with your device just start playing music or a podcast say, “Okay stop music” see what happens.
If you’ve got the feature, you’ll see a screen the like the one above. If you haven’t got it, you’ll get a note that the action is not supported, along with a voice message specifically saying “Controlling media is not supported on this device.”
For anyone deep in an ever exping love affair with Now, this new set of voice comms will only enhance the admiration.
The new feature appears to be a work in progress, as beyond the limited availability, the previous song comm doesn’t work that well. In my tests, asking for the previous song was no different than hitting the rewind button in ay Music. Instead of going back to the previous song you only jump back to the beginning of the track that’s currently playing.
ile is enhancing the audio controls for Now you’ll still need third-party app support to use your voice for turning off -Fi, Bluetooth, or activating your camera flash as a flashlight. For those comms, see our Commr post from Monday to find out about the app’s interesting workaround for enhancing Now’s voice capabilities.
