Important points
- Google announced “Hold close to Cast” at CES earlier this year, hinting that it would be available soon after the rollout of the Pixel Feature Drop in October.
- This feature is currently rolling out to all UWB-enabled Pixel devices.
- Press and hold to cast enables two-way audio transfer between your Pixel phone and Pixel tablet by simply bringing the two devices closer together.
Android 15 introduced the Pixel Feature Drop, which brings a ton of new features for mobile devices, but Pixel tablets weren’t left out either. Large-screen devices get a new Pixel Weather app with pollen data blocking for specific countries, a panel screensaver for smart home controls, a new clock screensaver, cross-device notification cancellation, and more.
While most of the features announced as part of the Feature Drop have made their way to their respective devices, a few are set to arrive soon, including this handy trick that Apple’s HomePod users have been enjoying for a while. did.
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“Handoff,” as Apple likes to call it, is essentially a feature that allows users with an iPhone or iPad to bring their device closer to the HomePod and transfer audio to it. This is basically an easy way to cast music to your smart speaker if you’re already nearby. The reverse is also possible, allowing you to transfer audio playing on HomePod to your iPhone or iPad.
As part of the Pixel Feature Drop on October 15, Google said a feature comparable to Hand off would be “coming in the coming weeks.” In less than 10 days, the feature started rolling out to Pixel devices that support UWB, specifying Pixel Tablets as the device to cast to.
Get closer to your cast is currently limited to YouTube Music and Spotify
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Aptly named features Keep it close when castingwas first unveiled at CES 2024. Currently deployed on Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, Pixel Fold, Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and Pixel Tablet. Discovered by 9to5Google.
Similar to Apple’s iteration of this feature, Google’s implementation is also bidirectional. This means you can also transfer audio playing on your Pixel tablet to a supported Pixel device by simply bringing the two devices closer together. Note that both your Pixel phone and Pixel tablet must be on the same private Wi-Fi network for this feature to work. Also note that if you play audio from a paywalled source, both devices must be logged in to that source.
According to Google’s last statement regarding the feature, only YouTube Music and Spotify are currently supported. It’s unclear if support for other popular music streaming services such as Amazon Music, SoundCloud, and Deezer is planned.
This feature is rolling out as part of Google Play Services version 24.42.32. To check if “Press and Hold to Cast” has been rolled out, go to Settings → Google → All Services → Cast option. If available, a new setting for Hold Close to Cast will appear. If not, the page will have Media control notification toggle.
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