Google TV is adding superior support for wireless headphones with the latest update to its Chromecast with Google TV (4K) streaming dongles. The update adds new capabilities around easy switching and fast pairing.
9to5Google, which first revealed the news, said the firmware update will enable a feature called “Fast Pair” for compatible wireless headphones, almost two years after the functionality was first announced. Having sorted out various bug fixes and made lots of improvements regarding performance, Fast Pair is finally ready to go and it’s certainly going to be very convenient for those who regularly use headphones.
As the name suggests, Fast Pair helps to speed up the process of pairing your wireless headphones with the Chromecast with Google TV dongle. When the user first opens up a set of compatible headphones or earbuds, such as the Pixel Buds Pro, they’ll see a popup in the corner of the TV screen that says those headphones are now available to use. By selecting this, users will be taken directly to the Connect screen that enables them to switch the audio output to the device in question.
The second major addition in this update is a new audio switcher function that aims to solve a fairly trivial, yet also very annoying problem faced by users when switching from one audio output to another. To do this has always necessitated the user navigating through endless screen menus, but that’s no longer the case. Now, there’s a new Audio Output tile within the same menu that houses the Wi-Fi, Screensaver, Bluetooth and Accessibility settings. The tile displays the currently selected audio device, such as the TV’s internal speakers, an external speaker system, soundbar or headphones, and makes it simple to switch from one to another.
Now that it’s supposedly a doddle to connect your headphones and switch between various audio outputs, it’s likely that more people may take advantage of the private listening option so they can watch a movie or TV show without disturbing other members of the household, which might be especially useful for night owls. Of course, anyone who’s hard of hearing and likes to use headphones, and those who live in particularly noisy households, may also enjoy the new convenience Google is providing.
Google said the update should roll out to new users automatically, but as with most updates it may take a few days. Those who don’t want to wait can, thankfully, install the update manually by navigating through Settings > System > About > System Update. The update is only 169 megabytes so it should only take a few seconds to download. Once installed, the new capabilities should work immediately.
Google said the new features will also come to existing Google TVs in the coming weeks, and this year’s new models can expect to have them baked in from the start.
