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ZDNET key takeaways
- Android can share audio with multiple earbuds and headphones.
- Your devices must support LE Audio and Auracast.
- The feature is simple to use and available on Pixel and Samsung devices.
How many times have you wanted to let a friend hear a song you were listening to and had to pop out an earbud and let them dance it out with you? Of course, for those who tend not to want their earbuds inserted into someone else’s ears, that’s a deal breaker.
What if there was another option? What if you could allow that person to connect their earbuds to your Android phone so you can both enjoy what’s playing with your own earbuds and in stereo? Now we’re talking.
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Well, Android can do that with a feature called “Audio sharing.” Before you get excited, there are some caveats to this.
First off, it only works with up to two people, and not every phone supports Audio share. Yes, Pixel phones do support this feature, as do all Samsung phones starting with the S23 and newer. As long as your phone supports Auracast, you’re good to go. Second, any headphones or earbuds you use must support Bluetooth LE and Auracast. Without those two features, Audio share won’t work.
A sample listing of headphones and earbuds that support these features looks like this:
- Sony WF-1000XM5 and LinkBuds S
- Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4
- Bose Ultra Open Earbuds
- LG TONE Free T90Q
- Nothing Ear (2) and Ear (Stick)
- Audio-Technica ATH-TWX9
- EarFun Air Pro 4
- Status Pro X
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Make sure you search the features of your earbuds to ensure they support the feature before trying this out; otherwise, you might wind up with a frustrating situation on your hands.
How to enable ‘Audio sharing’
First, make sure that LE Audio is enabled for your earbuds or headphones. How you do this will depend on the make and model of the device. For example, on my Status Pro X earbuds, I go to Connected Devices > Pro X > gear icon > LE Audio (enable).
Your earbuds and headphones must support LE (Low Energy) Audio for this to work.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
Once you’ve enabled LE Audio for your earbuds and headphones, the next thing to do is enable Audio share. Here’s how that’s done.
The first thing to do is connect your earbuds and headphones to your phone as you always would.
Open your Settings app by either tapping its launcher in the App Drawer or by pulling the Notification Shade down twice and tapping the gear icon.
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From the Settings window, tap “Connected devices” > “Connection preferences” > “Audio sharing.”
You don’t need to bother with the Name and Password fields for Audio share.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
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On the new page, tap the On/Off slider for “Share audio” until it’s in the On position. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be presented with a QR code. When the other person scans that code, they’ll be automatically connected to your device via Audio sharing and can hear what you hear.
Or, you can tap “Pair new device” and locate the second pair of earbuds or headphones to be connected.
When you’re done sharing, you can pull down the notification shade, look for the Audio sharing entry, and tap Stop Sharing.
Take heed of this warning.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
The caveat
When testing this feature, I was under the impression that my Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 earbuds supported both LE Audio and Auracast. When attempting to enable Audio sharing with my Pixel Buds, my Pixel phone refused. I then went into the Pixel Buds settings (from within Connected Devices) and found no LE Audio option (which was previously there).
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My guess is that Google removed the LE Audio option in a recent update because the earbuds weren’t ready to fully support the feature. I was, however, able to get Audio sharing working with my Status Pro X earbuds.
Audio share is finicky because support for LE Audio and Auracast is still iffy on a lot of devices. If, however, you do have a pair of earbuds or headphones with support, give Audio share a try and impress your friends with your amazing taste in music.
