Back in October 2019, Google unveiled the second generation of Pixel Buds but no consumer has got their hands on them. While we still don’t know anything concrete about the exact release date of the wireless earbuds, it now seems pretty close as the companion app has just gone live on the Google Play Store. Without much of a surprise, the app is called “Google Pixel Buds” and it can be installed on any device running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or higher.
After being paired with the earbuds, the Google Pixel Buds app will allow users to control various aspects of the built-in features such as Google Assistant settings, in-ear detection, adaptive sound, and more. One can also query the battery level of the buds as well as the case and locate them using a handy “Find device” feature through remote ringing. Google is also going to offer tips and support facilities via this app once the Pixel Buds are actually available.
Google might have baked most of the functionalities of the app into the firmware of the Pixel phones, as the UI is seamlessly integrated with the Settings app on these devices. The owners of the Pixel 4 can even perform an ‘update’ instead of a fresh install after visiting the Play Store listing. On non-Pixel phones, however, the Google Pixel Buds app can be invoked like any other standalone app, but it will not run unless paired with a pair of Pixel Buds.
The Pixel Buds is said to come to a variety of features like Adaptive Sound, touch controls, in-ear detection for automatic pause/play, Find my device, and of course, Google Assistant support built-in. It will come in 4 colors: Clearly White, Oh So Orange, Quite Mint, Almost Black color options with a price of US$179 (Approx. Rs. 12,790).
Judging by the app description, the first-gen Google Pixel Buds might not be compatible with this companion app as of yet, but the Mountain View giant may add support for it in a future update. The APK of the initial version, tagged as 1.0.308054094, is available on
APK Mirror as well, in case you want to sideload it manually.
