The Google I / O 2022 has given us numerous interesting announcements (both hardware and software) and close to the keynote has arrived the rollout of Android 13 Beta 2 for the smartphones of the Google Pixel series.
The new build does not contain only the main changes highlighted by Google in the official changelog, but also some further noteworthy innovations, such as support for the broadcast audio function for Bluetooth LE Audio.
For all the news and other information on the Beta 2 release of Android 13, we refer you to our dedicated article. Here we are dealing only with this newly discovered novelty.
Android 13 Beta 2: Bluetooth LE Audio broadcasting
Bluetooth LE Audio is the latest standard for audio transmission via Bluetooth with low energy consumption ( Low Energy ). The standard in question makes use of the Low Complexity Communications Codec in order to reduce energy consumption and improve the quality of the audio that is transmitted via Bluetooth.
In addition to these advantages, the transition to the new standard brings with it some new features, such as location-based audio sharing, hearing aid support and multi-device audio broadcasting.
Last year, Google rolled out LE Audio support to Android through the introduction of the Bluetooth LE API, however, it did not add full support in the previous release. The situation changes with Android 13: finally, Google has introduced full support for the Bluetooth LE Audio standard in the latest beta version of the release, and with it the multi-device audio transmission function of LE Audio.
To identify the novelty in Android 13 Beta 2 was the usual Mishaal Rahman of Esper (link in the source). The function allows an ” audio source device to broadcast audio streams to many audio sink devices “. Simply put, users will be able to stream audio from supported devices to other nearby users via Bluetooth so that more users can join in listening. This will be done via a new option available in the output selection for playing the media file.
The official description talks about a function that will inform users via a dialog box of the possibility of ” broadcast media to devices near [them], or listen to someone else’s broadcast”. In order to use the feature, users will need to scan a QR code or enter their name and password.