Android 16 could add a system-wide audio input switcher

Just about each Android telephone has a built-in microphone so you may make voice calls, however the high quality of that microphone can differ closely between gadgets. Even the very best built-in microphone you’ll discover on a smartphone gained’t lower it for skilled audio recordings, which is the place exterior mics are available in. Sadly, some Android apps don’t allow you to document audio utilizing an exterior mic, however Android 16 might change that by introducing a system-wide audio enter switcher.

Since recording audio by means of an exterior mic is a fairly area of interest factor to do on a telephone, Google by no means thought it was essential to create system-wide microphone settings on Android. As an alternative, the corporate left it as much as the apps to determine which audio machine to make use of because the microphone by means of the MediaRecorder API. The API lets apps question what audio sources can be found in addition to set what audio supply to make use of for recording. Apps like Pixel Digital camera and Pixel Recorder use this API to allow you to determine whether or not you wish to document audio from a Bluetooth headset or your telephone’s built-in microphone.

Nevertheless, some Android apps simply default to utilizing the machine’s built-in microphone with out offering an choice to decide on an exterior mic. The Digital camera and Recorder apps in Xiaomi’s HyperOS software program behave like this, for instance. That’s a disgrace as a result of it limits these apps from getting used for skilled recordings, which is clearly not one thing that most individuals will do with these apps, however it might be good if it have been an choice.

Luckily, Google might handle this drawback in subsequent 12 months’s Android 16 replace. Whereas I used to be digging by means of the newest Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3 launch, I found code for a brand new function that provides an audio enter router to the prevailing media switcher dialog. The media switcher dialog was first added again in Android 11, nevertheless it solely had an audio output router that allow you to change which audio machine you wished to play again audio on.

It made sense for Google to give attention to audio output routing first, as controlling media playback is a quite common factor for folks to do on their telephones. The Android working system isn’t only for telephones, although. Google is making an attempt to make Android work higher on PCs, and one factor that PCs do nicely is handle audio enter gadgets. Home windows, for instance, has a setting that permits you to select which audio machine to make use of as a microphone in all apps. Though apps can override this setting or present their very own, it’s nonetheless helpful to have a system-wide setting so that you don’t must dig by means of an app’s particular person microphone settings (in the event that they even have one).

Although I managed to floor the audio enter router, it doesn’t presently work, even once I join an exterior mic or headset. As well as, the textual content presently says “this laptop,” although I’m utilizing a telephone. That is seemingly as a result of this function is being developed for Android on PCs and never telephones, however I’m hoping the system-wide audio enter switcher will even roll out to telephones as nicely. Google gained’t release Android 16 until Q2 of 2025, although, so there’s loads of time for Google to flesh out this function (or scrap it fully!)