Google Play Music Completely Overhauls Chromecast Integration

Google Play Music has brought something new to the party with their overhauled Chromecast integration. With this new feature, music lovers can enjoy gapless playback support, meaning no pauses between songs that kill the mood or let a party die. Also, if you’re listening to music and your phone rings, you won’t have to interrupt your music to answer it, according to Android Police.

Even if your phone turns off or you leave while casting, the music will continue to play. Google received numerous complaints about the spotty play feature before this update was made, making this overhaul a particularly exciting capability that comes through the constant connectivity of Google Play.

In the past, Google Play Music sported a glitch that would cause music to stop between songs for no apparent reason. The manufacturers never explained the reason behind the glitch, and often chalked it up to a poor network connection as well as the various sleep activation settings on each device. This is one problem that the newest update has resolved.

The makers of Google Play Music have integrated Chromecast to recognize and manage playlists. Your phone will automatically send the playlist information to Chromecast, which will keep the music playing no matter where the phone is or what it’s doing. What’s more, as soon as Chromecast reaches the end of the playlist, it will finish the song it’s playing, then playback stalls to keep the music going consistently until the device can return to its original state.

When the casting device returns, it begins automatically syncing. The music continues playing, and the restored session makes it possible for the owner to pause, skip, or scrub at will.

Another interesting, and exciting, new feature with this integration is the ability to gift a Google Play Music subscription to other people. Rather than buying books, apps, movies, and individual songs to give as gifts, fans of the program can offer the entire program to their friends and family.

Aside from this exciting new update to the previously glitchy integration in the music app, Google has also released Android Pay, which is very similar to Apple Pay. It allows users to employ the Android Pay app in order to run credit and debit cards and process transactions. They are currently working with popular companies to develop systems that are compatible with the Android Pay system.

Through these updates, Google reveals just how hard they’re working to keep up with Apple, which is far ahead in the technology world. Both of these updates will be available for use soon.

[Image via Justin Sullivan / Getty Images]