Google is enhancing the media player controls on the Pixel Watch with new features designed to improve user experience. These additions include options like shuffle, playback speed adjustments, and more. The improvements were announced during the March 2025 Feature Drop, and alongside these enhancements, the Find My Phone feature has also received an update that requires user confirmation before the paired phone rings.
Since its initial release, the Pixel Watch has primarily offered basic media playback controls such as play/pause, volume adjustment, and skip forward/back functionalities. With the latest update, Google intended to provide a more robust media player. However, the rollout faced complications due to issues in the March update, which was problematic.
Now, with the release of a revised April firmware, the enhanced media playback controls are officially available on the Pixel Watch. These updates appear to be delivered separately via the Wear OS Play Store rather than as part of the April update itself. In the case of YouTube Music, users can now access a more comprehensive media playback interface that includes the Up next queue, shuffle, repeat options, as well as specific features for podcast playback.
Currently, these advanced controls are only functional in YouTube Music, suggesting that developers may need to update their apps for compatibility. In addition to the media controls, the Find My Phone feature has undergone a slight modification. Users can access this feature directly through the Quick Settings panel.
The previous one-tap action to ring the phone now requires a confirmation step, where users must confirm they want to ring the phone by tapping a checkmark. This update affects all three generations of the Pixel Watch and became accessible after the April 2025 firmware update, potentially in conjunction with a Google Play services update.
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