Android 11's sound output picker could soon gain support for Cast devices

Android 11 media controls (Image credit: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)

What you need to know

Android 11 will show you a list of Chromecast and Google Home devices in the sound output picker in the near future.
Apps will require a new version of MediaRouter to support the functionality.
Currently, the sound output picker only lists your phone speaker and Bluetooth devices.

One of Android 11's biggest highlights is the revamped media player, which now sits in the quick settings menu and provides easy access to all your media playback controls. It also included a nifty button to help users choose the sound output. While it currently supports only Bluetooth devices, it could show you a list of your Chromecast and Google Home devices as well in the near future.

As spotted by Ars Technica's Ron Amadeo, the latest beta version of the MediaRouter Jetpack library adds a new feature to "support seamless media transfer that enables media transfer via System UI." The documentation on the Android Developers website suggests Chromecast and Google Home devices will start showing up in the sound output picker soon after the updated MediaRouter library exists beta. However, before the new functionality becomes accessible, developers will have to update their apps to start using the new MediaRouter library.

Hold up. It looks like Android 11 WILL list Chromecasts and Google Homes in the sound output picker, but individual apps need a version of the mediarouter library that isn't out of beta yet.

That will be so awesome and this UI will make a lot more sense.https://t.co/sS6DySCn5M https://t.co/XaUVEjbAmJHold up. It looks like Android 11 WILL list Chromecasts and Google Homes in the sound output picker, but individual apps need a version of the mediarouter library that isn't out of beta yet.

That will be so awesome and this UI will make a lot more sense.https://t.co/sS6DySCn5M https://t.co/XaUVEjbAmJ— Ron Amadeo (@RonAmadeo) September 8, 2020 September 8, 2020

As pointed by the folks at Android Police, the reason why developers will be required to update apps with Cast support for the system feature to start showing up is that not all apps support Chromecast. This makes it important for individual apps to specify all the different streaming options that they support.