Android Pie adds Bluetooth volume memory feature to remember headset volumes

A much-awaited feature is finally live

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Android 9 finally released today for the Google Pixel, Google Pixel 2, and lastly the Essential Phone. The latest release, known as Android Pie, brings a ton of useful user-facing features such as Digital Wellbeing (now in beta), App Actions, Slices API (also in beta), Adaptive Battery, Smart Selection, and gesture navigation (which will be the only navigation feature on future Google devices like the Google Pixel 3). We’re on the lookout for new features like keeping RAM-heavy games in memory, but we’re also keeping an eye on older features like rollback protection. One older feature that we’ve waited to see roll out is Bluetooth device volume memory.

We first spotted this feature in the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) before the release of Android P Developer Preview 2 (Beta 1). What the feature does is store the Bluetooth volume on a per-device basis, meaning Android will remember what volume level you set each of your devices to before you disconnected from them. This is useful for those of you with multiple Bluetooth devices as you might not remember to change your volume before starting a song or podcast on a Bluetooth device you just connected to.

XDA Inactive Recognized Developer Rashed97 tipped us off that the feature was working on his Essential Phone running Android 9. Our own Joe Fedewa later confirmed that the feature was working on his Google Pixel 2 running Android Pie. We’re not sure if the feature went live in one of the later Android P Developer Previews, but it’s nice to know that this much-requested feature is finally available in Android. For those of you who want this feature but aren’t on the latest Android Pie release, you can download the “Bluetooth Volume Control” app from the Google Play Store which brings this functionality to any device running Android 4.4+.

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