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The original was posted on /r/android by /u/MishaalRahman on 2023-08-07 19:18:39+00:00.

Two features that are missing on Pixel but are present in stock Android:

  1. The ability to control the volume of speaker groups while casting.

  2. The ability to expand streams to more cast devices from the media output switcher (stream expansion).

Both can be enabled, though!

The problem

Let me explain each issue in more detail before I show the fix.

  1. You can’t adjust a speaker group’s volume while casting. Both the volume button & slider only control your phone’s media volume unless you’re in the app that’s casting. Other phones like the Nothing Phone 2 can.

If you don’t have root access, your only workaround is to adjust the individual volumes through the media output switcher, which to be fair is pretty easy. The workaround for #2, though, is more annoying.

  1. When you cast music to any speaker and then open the media output switcher, you should be able to select additional devices to cast to. eg. on my Z Fold 5 and Nothing Phone 2, I’m already casting to two Cast devices, but I can select a third to cast to: My Bose Soundbar 700.

You’re unable to do this on Pixel. I asked around and checked numerous Pixels on Android 13 and 14, and none of them can do this. So the only workaround on Pixel would be to create speaker groups ahead of time rather than on demand.

Both features are intentionally disabled on Pixels likely as a result of the Sonos lawsuit. This article talks about the cast volume changes, while this article talks about stream expansion.

The fix

If you have root access, you can enable both of these features on your Pixel phone!

For #1, install this Magisk Module I made a while back. It overrides the value of ‘config_volumeAdjustmentForRemoteGroupSessions’.

For #2, you’ll need to override the DynamicSession*_enable_stream_expansion_transfer_for_allowlisted_groups and DynamicSession*_enable_stream_expansion_transfer_for_audio_app Phenotype flags under com.google.android.gms.cast. The GappsMod Flags Telegram group can show you how to override these flags.