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Last updated: August 21st, 2020 at 17:24 UTC+02:00
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My car stereo has Bluetooth and even a touchscreen, so it’s not that outdated, but it’s limited to having just one Bluetooth device paired at any given time. So, if my phone is connected to the system and someone wants to play music from their phone, I must first turn off my phone’s Bluetooth and disconnect so the other person can pair their device. When I want to reconnect my phone, I must go through the pairing process (which requires entering a PIN) again.
Which is why I’m really digging the Music Share feature in One UI 2.1 these last few months. With Music Share, other people can play music on your Bluetooth speaker by connecting their device to your phone, instead of having to pair their device with (or making you unpair your phone from) the speaker. I don’t really allow anyone else to play their music all too often when I’m driving, but the few times I do, I can now leave my phone connected to the car stereo and my wife and parents can still play their music on it thanks to Music Share. It works effortlessly, and while it works best with Galaxy devices running One UI 2.1 and above, Music Share sometimes allows connections from non-Galaxy devices (even a Windows PC) as well.
Of course, getting around an outdated car stereo’s limitations is not the only use case for Music Share. It would be great for a party where you’re listening to music on a Bluetooth speaker and want everyone to be able to change tracks from their own phone, or just about any situation where there’s just one Bluetooth speaker but several people wanting to play their favorite music on it. And if you’re not in the mood to share (does this count as a pun?), you can simply turn Music Share off from its quick toggle in the notification shade and regain full control.
Music Share certainly isn’t a feature everyone would use. Like I said earlier, I don’t always let others play their music in the car when I’m driving, and I’m more or less the one who’s always in the driving seat, so it’s not a part of everyday life for me, either. But it’s very handy when the occasion arises and is a prime example of functionality that’s there when you need it but gets out of the way when it’s not.
For those wondering, here is how you use Music Share (this might not work with devices not running One UI 2.1 and above, so you'll have to test your luck):
Abhijeet's writing career started with guides for custom firmware for Samsung devices (including the original Galaxy S), and he moved to SamMobile in mid-2013 and worked up the ranks to Editor-in-chief. In addition to phones and mobile devices, his interests include gaming on both PC and console, PC hardware, and spending countless hours on YouTube watching videos on tech, movies, games, politics, and internet dramas.
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