Pixel phones can now broadcast your voice over Auracast. Here is everything the November update changed

Google started rolling out Android 17 QPR2 to Pixel phones on 10 November 2026 (US time), alongside the November Pixel Drop. It arrived about a month ahead of the usual quarterly schedule, and it carries the biggest set of Auracast changes a Pixel has had since audio sharing launched in September 2025.

The headline: Voice broadcast is out of beta. A Pixel can now send what its microphone hears to nearby Auracast earbuds and hearing aids.

What changed, at a glance

Voice broadcast

We covered this when it appeared in beta in August. It is now in the stable release, though Google still labels it a preview.

How it works, according to the reports of Google's own feature list:

1. Tap the Voice broadcast tile in Quick Settings. You may need to add it to your tiles first.
2. Edit the broadcast name if you want to. This is the name listeners will see.
3. Switch on Private channel if you want a password on it.
4. Tap Start broadcast.

The sound comes from the phone's own microphone or from a wired headset plugged into it. Listeners tune in with Auracast headphones, hearing devices, or another compatible Android phone that steers their earbuds to the stream.

The use is the same as a remote microphone. A hearing aid wearer hands the phone to the person across a noisy table and gets that voice sent straight to their ears. A tour guide or a coach talks to a group without a PA.

The Audio streams tile

The second new Quick Settings tile is Audio streams. It first appeared in Beta 5 in September. It is a shortcut to the list of nearby broadcasts, so you no longer need to dig through Settings, Connected devices, Audio sharing to find one.

For anyone who uses Auracast in venues, this is the most useful change in the update. Finding a stream is now one swipe and one tap.

Joining by QR code, NFC and notification

The feature list, as reported by Android Central and Technastic, also names:

• QR code joining. Scan a code to join a broadcast.
• NFC tap-to-join. Tap the phone on a tag or sign to join.
• Proactive notifications. The phone can alert you to a public broadcast nearby.
• Stream information. Broadcasts can show updated track and stream details.
• Live Caption and translation. Captions, and on-device translation, for compatible broadcasts.

NFC is worth watching for venues. Listen Technologies' own connection guide already describes "tap to hear" signs and says NFC is coming to its Auri system. A phone that joins a stream from a tap, with no menu at all, is the simplest version of Auracast anyone has shown.

Hearing aid controls on the lock screen

Separate from Auracast, but relevant to the same people: connected Bluetooth hearing aids now get controls on the lock screen and in a persistent notification. Technastic reports these cover battery level, connection status, listening presets and ambient volume, without opening Accessibility settings.

The update also fixes Bluetooth volume spikes that could happen when calling up Gemini or switching between audio streams.

Which Pixels get it?

This is the part Google has not made clear.

Android 17 QPR2 goes to every supported Pixel: the 6a, the 7 series, the Pixel Fold and Tablet, and the 8, 9, 10 and 11 series. But getting the update is not the same as getting Voice broadcast.

Broadcasting needs a Bluetooth LE Audio radio that Google has enabled for it. Until now, Pixel audio sharing has been limited to the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, the Pixel 9 series and the Pixel 10 series. The Pixel 8a and 9a were left out. It is reasonable to expect Voice broadcast to follow the same list, plus the Pixel 11, but we have not found a statement from Google that says so. One site claims the feature is only for the Pixel 11 Pro. No other report supports that, and the beta ran on a Pixel 10 Pro.

If you have the update and cannot find the Voice broadcast tile when you edit Quick Settings, your phone is probably not on the list. Our phone checker has the audio sharing list.

The rollout is staged, so it may take a week or more to reach your phone. Check under Settings, System, Software updates.

Where this information comes from

Google's developer release notes for QPR2 do not mention Auracast at all. The detail comes from a feature list posted on Reddit by Mishaal Rahman of Google, which we could not open directly and have read through the outlets that reported it: Droid Life, Android Central, Android Authority and Technastic. Where they agree, we have stated it plainly. Where only one or two of them carry a detail, we have named them.

How it compares with Samsung

Samsung has had this since March. One UI 8.5 on the Galaxy S26 renamed its Auracast feature Audio broadcast and gave it a voice mode with a password option and a Quick Settings tile. Samsung's version also accepts a USB microphone.

What Google adds is reach. QPR2 is a platform release, so other Android phone makers can pick these features up in their own updates. Whether they do is up to them, and they need the right radio.

What it does not change

• A phone is still not a receiver. A Pixel finds a broadcast and points your earbuds or hearing aids at it. It does not play the stream through its own speaker.
• iPhones still have nothing built in. The workarounds are the same as before.
• Your listeners still need Auracast gear. A voice broadcast reaches Auracast earbuds and hearing aids, not ordinary Bluetooth headphones.

We'll update this story once we have tried Voice broadcast, NFC joining and the notifications on a Pixel ourselves.