airpods device switching is super frustrating

[stevemiller]

i can be in a completely apple-centric setup and it still completely breaks.

listening to music on my mac. phonecall comes in, steals the connection from the mac. afterwards it shows that the airpods are connected to mac but it no longer pipes audio and i have to power cycle bluetooth every single time to get it working again. super frustrating with the current state of spam calls, where i can have my audio interrupted nonstop throughout the day.

also i would classify this as a bug and not intended behaviour, as it specifically completely breaks the bluetooth connect when stealing away from an active audio session on another device. if i use my mac for music, pause it, make a call, hang up and press play again on the mac, it switches back and forth fine. it just completely loses the ability to reconnect to a device that's been "stolen from".

 

[sunapple]

Though I don't experience the problem you're describing, I do prefer to be connected to my phone for music when I'm working and also receiving lots of calls. Switching seems to mostly work, but using a single device just makes things easier.

The switching has become pretty aggressive since a recent update, even a muted video on my Mac will take over the AirPods from another device, sometimes I just turn off Bluetooth.

 

[seggy]

I've never had a problem like that.

It's not that complicated - just use the Airpod connection control to determine which device you want it to stick to, or if you want auto switching to work in general but not in a particular scenario, just have that device stay out of BT range of the airpod.

 

[stevemiller]

I've never had a problem like that.

It's not that complicated - just use the Airpod connection control to determine which device you want it to stick to, or if you want auto switching to work in general but not in a particular scenario, just have that device stay out of BT range of the airpod.

not being able to have my phone by my desk while I work, or just not being able to pair the AirPods to both devices more or less defeats a selling point of the AirPods.

fwiw it also happens even when only connected to the Mac and I use them for a google meet call or any other service that uses the voice bluetooth protocol on the mac. It completely fries the AirPods from working until Bluetooth is reset. I know that example would prompt responses of “it must be the other service that is the problem.” But the real common issue is they can’t recover from a Bluetooth call of any sort. Even when entirely within apples own hardware software ecosystem.

Last note… I had plantronics Bluetooth headphones that didn’t have these issues swapping between music and calls. so it’s not an impossible problem… it’s just a frustrating bug

 

[seggy]

not being able to have my phone by my desk while I work, or just not being able to pair the AirPods to both devices more or less defeats a selling point of the AirPods.

fwiw it also happens even when only connected to the Mac and I use them for a google meet call or any other service that uses the voice bluetooth protocol on the mac. It completely fries the AirPods from working until Bluetooth is reset. I know that example would prompt responses of “it must be the other service that is the problem.” But the real common issue is they can’t recover from a Bluetooth call of any sort. Even when entirely within apples own hardware software ecosystem.

Last note… I had plantronics Bluetooth headphones that didn’t have these issues swapping between music and calls. so it’s not an impossible problem… it’s just a frustrating bug

On the last note, you're comparing apples and oranges maybe without realising it.

With auto switching on, an Airpod will switch to any device it is in connectivity range with when it if it tries to play a sound. Any sound.

 

[stevemiller]

On the last note, you're comparing apples and oranges maybe without realising it.

With auto switching on, an Airpod will switch to any device it is in connectivity range with when it if it tries to play a sound. Any sound.

To be clear. That is the expected behaviour. But that is not happening in my case.

Any Bluetooth call audio on any device will completely lock up the AirPods after that call disconnects, and no sound from any device (including the one that had the call) will work until the Bluetooth is fully reset. The AirPods essentially break.

The devices even show that the AirPods are still connected but they will not produce any sound until you reset. That seems like buggy behaviour to me.

 

[seggy]

Assuming the Airpods aren't actually faulty, that would be your assessment of the situation.

As a test, try setting the iPhone to silent for example

 

[stevemiller]

Assuming the Airpods aren't actually faulty, that would be your assessment of the situation.

As a test, try setting the iPhone to silent for example

i keep my phone on silent all the time. and as i mentioned, this issue even happens when switching devices isn't involved at all. if a bluetooth call comes in on my mac (it can be apple's own feature of letting your mac receive calls, or 3rd party stuff like google meet) while any other audio is also playing on my mac, it breaks the audio system wide until bluetooth is reset.

 

[stevemiller]

just happened again. this time no call was even involved. i just took the airpods out for a moment, and it auto-stopped playing music (as expected). when i put them back in the audio was completely broken. switch source to the laptop speakers, plays normally. back to airpods pro... says connected, no audio. took them out and put them back in. got the "connected to mac" banner, but still no audio. literally the only fix again is to completely power cycle bluetooth.

like... is it possible my airpods are defective?

also i don't think its a low battery issue, this happens all the time, even with full battery.

 

[seggy]

just happened again. this time no call was even involved. i just took the airpods out for a moment, and it auto-stopped playing music (as expected). when i put them back in the audio was completely broken. switch source to the laptop speakers, plays normally. back to airpods pro... says connected, no audio. took them out and put them back in. got the "connected to mac" banner, but still no audio. literally the only fix again is to completely power cycle bluetooth.

like... is it possible my airpods are defective?

also i don't think its a low battery issue, this happens all the time, even with full battery.

View attachment 2343100

It's entirely possible, though I couldn't say in what way it would be broken.

Could also be a problem with your Mac.

Never had anything like this before - the worst of what I get is usually on phone calls is a slightly annoying lag when it switches from headset mode to stereo mode. Never actually breaks. Studios / Intel iMac, if that makes any difference.