The weirdness of Bluetooth

[Cricketbat70]

Some of you will probably remember that I've posted before about listening to music at night to help me sleep, well last night I went through my usual procedure Bluetooth earphones in, phone streaming Spotify and in less than two songs I was asleep.
I woke up about one o'clock with no music playing, so I'm thinking why has Spotify crashed? Looked at my phone and Spotify is still playing. So I put my glasses on and for some reason my phone had disconnected from my earphones less than 2 feet away and connected to my Qacoustics QM4 soundbar in the front room a floor below with 18" of fibreglass insulation between the bedroom floor and the front room ceiling.

The soundbar was in standby mode when I went to bed, I know it has NFC but I wouldn't call that near field🤣
I only put the soundbar in this week nd but that's a story for another thread.

 

[Revolutions]

Or like when Bluetooth prefers your partner’s phone & connects to theirs as soon as they walk into the room, even if you’re already playing music 🤦‍♂️

 

[Cricketbat70]

Or like when Bluetooth prefers your partner’s phone & connects to theirs as soon as they walk into the room, even if you’re already playing music 🤦‍♂️

Or like when my son is listening to music at work through his QC35 and he walks past the warehouse office (a site office, you know the type a shipping container with a couple of windows and a door) and his phone connects to the Bluetooth receiver inside the metal box 🤣

 

[camcroft]

If I wash the car and have earphones on I have to disable the cars connection or it automatically connects to the car and cuts off the connection to the phone.

 

[Cricketbat70]

If I wash the car and have earphones on I have to disable the cars connection or it automatically connects to the car and cuts off the connection to the phone.

My phone and sound bar did another good one last night. I was watching TV, white light on the soundbar to indicate the optical cable from the TV was being used and for no reason half way through the TV program the light turned blue to indicate Bluetooth connection from my phone. I hadn't even touched my phone. Bluetooth definitely has a mind of its own.

 

[camcroft]

My phone and sound bar did another good one last night. I was watching TV, white light on the soundbar to indicate the optical cable from the TV was being used and for no reason half way through the TV program the light turned blue to indicate Bluetooth connection from my phone. I hadn't even touched my phone. Bluetooth definitely has a mind of its own.

Our soundbar has started all of a sudden started going really loud without us even turning it up. I changed the hdmi cable and thought that I had fixed it a few days later it did it again. I turned it down and then its fine till it does it again.

 

[Messiah]

Our soundbar has started all of a sudden started going really loud without us even turning it up. I changed the hdmi cable and thought that I had fixed it a few days later it did it again. I turned it down and then its fine till it does it again.

Sure it's not kids messing about? 😂

I'm 45 and it's still fun to alter peoples volume / channels and stuff with a phone app and see them try and figure out what's going on...

Just me? I'll get my coat. 😂

 

[camcroft]

Sure it's not kids messing about? 😂

I'm 45 and it's still fun to alter peoples volume / channels and stuff with a phone app and see them try and figure out what's going on...

Just me? I'll get my coat. 😂

We are the only kids in the house, It's a Wharfedale sound-bar with bluetooth sub it has been fantastic up to now.

 

[DCarmi]

Our soundbar has started all of a sudden started going really loud without us even turning it up. I changed the hdmi cable and thought that I had fixed it a few days later it did it again. I turned it down and then its fine till it does it again.

We had a TV that did that. I removed the batteries from the remote, to no effect. Eventually the volume started to go up and down all on its own with no human interaction. We decided that it was time to get a new one. It was quite old and I am not saying it is the same thing.

 

[camcroft]

We had a TV that did that. I removed the batteries from the remote, to no effect. Eventually the volume started to go up and down all on its own with no human interaction. We decided that it was time to get a new one. It was quite old and I am not saying it is the same thing.

This one was bought during Covid maybe it need vaccinating. I have just sent an email to Wharfedale to see what they have to say about it.

 

[DCarmi]

My phone and sound bar did another good one last night. I was watching TV, white light on the soundbar to indicate the optical cable from the TV was being used and for no reason half way through the TV program the light turned blue to indicate Bluetooth connection from my phone. I hadn't even touched my phone. Bluetooth definitely has a mind of its own.

There must be some app or other, demanding a Bluetooth connection. The soundbar will (probably) prioritise a bluetooth connection over others such as optical.

So I think an app on your phone is waking up and looking for some Bluetooth to connect to and finds your soundbar. I don't know if there is an app which goes with your soundbar, but if yes, then look there first.

Otherwise look for apps with Near Field permissions and the suspect is likely to be one of those. It is unlikely to be Spotify or any of the usual streaming apps. They are generally well behaved.

 

[Cricketbat70]

There must be some app or other, demanding a Bluetooth connection. The soundbar will (probably) prioritise a bluetooth connection over others such as optical.

So I think an app on your phone is waking up and looking for some Bluetooth to connect to and finds your soundbar. I don't know if there is an app which goes with your soundbar, but if yes, then look there first.

Otherwise look for apps with Near Field permissions and the suspect is likely to be one of those. It is unlikely to be Spotify or any of the usual streaming apps. They are generally well behaved.

It was while I was listening to Spotify that did it first, the other night when I was in bed listening to music Bluetooth earphones connected. Then I woke up to no music and looked at my phone and Spotify had connected to the soundbar downstairs and disconnected from my earphones less than 2 feet away. There is no app with the soundbar. I just think the Bluetooth in the soundbar is throwing it's weight around and being a bully 🤣

 

[DCarmi]

I just think the Bluetooth in the soundbar is throwing it's weight around and being a bully

Unlikely. The soundbar is a receiver so it won't initiate contact. I still think there is some app on the phone that is deciding to search for a bluetooth device. I don't think it is Spotify.

To be fair, the usual problems with Bluetooth is random disconnections.