• 11 Posts
  • 32 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: August 3rd, 2023

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  • It’s so frustrating that mono audio+mic has been the norm for so long. The awfully small bit rate for both sink and source channels is just the cherry on top. I have to break out a USB-C DAC with a TRRS connector for discord calls on my tablet, as every manufacturer has done away with internal headphone jacks, just maintain the same audio quality I would have on speakerphone mode.

    Android is also pretty frustrating and that you can’t bifurcate your audio syncs and sources. For example on any modern Linux distribution, you can at least direct apps to use your internal laptop microphone by default, and your headphones for full bit rate stereo audio only - to work around and avoid Bluetooth’s ancient HFP protocol. Why Android developers can’t replicate this basic audio muxing is beyond me, but resorting to a device’s internal microphone comes with its own setbacks.

    Perhaps that muxing on Android is only possible for Bluetooth headphones without a microphone, but I can’t find any earphone devices that are not also headsets anymore. Just doesn’t seem to be a thing any longer.






  • I’d like to discover alternative sources if you know any. Most written literature I come across in searches are either technical specifications biased from the Bluetooth consortium, or watered down blog spam of the same consortium’s news releases. Very little in terms of critical analysis or observations of user adoption and real trends in the original equipment manufacturers.

    For example, all throughout the news releases of 5.X, no one would discuss if any improvements to bidirectional audio sinks for microphoned headsets were implemented or planned. It’s like the consortium is content keeping us all on phone calls with HFP from the 1990s at bitrates of 64kbps, leaving Discord audio sessions sounding like on-hold music at the DMV.









  • Thank you so much! Had no idea what that media chip was called. For others, the exact setting path is:

    Lock screen and AOD -> Now bar -> Media Player

    I was looking through the top level Display settings menu, and didn’t think to look under the lock screen settings. Kind of annoying that I have to disable media controls for the lock screen to disable the flashing animated media chip when the phone is unlocked. Why do they tie the two features together under one setting item?




  • You can use a USB hub dongle which passes through power via USB C with a Google TV (4K) device. That’s what I do for mine to connect it to the rest of my GbE VLAN via wired ethernet connection and avoid Wi-Fi packet drops when streaming or casting 4K HDR content. A dongle is also handy to connect any USB web cam so I can use the TV for large family video calls with the grandparents in the living room, via Android apps like Google Meet or Zoom.

    Here is the one I use that also has a combo headphone jack with GbE Ethernet and passthrough charging, so also nice for Moonlight gaming on modern android 120Hz HDR tablets where I don’t want to use low bitrate HFP Bluetooth for discord calls while also listening to game audio and music. Note, when used with the Google TV, I don’t use the USB Hub’s HDMI, opting for the Google TV’s international cord to maintain Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) functionality.

    Anker 655 USB-C Hub (8-in-1), with 2 USB-A 10 Gbps Data Ports, 100W Power Delivery, 4K HDMI, 1 Gbps Ethernet, microSD and SD Card Slots, 3.5 mm AUX, for MacBook, and More (Charcoal Gray) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MF6TJLW





  • Just like modern cars… I wish there was some kind legislation that would limit phone-home telemetry to emergency service telecommunication frequencies, and be opt-in only. That way any OEM operating under commercial cellular frequencies would thus be unlicensed, and subject to FCC violations and import bans. Like what OnStar was originally pitched as; only auto dialing to 911, and 911 only, if you were unresponsive after airbags deployed. OEM couldn’t use the telecommunication frequencies for anything other than networking with emergency service endpoints on the same VLAN.

    Anything recorded by the vehicle would be required to stay on the vehicle due privacy regulations, like the black box recorder for warranted forensic investigations. OTA updates could also be distributed offline for users to download and flash via USB, like any motherboard bios, so transactions would be write only.