Choppy Audio UX

I'm hearing fanfares announcing the Android P with the key highlighted feature being individual volume levels for each Bluetooth device. It is hard to imagine it has taken us 20 years to get there: Bluetooth has been with us since 1998.

I will probably never stop complaining about platforms and how they impair the real capabilities of protocols they support. Lets face it: Bluetooth audio s***s. But it is hardly Bluetooth's fault. Android P is the proof. AirPods are the proof. Most recent version of Windows 10 is the proof. They are all proving Bluetooth experience can be way better. But we are still getting too little too late... Bluetooth audio was designed to be way better years ago. Unfortunately the platforms we use today: Windows, OS X, Android, iOS, they are all still way away from where they could be with regards to managing audio streams and input and output devices.

The computer platforms nicely support now multiple displays or virtual desktops. They allow nice and easy rearrangement of application windows and properly handle configuration changes such as plugging monitors in and out and rotation.

Why can't we have the same experience for audio? Why can't I have a palette of audio devices with options to easily connect / disconnect and redirect inputs and outputs from individual applications? Why can't I have this YouTube video playing via the room speakers creating a nice background while the hangouts conversation is going to the AirPods and can be easily switched to the speakers in the display when my colleague wants to join the conversation at my desk? Redirecting audio streams is a nightmare. While it could be as easy as dragging windows across displays....

This platform problem impacts the experience and Bluetooth audio is just an example. Support for Bluetooth LE has not been that much better since it appeared first in Android 4.3 in 2013. Initiating a connection is poorly handled and app developers fight with the OS using a number of hacks including Bluetooth adapter resets. iOS does not allow an app to scan for any Bluetooth LE PDU, only for a narrow set of PDU types selected by Apple. This results in many features of the protocols not being used by applications, because they are simply blocked (or not exposed) by the underlying OS platform.

Android P is a harbinger of better times. Hopefully. But why do we have to wait so long?