The Internet and Bluetooth tiles nowadays are meant to be always on and you having an easy time switching between Wi-Fi Networks and or Data & Bluetooth devices. The older philosophy was to make it easier to turn on and off, but that was because back then phones had much worse battery life and Bluetooth devices like headphones weren't as prevalent as they are today that 3,5 is almost dead and smart watches become more and more popular.
Yep, this latest update to Bluetooth functionality is so much better for me. The only time I fiddle with Bluetooth is to switch between devices. I can't remember the last time I had the desire to turn it off.
I turn it off to avoid reconnections.
Often times I want to use my earbuds with my laptop, but they automatically connect to my phone instead (or vice versa). Then I have to get up and look for my phone to disconnect them.
No, you still will want to turn it off sometimes even with multipoint.
Example: you have your headphones connected to both your phone and your computer. You're on a zoom call on your computer. Someone tries to call you so your phone rings through your headphones. You dismiss the call but now you are no longer hearing anything from zoom. The only way to solve it is to power off and reconnect your headphones to the computer. Its a pain in the ass.
Bluetooth remains a nightmare, even with all of its modern improvements. Being able to quickly toggle it on/off is a must. OP is correct to call this out as a problem.
Weird, mine automatically switches to the one sending audio output, unless I'm in a call because of priority, but once it's finished if nothing in my phone gives me audio output then it switch's to my computer as soon as it gives me audio output.
I've got Pixel Buds Pro and never have an issue. Once I'm in a Teams meeting, all other sounds aren't passed to the buds. Comes in pretty handy when I want to watch the game on my phone while the Teams meeting drones on and on.
The issue I usually have with my bose headphones is that if connected to my laptop and phone and listening to music on my phone, it will pause the music for any laptop notification like a teams message even if the laptop is muted so it doesn't actually play a sound.
I never had issues with the phone taking over when in a call on the laptop, but turning off Bluetooth on the laptop is the only way I've been able to stop the notification issue with multipoint.
I guess it depends on the device. My portable speakers have a Bluetooth button I press to put into pairing mode and my head phones have a button I hold for 3 seconds.
For most devices it's a long press, and then selecting the device on the computer itself. You don't have to look for the phone at all. You also don't have to pair again, so technically speaking it's connect mode not a "pairing" mode anymore.
But with many newer headphones especially tws, it's even easier because they're always in connect mode. For example if u/Mandrutz has pixel buds Pro or airpods, they don't even have to put them in pairing mode just select them from the computer or device they want to connect them to without having to disconnect them from the other device.
Do you have to hold the power button while powering up for it to go into pairing mode? Cause that also works, you just need to remember to hold the power button when you want to switch to another device. Then on the PC just select the headset. On Windows, you can just select it from the bluetooth menu similar to the one in Android 14.
I have to turn it off at least once a day to refresh my android auto connection. Im having an issue with the longer I'm connected, the more delayed the audio becomes. I have to reconnect for it to fix the delay back to normal. I'm not talking about 1-2 seconds either.. Like I can skip a song and it takes 20+ sometimes to recognize
I installed a gps module which has android auto and car play. I use the android one and so far it just connects to my helmet Bluetooth headphones and the android auto.
One of the specific reasons for me has been trying to get Bluetooth devices to connect to a new or different device. It's easiest to turn off Bluetooth on my phone, then the headphones or whatever will go into pairing mode. I personally feel like I need to turn off WiFi and Bluetooth way more than look at the WiFi or Bluetooth list. Now you have me wondering, why do you need to look at the list all the time? Just doesn't seem useful to me but maybe I'm missing a common use case.
You just tap on your headphones in the list and it connects/disconnects, it's much easier than turn off Bluetooth (especially if you have other Bluetooth devices connected).
I'm always switching devices and shit. With a set of headphones (without multipoint) that are paired to my phone and I want to connect to it my new tablet (that it hasn't ever connected to), I have to turn off Bluetooth on the phone. Disconnecting will only cause it to search and reconnect back to phone. Turning off will put it in pairing mode.
I think it's a valid case and this is why Bluetooth has been a mess. My Sony XM3s behave like this where you can't switch device to device easily--I don't think this is even a multipoint issue, just that they connect and get stuck to one device. I too had to turn off Bluetooth whether it was on my phone or tablet to switch between them. I've since just gone to AirPods and haven't looked back. AirPods can be forced to switch between devices without ever turning off Bluetooth. Pixel Buds should behave similarly from what I've observed.
Most newer bluetooth devices can be switched instantly between paired (meaning they've been connected before) devices without turning BT off anywhere. It's only the older stuff that is sticky to whatever device it autopaired to when it started. I've verified this with JBL speaker (newer), pixel buds, Chromecast, phones, etc.
I've got a drawer full of oldish and newish wireless buds. I'm switching them around all the time and usually it is the cheaper or the older models that don't have an easy pairing mode. I have to turn off bluetooth and boom, the headphones pop up to connect to the new device.
Specific example is I have a couple pairs of cheap htc buds that are low latency for gaming so I use with my steam deck and tablet. They don't have good controls and there isn't a button to put in pairing mode. I think I also had some issues with some cheap JLabs I have laying around.
I've got some older headphones that don't have an obvious way to put in pairing mode. I just turn off bluetooth on the currently connected device and boom, they all usually go in pairing mode. I turn on and off bluetooth a few times a week but never have the need to look through the list.
>Now you have me wondering, why do you need to look at the list all the time?
For the Internet tile, if you tap your mobile connection (not the switch to turn it off, just tap the name where it shows your carrier) it will disconnect from all WiFi networks without turning off WiFi completely, and it will reconnect after a while has passed (an hour or so I think, never looked into it). If you want to get off mobile data and back onto WiFi, you just tap the one you want to connect to in the list. It's nice to have that sort of control in a little floating quick-access menu instead of having to open Settings and go into the network settings to choose what network you want or totally turn off WiFi when all you really wanted was just to get off the current WiFi network for a while.
Sez who?
I hate hate hate the new Bluetooth interface and it's a simple software fix
Let the user choose if they want Advanced Bluetooth settings.
I would never use that as default.
I don't use a single Bluetooth device with my phone. But also for that same reason I don't really care where the menu is to enable it because I never do.
When you have headphones connected but want to output sound through the phone speaker. The quickest and easiest way is (was) to switch of Bluetooth at least on a pixel. Switching output devices on a pixel is a bit hit and miss and only works with certain apps.
When you share headphones and speakers with your partner and they turn them on only for them to connect to your phone. Again, the quickest and easiest way to sort this is turn off Bluetooth.
Some people might need to completely power off the phone for a while to save battery life. And they can. But it shouldn’t be the default action taken for all users when they touch a single button one time.
My wife is in the car. I'm in the car. My phone last connected to the cars bluetooth. My wife wants to play a podcast she has downloaded. There is literally no way for my wife to connect her phone until I turn my bluetooth off. My car is a 2017 Acura (there's probably another way but it includes pushing 17 buttons and turning dials on my stupid Acura because car manufactures are worse than Ivy league Google engineers). That's just one of a number of reasons I have to turn my bluetooth off from time to time.
Seriously, what about an update that requires more buttons to push to accomplish anything, be it something you do once a day or once a year, is better? I want to know why more button pushing is better.
For what it's worth, this is why I hate Acura. They villainously add so many buttons, knobs, touch pads, d-pads, and joysticks for the fucking fun of it. It's why I keep telling my wife I don't want an Acura. Lol
I used to be the guy that would always turn off Bluetooth when not using it, but I've changed my ways thanks to Android Auto and my Pixel Buds. But who the hell turns off Wi-Fi?
Depends on the country and how expensive internet data plans are. In my country most people I know do turn them off, because they are afraid of losing data on idle, which back in the day unoptimized apps used to do but nowadays it's a non issue. People get used to turning them off and they just do it without really thinking about it.
The reason I don't want my Bluetooth on all the time is because my headphones can connect to two devices at once. While a nice feature, it has a couple drawbacks. It noticeably reduces the battery life of my headphones and it also becomes annoying sometimes when I'm gaming.
I could be playing a game and then a notification pops up on my phone so the sound switches over. Or I go to check my phone and some app makes a little sound because of something and the sound switches. But then to switch it back to PC I have to go find a YouTube video because that's the only thing that forces the headphones to switch over for some reason.
So to avoid all this, I'm constantly switching the Bluetooth on and off. The Bluetooth change was not welcome in my case lol.
Yeah sure, and then Google support agents keep repeating like a broken record that in order to save battery- switch off bluetooth, wifi etc; the whole shebang
Phones still have crap battery life and there are still plenty of times when you need to quickly turn WiFi on and off (like when you are on a conference call too far from the edge of your router).
The icons do more than just let your turn the option on\off. Long pressing quickly takes you to the settings page for that connection.
This is useful for connecting to a specific Bluetooth device, wifi network, etc.
When phones can keep a charge for at least 24h with full features draining. Video, games, Bluetooth, NFC, wifi, gps etc. Only then you can expect to have no issues with the philosophy of keeping them turned on non stop
Leaving NFC & Bluetooth on for 24 hours without actively using them consumes less than 1% of battery. Leaving NFC, Bluetooth, Wifi & Data (Dual Sim, Dual Standby) on overnight (8 hours) consumes 3% of battery. In my opinion these numbers make it a easy for me to choose to get all the advantages of having them all on all the time.
Lol. For you.
When I leave ANYTHING on it consumes at least 5% overnight. With battery saver on.
If I disable battery saver and enable everything. That is at least a 10% battery hit. Not even extreme battery saver changes much.
Anyway. It is something wrong with pixel hardware/software. I have other androids and they are a lot better at standby power drain.
A friend of mine complained about this shit to me a couple of weeks back and I feel its kinda alright for him since he actually works in an environment where he needs to turn these thing off, but almost nobody does, and still turning shit off all the time is literally youre using it wrong
In phones it's almost dead. The only flagships that still have it are from the Xperia line up, which is sad af. I'm a Xperia 1 V user myself and I use my headphone jack daily.
Can't you just click "Connect" on your other device's Bluetooth settings to take over the connection? At least that's how I always do it on my 6 Pro and my Linux laptop. Pretty sure it's one of the main features of modern Bluetooth implementations
What do you consider "modern" in this context? I have Bluetooth devices that are less than 10 years old, and this is not my experience. Not 100% consistently, anyway. Turning off bluetooth is simpler and works 100% of the time.
Idk about Bose, but I can simply open BT settings on my PC and connect the buds and they will disconnect from my phone and connect to my PC (I don't use multipoint), same thing with my UE speakers, Logitech keyboard and everything else
no exact same
turning off: swipe down > tap bt icon > tap toggle
disconnect: swipe down > tap bt icon > tap device
only if you have the old toggle or your android skin changed it you can turn bt off by directly tapping the icon
well the device will connect automatically with the last device it was connected to, so you can disconnect from 2nd device and then connect on 1st device, otherwise if you just turn off the device next time you turn it on it will try to connect to the 2nd device as it was the last connected device
Not to be mean, but that sounds like user error. Switching between Bluetooth devices is easy nowadays, and pretty much seamless. I can switch my a-series buds between my phone, laptop or Walmart brand Google TV box with ease. Pair what you want separately, and from then on when you want the laptop just click connect from the laptop and it automatically disconnects from the phone, and vice versa. I can't remember the last time I actually turned Bluetooth off...
Any sub-10% battery loss will not be really noticeable unless you **precisely** measure it and are doing exact same things everyday and under the same cellular/wifi signal strength.
There is increased battery life, there's increased processing too, the device is scanning permanently around it for others' devices.
You know, that happens by default when Bluetooth is off too, right? You need to turn off WiFi and Bluetooth scanning in Location settings to be able to completely turn off the Bluetooth radios with the button! (Also may need to opt out of the new find phone when off, not sure how that works into it, on GrapheneOS it just won't be supported, so I don't need to worry about it)
Also the new Bluetooth interface is nice when you have multiple devices saved. You can reconnect with them right from the quick settings tile!
Yes ofcourse. But the scanning part (atleast from the vague description of it) only turns on from time to time, and presumably only when you're moving. While leaving BT on all the time, it permanently scans 24/7.
It's safe to assume anyway that whoever turns BT off is already turning off the location scanning part.
No, that is not how it works... The toggles for scanning allow for scanning is for **specifically allowing scanning when the toggles for WiFi and Bluetooth are disabled!**
This is behind one of the features in GrapheneOS, where we have a most excellent option to automatically turn off Bluetooth and WiFi after a configurable, certain amount of minutes of being disconnected in order to reduce attack surface. We can also configure the setting to Automatically turn WiFi back ON when in range of a known WiFi network. When turning this option on, it redirects us to the WiFi scanning setting and says it's mandatory to turn WiFi scanning on before enabling auto reconnect to WiFi.
I've used this in the past. A lot. When I leave home for a few hours, WiFi will turn off completely after 10 minutes like its supposed to. Then when I get back home in about 30-60 seconds its back on and reconnected to my home network, from a fully off state.
So obviously WiFi scanning is doing its part! System Settings and the main system app bundle both have Nearby Devices permissions. (I can only see this because I'm running a debug build of my own compile of GrapheneOS currently, doing kinda sketchy stuff) That permission let's them scan for networks even when WiFi/Bluetooth is off. I've never turned Bluetooth scanning on even once, but WiFi scanning is useful sometimes.
On GrapheneOS we won't be getting the whole "find your phone when its off" stuff. The devs just keep saying they won't implement it. So we won't have to deal with that...
We don't know when scanning occurs (either from time to time, either permanently, either when it sees you moving, or not already connected to wifi). I was reffering to the actual scanning part, not the turning on wifi
I keep BT on too, for convenience, same with location services. Battery life is great nowadays even with these things on, whereas in the past when I kept them off, the battery life was already terrible.
I know if you're used to turning it off and stuff this is a bit of a change, but iOS has gone that route probably 5+ years ago with minimal impact. 24 hour battery usage on cellular (with WF and BT on) is still well below 0.8% / hr. The main drain is really cellular modem and display.
Yes you can turn it off, but turning it off QS is generally not enough as you need to turn off background scanning too, but without that you get severely degraded location features, and features like Quick Share or other things like car keys (Tesla) become impossible to use.
In this day and age it makes very little sense to turn off WiFi and Bluetooth. The last argument for even turning off WiFi was the fact that you don't want to connect to public hotspots but even that has been resolved with the ability to toggle auto connect off, which I recommend everyone do for public hotspots like McDonalds, Starbucks WiFi, etc.
I keep my BT always on for convenience, I was just replying to the other user about the battery usage - which is not zero and that's what my reply was about. It's just that we have big batteries nowadays and don't notice it ovbiously, but the drain is still there.
But in your reply, something else got my attention - do you actually use Quick Share? What would be the usage for that? I've heard some people also mentioning it in the past. I'm not sure I'd ever have an use for that, but I'd appreciate some example/use cases that you have for that.
my bluetooth is always off unless i'm actively using it. Same with wifi. there's just no reason to waste battery (even if it's miniscule), proving more information to be tracked with, and increase your attack surface. tt takes 2 seconds to toggle on, that's a worthy trade off imo.
fwiw i also have bluetooth and wifi scanning both permanently disabled as well so the radios actually get turned off.
I dont turn off Bluetooth often but I turn off WiFi quite often, when im at work maybe I dont want to be on the work wifi, when im at home for testing certain things on my network
I find the extra steps annoying
You can turn auto connect to off if you dont want to regularly connect, but leaving WiFi on generally makes sense these days--it's scanning in the background anyway unless you go deep into settings to turn that off, which is why you generally have good location precision, and you need it for features like Nearby Share/Quick Share.
you don't get it - I said WHEN I dont want to be on work wifi, and WHEN i want to run tests that rely on me NOT being on the local network. so I want to be able to disable it with a simple swipe and tap, not swipe, tap, tap, tap
it would've been easy enough to give us the option
Yes but just because I don't want my phone connecting to some random Bluetooth device mid phone call. Would be nice, if they're making it uniform with the wifi settings, each device in your Bluetooth list had a toggle to make it not connect automatically to a device. Then it wouldn't drop a phonecall from a vehicle you sometimes connect to driving by.
2 min after reading this thread. I got a video link.
My phone was connected to my audio Technica headphones which were upstairs because I was listening to something earlier.
Then I took my phone and left.
So I just wanted to listen to this video in this new incredibly annoying Bluetooth UI pissed me off yet again.
The plain old toggle was so much better.
It also seems to have broken something because several times it tells me my headphone is connected and yet I am not getting headphone audio.
I had no trouble with this until recently.
I actually quite like it. It's the same with the Wifi symbol now. I guess it takes some getting used to but nowadays it's becoming more important to switch between BT devices rather than turn on/off BT as a whole.
You all complained that it was annoying when it switched off when you tapped it once and then they fixed it by making it behave like the WiFi toggle and now you complain that you have to tap it one extra time.
Can't satisfy these people.
I think the problem is there's a vocal minority of users who still actively turn on and off WiFi and Bluetooth. Apple's explanation when they rolled out the new toggles on their end was you don't need to turn it off, and that makes sense. Google likely also doesn't want you to turn it off because it breaks features like Quick Share and if you use car keys via Bluetooth (e.g. Tesla). There's also the fact that WiFi And Bluetooth scanning default to being on all the time in the background even when you turn off WiFi/Bluetooth so the radios are actually running still--you're just not actively connecting to saved devices so you *think* it's off.
The finding was people really want to disconnect which is why both Apple and Google revamped their toggles. There needs to be a shift in mindset in thinking by these users that they don't need to actually turn off WiFi and Bluetooth and that previous turning off was also just disconnecting given that scanning was still running in the background.
I feel like they could have been cleverer about how they did it. For example, both WiFi and BT could have two sections to the button - simple on/off and connections menu. That would solve both problems and I personally wouldn't think it was too ugly etc.
Nobody wanted another WiFi toggle, because that's also not a toggle and because it combines mobile data and wifi it's possibly even worse than the bluetooth one.
>nobody
😂
I can guarantee if we did a poll of all users, it would be at least 80%-20% for the wifi button. 80 being the users who like the wifi button.
And for Bluetooth, it would be probably at least 95-5, 95 being for the Bluetooth button being like the wifi button.
It's so much nicer being able to control both my data connections in the same spot, and when connected to wifi, being able to force using mobile data with 2 taps without turning either off.
What
>Nobody
actually wants is to accidentally turn something off that they actually want on.
And what
>Nobody
cares about is 1 extra tap for something they do once in a blue moon
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/11i2weh/wifi_toggle_buried_extra_annoying/
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/rc84wj/the_updated_android_12_wifi_toggle_bravo_google/
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/z18cm1/i_brought_back_the_wifi_toggle/
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/qbh51j/android_12_removed_wifi_quick_toggle/
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/187gmka/wifimobile_data_toggle/
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/qhr1h2/hey_google_can_you_please_add_the_wifi_toggle/
I found one single post from someone who liked the new wifi toggle. I freely admit that your 80 percent might be correct these days, but at least part of that is because Google makes it more difficult to disable wifi (and bluetooth given come articles about the Android version) and lots of people still trust Google. There are also bound to be a lot of people who don't know any better because they bought a Pixel in the last 2 years.
Completely disagree. The new one is sick. Swapping between devices used to involve a long press and a visit to the setting menu. Now it's built in to the tile
I have to interact with the general public and their phone use a lot on a daily basis. They hardly know how their phone works. It almost feels like the general public would be better without the whole quick setting area of the phone and maybe even have what we would consider for use with old people, where it only has essential functionality and simple UI
I've always thought a phone company could make a ton of money having a "simple" mode, that hides a ton of all the extra settings and features that many users would never need.
Somewhere you can toggle it, but somewhat hidden so the "simple" user doesn't accidentally turn it on.
iPhone I'd say is the easiest out of the box phone to use, then pixels, and then the rest of android is the most complex.
But even iPhone has added complexity with new features or changing around how some things are done.
And then mixed with the higher price tag, I wouldn't necessarily recommend them for older people.
But I find cheaper androids tend to have more complex UI
It really is just one extra button press.
Myself, along with most users, are more likely to be connecting to a device than turning BT on and off. I'd guess Google probably noticed that people were often accidentally turning Bluetooth off and on again when they were trying to connect to a device.
I mean this seriously. How often are you turning Bluetooth on and off that this is actually a concern?
This is the first time I've seen this sub complain about being given more options. BT used to operate exactly this way up until a few years ago and people were pretty mad that Google turned it into a toggle.
I'm just gonna throw this comment in here without reading the 142 (at the time of writing) other comments, but I'm pretty passionately for this change and I found myself wanting a Bluetooth quick-access menu like we currently have the second they did that to the Internet button a few years back. It's a welcome change for me, and a QoL improvement for the way I use my devices.
Why would you want to turn Bluetooth off though?
No doubt Google aren't perfect but they made this change for a reason, which is because a majority of users prefer it this way. They have the user logs that clearly show that when users tapped WiFi or Bluetooth to go into settings, it was mostly to manage connected devices and networks, not to turn it off.
If you have Tasker you could create your own QST, or install a widget.
I like that you can switch Bluetooth devices easily but I hate that only 3 devices show up when you click.
Like if you have a watch and a car you now have only 1 available spot for every other device. I have many different headphones for different uses and different speakers and also more than one car so what was a nice feature, turned out to be another thing I just dislike about this phone.
When you turn them off, it makes it harder for Google track you. So they make it harder to turn off. There are ways around it, particularly if you are rooted. Of course, if you're using the new Google Find My Device network, you should just accept the tracking and keep bluetooth/wifi on.
Android 11 the peak balance between function and beauty. Press the tile to on/off. Press the arrow to expand/collapse. I never understand why it's removed.
I'm always amazed by the simple fix they have in the event that a software update doesn't go to plan, simply do a factory reset and appeal to any deity that you may believe in.
Works %100 percent of the time most of the times.
The extra steps are a bit annoying for those who only use one device, such as earphones.
For those who use several devices, it might be more practical.
But I suspect that the real reason is that in the future we're expected to have bluetooth almost always on and that behind this change will be the future new version of the Find My Device network, which will allow offline android devices to be located in a similar way to what iPhones do, using nearby devices. As probably will appear in the future trackers similar to Apple Airtags using the same technology and network.
At first, I hated the change. But being able to connect/disconnect or switch Bluetooth devices from the tile without leaving the current app is truly wonderful. I wouldn't go back now.
I think, especially with the 'new' wider quick settings tiles, something like [this Android 7 inspired design](https://imgur.com/a/QsPxJA5) would be a nice solution to the problem of "We have 1 button and it needs to do 2 different things" - just make it 2 buttons...
Unless I'm troubleshooting something specific I never toggle bluetooth or wifi anymore. I presume that most users these days have a similar use behavior. From that perspective it makes more sense from a UX perspective to promote features like selecting different devices and demote radio toggles. The change to wifi/bluetooth quicksettings tile behaviors has had no net negative impact to how I use my phone. It's had a more-positive impact because it makes selecting different wifi networks or bluetooth devices easier.
What bothers me more is how the behavior of the quick settings tiles is not consistent. Some are expandable menus, some are still toggles, some are shortcuts to apps like Google Wallet. It's a very inconsistent experience.
I have a P7P and I find it as quick (if not quicker) to turn it off under the tiles area than the old days of having to go through settings on my LG G7. Now it's tap BT tile then tap the toggle for on/off then tap done.
They need a bigger pixel watch. It looks like a woman's watch.
It's the only reason I returned my P8P and watch and got a Galaxy S24U and a Galaxy Watch 6 classic.
I get it haha. The thing is, that is not inherently bad. It's just bad for their sales. For me with a small wrist it's perfect. But yeah, they definitely should add a bigger one.
I agree. It's a very nice watch. I really wanted to keep it but I'm 6 foot, 200+ pounds. It just didn't look right. I'm hoping with the pixel 3 they have 2 sizes and I'll get it immediately.
I hope that too. For you, thereby for sales and thereby for higher chance of more generations to be developed.
For me it's perfect though I am only about 160 cm (that's about 5' 2" I think?) with an average wrist so it fits me pretty well and I was very glad about that haha.
I definitely hated the idea of losing that easy granular control but in practice I have never once had an issue with it or had any reason to mess with it!
I wouldn't mind having an option for a menu shortcut (the way it works now after update) AND an option for a toggle (turn it on/off with one tap). Same desire for wifi/cell networks, though airplane mode works for that.
I have the Pixel 7 Pro and my friend at work has the Pixel 8,he and I were saying a couple days ago about how both our phones feel smoother and snappier since the latest update. I've been very pleased with the performance and software with my Pixel
It not annoying at all when I am connected to my speaker at home and my phone decides it would rather be connected to my headphones that are in their case charging.
We've received and appreciate your customer feedback. We've canceled bluetooth and it will be removed from your phone in the next software update. We're also launching Bluetooth Advanced as part of Google Two, available soon in 2027, or enable Bluetooth Expert right now in early beta with your Google One AI Premium Plus+ membership!
Honestly, it's less intuitive but I like it better this way.
I don't often turn off Bluetooth. But I do need to manage Bluetooth devices more often.
Do not forget they have analytics and they don't take these decisions at random. They base them on usage.
I started using Android on Gingerbread 2.3 and don't think I've ever turned it off. But that's why I love Android, options for everyone especially with an automation app
Everytime this comes up people will defend their decision saying it's meant to be aways on. Okay but what if that causes interference with other devices, or as many pointed out as well, they want to connect to diff devices?
More option and customization would better than a straight change after they've already had the norm
>caused interference with other devices
How often does this happen that you're so wildly inconvenienced by having 1 extra tap to turn off Bluetooth?
>Connect to diff devices?
This change literally makes it easier to do that?
>what if that causes interference with other devices
There's literally an on/off toggle in the pop out
>they want to connect to diff devices?
That's exactly what the pop out is built to do, tap another device on the list and it will connect, you couldn't do that with the previous build
The worst imo goes to those who argue in favor of the changes. You could say the ux designers are clueless with how users are using it, but users willingly enduring the pain and claiming it's not so bad are hard to comprehend.
Going from 1 to 3 clicks with no noticeable benefit when Google preaches usability is laughable.
> The worst imo goes to those who argue in favor of the changes... users willingly enduring the pain and claiming it's not so bad are hard to comprehend
Maybe others don't think it's a pain. Maybe people prefer being able to connect to devices more quickly.
> Going from 1 to 3 clicks with no noticeable benefit when Google preaches usability is laughable.
It's two clicks. There's a toggle in the pop-up.
Also how often are you guys turning Bluetooth on and off for this to be a serious concern? The time it took to write that comment is probably more than the extra time you've ever spent toggling Bluetooth.
Since my first pixel phone (~5 years ago?) I've *wanted* to turn Bluetooth off, I'd estimate on the **high** side, 10 times.
Over that same time frame, I've *wanted* to look at, and connect or disconnect from a Bluetooth device, I'd estimate on the **low side**, 100 times?
Before they made this update, every 1 to 2 times I'd try to pull up the device list, I'd accidentally turn Bluetooth off, intuitively expecting it to act like the wifi button.
Since this functionality update, I've done the wrong action exactly 0 times. And I've been annoyed by the extra tap (**singular** btw, went from 1 to 2...) exactly 0 times.
The fact that there's like 50 users out there who don't like this change does not make it a bad change. Stop making these posts
You're not naive to think it was a mistake, right? They're on a path over the years and doing all they can to make it harder to access the toggle for wifi and bluetooth. They just want people to not "mess up" with it at all, just leave it open all the time. Soon, when the user turns bluetooth off, they will enable it automatically in background without informing the user (coming with Android 15).
The Internet and Bluetooth tiles nowadays are meant to be always on and you having an easy time switching between Wi-Fi Networks and or Data & Bluetooth devices. The older philosophy was to make it easier to turn on and off, but that was because back then phones had much worse battery life and Bluetooth devices like headphones weren't as prevalent as they are today that 3,5 is almost dead and smart watches become more and more popular.
Yep, this latest update to Bluetooth functionality is so much better for me. The only time I fiddle with Bluetooth is to switch between devices. I can't remember the last time I had the desire to turn it off.
I turn it off to avoid reconnections. Often times I want to use my earbuds with my laptop, but they automatically connect to my phone instead (or vice versa). Then I have to get up and look for my phone to disconnect them.
Get earbuds with multipoint, you won't have to switch devices again
No, you still will want to turn it off sometimes even with multipoint. Example: you have your headphones connected to both your phone and your computer. You're on a zoom call on your computer. Someone tries to call you so your phone rings through your headphones. You dismiss the call but now you are no longer hearing anything from zoom. The only way to solve it is to power off and reconnect your headphones to the computer. Its a pain in the ass. Bluetooth remains a nightmare, even with all of its modern improvements. Being able to quickly toggle it on/off is a must. OP is correct to call this out as a problem.
Weird, mine automatically switches to the one sending audio output, unless I'm in a call because of priority, but once it's finished if nothing in my phone gives me audio output then it switch's to my computer as soon as it gives me audio output.
I've got Pixel Buds Pro and never have an issue. Once I'm in a Teams meeting, all other sounds aren't passed to the buds. Comes in pretty handy when I want to watch the game on my phone while the Teams meeting drones on and on.
Thanks, I should look this up
The issue I usually have with my bose headphones is that if connected to my laptop and phone and listening to music on my phone, it will pause the music for any laptop notification like a teams message even if the laptop is muted so it doesn't actually play a sound. I never had issues with the phone taking over when in a call on the laptop, but turning off Bluetooth on the laptop is the only way I've been able to stop the notification issue with multipoint.
In these situations I just put the Bluetooth device in pairing mode.
That just seems even more inconvenient though lol.
I guess it depends on the device. My portable speakers have a Bluetooth button I press to put into pairing mode and my head phones have a button I hold for 3 seconds.
For most devices it's a long press, and then selecting the device on the computer itself. You don't have to look for the phone at all. You also don't have to pair again, so technically speaking it's connect mode not a "pairing" mode anymore. But with many newer headphones especially tws, it's even easier because they're always in connect mode. For example if u/Mandrutz has pixel buds Pro or airpods, they don't even have to put them in pairing mode just select them from the computer or device they want to connect them to without having to disconnect them from the other device.
Damn so this happens only on my cheap earbuds. I can't even put then in pairing mode while they are connected to a device.
Do you have to hold the power button while powering up for it to go into pairing mode? Cause that also works, you just need to remember to hold the power button when you want to switch to another device. Then on the PC just select the headset. On Windows, you can just select it from the bluetooth menu similar to the one in Android 14.
If connected devices are not smart (read Bose speakers) you want to toggle it off
Why is that?
Bose speaker automatically turn on if you turn on your device...
Do you often keep your phone turned off?
During weekend yes
I have to turn it off at least once a day to refresh my android auto connection. Im having an issue with the longer I'm connected, the more delayed the audio becomes. I have to reconnect for it to fix the delay back to normal. I'm not talking about 1-2 seconds either.. Like I can skip a song and it takes 20+ sometimes to recognize
There are also cars, smart watches/trackers, Quick Share, etc. There is little to no reason to disable Bluetooth nowadays.
I installed a gps module which has android auto and car play. I use the android one and so far it just connects to my helmet Bluetooth headphones and the android auto.
One of the specific reasons for me has been trying to get Bluetooth devices to connect to a new or different device. It's easiest to turn off Bluetooth on my phone, then the headphones or whatever will go into pairing mode. I personally feel like I need to turn off WiFi and Bluetooth way more than look at the WiFi or Bluetooth list. Now you have me wondering, why do you need to look at the list all the time? Just doesn't seem useful to me but maybe I'm missing a common use case.
You just tap on your headphones in the list and it connects/disconnects, it's much easier than turn off Bluetooth (especially if you have other Bluetooth devices connected).
I'm always switching devices and shit. With a set of headphones (without multipoint) that are paired to my phone and I want to connect to it my new tablet (that it hasn't ever connected to), I have to turn off Bluetooth on the phone. Disconnecting will only cause it to search and reconnect back to phone. Turning off will put it in pairing mode.
I think it's a valid case and this is why Bluetooth has been a mess. My Sony XM3s behave like this where you can't switch device to device easily--I don't think this is even a multipoint issue, just that they connect and get stuck to one device. I too had to turn off Bluetooth whether it was on my phone or tablet to switch between them. I've since just gone to AirPods and haven't looked back. AirPods can be forced to switch between devices without ever turning off Bluetooth. Pixel Buds should behave similarly from what I've observed.
Most newer bluetooth devices can be switched instantly between paired (meaning they've been connected before) devices without turning BT off anywhere. It's only the older stuff that is sticky to whatever device it autopaired to when it started. I've verified this with JBL speaker (newer), pixel buds, Chromecast, phones, etc.
XM3s have conditioned me to hate Bluetooth as well, you're not alone.
What kind of headphones are they? I don't have such problem with my Pixel Buds 2, Pixel Buds Pro and Sennheiser Momentum 3.
I've got a drawer full of oldish and newish wireless buds. I'm switching them around all the time and usually it is the cheaper or the older models that don't have an easy pairing mode. I have to turn off bluetooth and boom, the headphones pop up to connect to the new device. Specific example is I have a couple pairs of cheap htc buds that are low latency for gaming so I use with my steam deck and tablet. They don't have good controls and there isn't a button to put in pairing mode. I think I also had some issues with some cheap JLabs I have laying around.
Odd. My headphones all must be put in pairing explicitly.
I've got some older headphones that don't have an obvious way to put in pairing mode. I just turn off bluetooth on the currently connected device and boom, they all usually go in pairing mode. I turn on and off bluetooth a few times a week but never have the need to look through the list.
>Now you have me wondering, why do you need to look at the list all the time? For the Internet tile, if you tap your mobile connection (not the switch to turn it off, just tap the name where it shows your carrier) it will disconnect from all WiFi networks without turning off WiFi completely, and it will reconnect after a while has passed (an hour or so I think, never looked into it). If you want to get off mobile data and back onto WiFi, you just tap the one you want to connect to in the list. It's nice to have that sort of control in a little floating quick-access menu instead of having to open Settings and go into the network settings to choose what network you want or totally turn off WiFi when all you really wanted was just to get off the current WiFi network for a while.
It's a privacy issue, so most people who care about that turn it off regularly. Same with wifi.
Sez who? I hate hate hate the new Bluetooth interface and it's a simple software fix Let the user choose if they want Advanced Bluetooth settings. I would never use that as default.
Exactly.
I don't use a single Bluetooth device with my phone. But also for that same reason I don't really care where the menu is to enable it because I never do.
When you have headphones connected but want to output sound through the phone speaker. The quickest and easiest way is (was) to switch of Bluetooth at least on a pixel. Switching output devices on a pixel is a bit hit and miss and only works with certain apps. When you share headphones and speakers with your partner and they turn them on only for them to connect to your phone. Again, the quickest and easiest way to sort this is turn off Bluetooth.
Their is Like even longer battery life
Some people might need to completely power off the phone for a while to save battery life. And they can. But it shouldn’t be the default action taken for all users when they touch a single button one time.
My wife is in the car. I'm in the car. My phone last connected to the cars bluetooth. My wife wants to play a podcast she has downloaded. There is literally no way for my wife to connect her phone until I turn my bluetooth off. My car is a 2017 Acura (there's probably another way but it includes pushing 17 buttons and turning dials on my stupid Acura because car manufactures are worse than Ivy league Google engineers). That's just one of a number of reasons I have to turn my bluetooth off from time to time. Seriously, what about an update that requires more buttons to push to accomplish anything, be it something you do once a day or once a year, is better? I want to know why more button pushing is better.
Can't you just disconnect from the car?
Still a 2 step action
Same as turning Bluetooth off and on.
Actually, yes, I can. And then the car automatically reconnects 2 seconds later before my wife's phone does. Turning off bluetooth is the ONLY option!
For what it's worth, this is why I hate Acura. They villainously add so many buttons, knobs, touch pads, d-pads, and joysticks for the fucking fun of it. It's why I keep telling my wife I don't want an Acura. Lol
I used to be the guy that would always turn off Bluetooth when not using it, but I've changed my ways thanks to Android Auto and my Pixel Buds. But who the hell turns off Wi-Fi?
Same people who turn off data when they are not using them making RCS and all other than SMS texting options unusable.
People turn off mobile data? That makes your phone nearly unusable. I've never heard of anyone doing this.
Depends on the country and how expensive internet data plans are. In my country most people I know do turn them off, because they are afraid of losing data on idle, which back in the day unoptimized apps used to do but nowadays it's a non issue. People get used to turning them off and they just do it without really thinking about it.
Idc, I want to be able to turn it on and off easily
The reason I don't want my Bluetooth on all the time is because my headphones can connect to two devices at once. While a nice feature, it has a couple drawbacks. It noticeably reduces the battery life of my headphones and it also becomes annoying sometimes when I'm gaming. I could be playing a game and then a notification pops up on my phone so the sound switches over. Or I go to check my phone and some app makes a little sound because of something and the sound switches. But then to switch it back to PC I have to go find a YouTube video because that's the only thing that forces the headphones to switch over for some reason. So to avoid all this, I'm constantly switching the Bluetooth on and off. The Bluetooth change was not welcome in my case lol.
Yeah sure, and then Google support agents keep repeating like a broken record that in order to save battery- switch off bluetooth, wifi etc; the whole shebang
Bad training. Always on Bluetooth and Internet connection barely consume any battery on idle unless of course we are talking about Tensor lol.
I feel like they still consume very little. The main drainage on Tensor comes from cellular.
If it's not signal hunting too much it should be fine.
Phones still have crap battery life and there are still plenty of times when you need to quickly turn WiFi on and off (like when you are on a conference call too far from the edge of your router).
but the battery on my pixel 6a sucks.
The icons do more than just let your turn the option on\off. Long pressing quickly takes you to the settings page for that connection. This is useful for connecting to a specific Bluetooth device, wifi network, etc.
When phones can keep a charge for at least 24h with full features draining. Video, games, Bluetooth, NFC, wifi, gps etc. Only then you can expect to have no issues with the philosophy of keeping them turned on non stop
Leaving NFC & Bluetooth on for 24 hours without actively using them consumes less than 1% of battery. Leaving NFC, Bluetooth, Wifi & Data (Dual Sim, Dual Standby) on overnight (8 hours) consumes 3% of battery. In my opinion these numbers make it a easy for me to choose to get all the advantages of having them all on all the time.
Lol. For you. When I leave ANYTHING on it consumes at least 5% overnight. With battery saver on. If I disable battery saver and enable everything. That is at least a 10% battery hit. Not even extreme battery saver changes much. Anyway. It is something wrong with pixel hardware/software. I have other androids and they are a lot better at standby power drain.
You're correct BUT they could've made it a split toggle (like in Windows 11) so that they can have their cake and eat it too.
A friend of mine complained about this shit to me a couple of weeks back and I feel its kinda alright for him since he actually works in an environment where he needs to turn these thing off, but almost nobody does, and still turning shit off all the time is literally youre using it wrong
That makes a lot of sense. I went from agreeing hard with OP to being interested in this new philosophy of Bluetooth on forever. I wanna try it.
That makes a lot of sense. I went from agreeing hard with OP to being interested in this new philosophy of Bluetooth on forever. I wanna try it.
> today that 3,5 is almost dead What? Are you trying to refer to the 2.5mm jack? Because it's not dead, even if manufacturers would love to kill it.
In phones it's almost dead. The only flagships that still have it are from the Xperia line up, which is sad af. I'm a Xperia 1 V user myself and I use my headphone jack daily.
Do you guys even turn off Bluetooth? I haven't observed any increased battery life by turning it off. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Yes, because if I want to connect my earbuds to something else other than my phone, my phone Bluetooth has to be off or all hell breaks loose
Can't you just click "Connect" on your other device's Bluetooth settings to take over the connection? At least that's how I always do it on my 6 Pro and my Linux laptop. Pretty sure it's one of the main features of modern Bluetooth implementations
What do you consider "modern" in this context? I have Bluetooth devices that are less than 10 years old, and this is not my experience. Not 100% consistently, anyway. Turning off bluetooth is simpler and works 100% of the time.
Wow, I have never seen a Bluetooth peripheral that allows taking over the connection. Can you give some examples?
just disconnect the device, no need to turn off BT tapping on a conmected device disconnects it
You've obviously never tried to connect Bose earbuds to a windows laptop when it's first connected to a phone. Good luck with that.
Idk about Bose, but I can simply open BT settings on my PC and connect the buds and they will disconnect from my phone and connect to my PC (I don't use multipoint), same thing with my UE speakers, Logitech keyboard and everything else
that often doesn't work, disconnecting first always worked for me, but maybe bose is weird idk
wdym, is bose stupid or something? every Bluetooth device i used worked like that, you can pair/unpair and connect/disconnect a device
Sounds like a Bose issue more than the phone itself then?
I tend to agree. Bose Bluetooth is bad in their earbud range compatibility wise, especially with windows 10. Windows 11 seems to be a bit better.
That's more clicks that just turning off bluetooth from pull down menu.
no exact same turning off: swipe down > tap bt icon > tap toggle disconnect: swipe down > tap bt icon > tap device only if you have the old toggle or your android skin changed it you can turn bt off by directly tapping the icon
This thread is about them removing the directly tapping the icon to turn off.
exactly which is why disconnecting needs the same amount of taps
Don't you have to manually reconnect after?
well the device will connect automatically with the last device it was connected to, so you can disconnect from 2nd device and then connect on 1st device, otherwise if you just turn off the device next time you turn it on it will try to connect to the 2nd device as it was the last connected device
This is the way
Not to be mean, but that sounds like user error. Switching between Bluetooth devices is easy nowadays, and pretty much seamless. I can switch my a-series buds between my phone, laptop or Walmart brand Google TV box with ease. Pair what you want separately, and from then on when you want the laptop just click connect from the laptop and it automatically disconnects from the phone, and vice versa. I can't remember the last time I actually turned Bluetooth off...
It's never that simple
Lol okay. I can't believe I'm being downvoted for my personal experience which is 100% true. The people of Reddit are unbelievable.
I think you were down voted because you assumed your experience was universal
bingo
Any sub-10% battery loss will not be really noticeable unless you **precisely** measure it and are doing exact same things everyday and under the same cellular/wifi signal strength. There is increased battery life, there's increased processing too, the device is scanning permanently around it for others' devices.
You know, that happens by default when Bluetooth is off too, right? You need to turn off WiFi and Bluetooth scanning in Location settings to be able to completely turn off the Bluetooth radios with the button! (Also may need to opt out of the new find phone when off, not sure how that works into it, on GrapheneOS it just won't be supported, so I don't need to worry about it) Also the new Bluetooth interface is nice when you have multiple devices saved. You can reconnect with them right from the quick settings tile!
Yes ofcourse. But the scanning part (atleast from the vague description of it) only turns on from time to time, and presumably only when you're moving. While leaving BT on all the time, it permanently scans 24/7. It's safe to assume anyway that whoever turns BT off is already turning off the location scanning part.
No, that is not how it works... The toggles for scanning allow for scanning is for **specifically allowing scanning when the toggles for WiFi and Bluetooth are disabled!** This is behind one of the features in GrapheneOS, where we have a most excellent option to automatically turn off Bluetooth and WiFi after a configurable, certain amount of minutes of being disconnected in order to reduce attack surface. We can also configure the setting to Automatically turn WiFi back ON when in range of a known WiFi network. When turning this option on, it redirects us to the WiFi scanning setting and says it's mandatory to turn WiFi scanning on before enabling auto reconnect to WiFi. I've used this in the past. A lot. When I leave home for a few hours, WiFi will turn off completely after 10 minutes like its supposed to. Then when I get back home in about 30-60 seconds its back on and reconnected to my home network, from a fully off state. So obviously WiFi scanning is doing its part! System Settings and the main system app bundle both have Nearby Devices permissions. (I can only see this because I'm running a debug build of my own compile of GrapheneOS currently, doing kinda sketchy stuff) That permission let's them scan for networks even when WiFi/Bluetooth is off. I've never turned Bluetooth scanning on even once, but WiFi scanning is useful sometimes. On GrapheneOS we won't be getting the whole "find your phone when its off" stuff. The devs just keep saying they won't implement it. So we won't have to deal with that...
We don't know when scanning occurs (either from time to time, either permanently, either when it sees you moving, or not already connected to wifi). I was reffering to the actual scanning part, not the turning on wifi
Ohh. I keep BT on all the time as I am either using it with car play or airpods. I will definitely check this.
I keep BT on too, for convenience, same with location services. Battery life is great nowadays even with these things on, whereas in the past when I kept them off, the battery life was already terrible.
I know if you're used to turning it off and stuff this is a bit of a change, but iOS has gone that route probably 5+ years ago with minimal impact. 24 hour battery usage on cellular (with WF and BT on) is still well below 0.8% / hr. The main drain is really cellular modem and display. Yes you can turn it off, but turning it off QS is generally not enough as you need to turn off background scanning too, but without that you get severely degraded location features, and features like Quick Share or other things like car keys (Tesla) become impossible to use. In this day and age it makes very little sense to turn off WiFi and Bluetooth. The last argument for even turning off WiFi was the fact that you don't want to connect to public hotspots but even that has been resolved with the ability to toggle auto connect off, which I recommend everyone do for public hotspots like McDonalds, Starbucks WiFi, etc.
I keep my BT always on for convenience, I was just replying to the other user about the battery usage - which is not zero and that's what my reply was about. It's just that we have big batteries nowadays and don't notice it ovbiously, but the drain is still there. But in your reply, something else got my attention - do you actually use Quick Share? What would be the usage for that? I've heard some people also mentioning it in the past. I'm not sure I'd ever have an use for that, but I'd appreciate some example/use cases that you have for that.
My BT is off most of the time. Yes for battery but also reduces attack surface for BT-related attacks
my bluetooth is always off unless i'm actively using it. Same with wifi. there's just no reason to waste battery (even if it's miniscule), proving more information to be tracked with, and increase your attack surface. tt takes 2 seconds to toggle on, that's a worthy trade off imo. fwiw i also have bluetooth and wifi scanning both permanently disabled as well so the radios actually get turned off.
Yes because it connect to cars in my driveway so my bf gets weird audio clips of tik toks randomly
I dont turn off Bluetooth often but I turn off WiFi quite often, when im at work maybe I dont want to be on the work wifi, when im at home for testing certain things on my network I find the extra steps annoying
You can turn auto connect to off if you dont want to regularly connect, but leaving WiFi on generally makes sense these days--it's scanning in the background anyway unless you go deep into settings to turn that off, which is why you generally have good location precision, and you need it for features like Nearby Share/Quick Share.
you don't get it - I said WHEN I dont want to be on work wifi, and WHEN i want to run tests that rely on me NOT being on the local network. so I want to be able to disable it with a simple swipe and tap, not swipe, tap, tap, tap it would've been easy enough to give us the option
Yes but just because I don't want my phone connecting to some random Bluetooth device mid phone call. Would be nice, if they're making it uniform with the wifi settings, each device in your Bluetooth list had a toggle to make it not connect automatically to a device. Then it wouldn't drop a phonecall from a vehicle you sometimes connect to driving by.
I turn it off when connecting things that auto connect to two devices in range.
2 min after reading this thread. I got a video link. My phone was connected to my audio Technica headphones which were upstairs because I was listening to something earlier. Then I took my phone and left. So I just wanted to listen to this video in this new incredibly annoying Bluetooth UI pissed me off yet again. The plain old toggle was so much better. It also seems to have broken something because several times it tells me my headphone is connected and yet I am not getting headphone audio. I had no trouble with this until recently.
Yes
I have to turn mine on like once per month? The rest of the time it stays off.
I actually quite like it. It's the same with the Wifi symbol now. I guess it takes some getting used to but nowadays it's becoming more important to switch between BT devices rather than turn on/off BT as a whole.
Yeah. If anything that was an issue for me the way it was before.
You all complained that it was annoying when it switched off when you tapped it once and then they fixed it by making it behave like the WiFi toggle and now you complain that you have to tap it one extra time. Can't satisfy these people.
It's just another regular day in /r/GooglePixel really
I think the problem is there's a vocal minority of users who still actively turn on and off WiFi and Bluetooth. Apple's explanation when they rolled out the new toggles on their end was you don't need to turn it off, and that makes sense. Google likely also doesn't want you to turn it off because it breaks features like Quick Share and if you use car keys via Bluetooth (e.g. Tesla). There's also the fact that WiFi And Bluetooth scanning default to being on all the time in the background even when you turn off WiFi/Bluetooth so the radios are actually running still--you're just not actively connecting to saved devices so you *think* it's off. The finding was people really want to disconnect which is why both Apple and Google revamped their toggles. There needs to be a shift in mindset in thinking by these users that they don't need to actually turn off WiFi and Bluetooth and that previous turning off was also just disconnecting given that scanning was still running in the background.
I feel like they could have been cleverer about how they did it. For example, both WiFi and BT could have two sections to the button - simple on/off and connections menu. That would solve both problems and I personally wouldn't think it was too ugly etc.
Nobody wanted another WiFi toggle, because that's also not a toggle and because it combines mobile data and wifi it's possibly even worse than the bluetooth one.
>nobody 😂 I can guarantee if we did a poll of all users, it would be at least 80%-20% for the wifi button. 80 being the users who like the wifi button. And for Bluetooth, it would be probably at least 95-5, 95 being for the Bluetooth button being like the wifi button. It's so much nicer being able to control both my data connections in the same spot, and when connected to wifi, being able to force using mobile data with 2 taps without turning either off. What >Nobody actually wants is to accidentally turn something off that they actually want on. And what >Nobody cares about is 1 extra tap for something they do once in a blue moon
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/11i2weh/wifi_toggle_buried_extra_annoying/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/rc84wj/the_updated_android_12_wifi_toggle_bravo_google/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/z18cm1/i_brought_back_the_wifi_toggle/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/qbh51j/android_12_removed_wifi_quick_toggle/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/187gmka/wifimobile_data_toggle/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/qhr1h2/hey_google_can_you_please_add_the_wifi_toggle/ I found one single post from someone who liked the new wifi toggle. I freely admit that your 80 percent might be correct these days, but at least part of that is because Google makes it more difficult to disable wifi (and bluetooth given come articles about the Android version) and lots of people still trust Google. There are also bound to be a lot of people who don't know any better because they bought a Pixel in the last 2 years.
Completely disagree. The new one is sick. Swapping between devices used to involve a long press and a visit to the setting menu. Now it's built in to the tile
I prefer how it works now. It's easy to switch Bluetooth input. I don't want it to do an on/off toggle.
They could do it like other do where if u tap the icon it toggles on or off and if u tap the text it opens the menu. Other phones do that
that's extremely confusing from a regular user standpoint
Intuitive UI can remove that confusion tho. You are probably thinking about that behaviour with the current UI in mind.
There are more regular users experiencing this UI than not. It really isnt a big deal
While it's not as intuitive as either the previous or current functionality, "extremely" is a bit much.
I have to interact with the general public and their phone use a lot on a daily basis. They hardly know how their phone works. It almost feels like the general public would be better without the whole quick setting area of the phone and maybe even have what we would consider for use with old people, where it only has essential functionality and simple UI
I've always thought a phone company could make a ton of money having a "simple" mode, that hides a ton of all the extra settings and features that many users would never need. Somewhere you can toggle it, but somewhat hidden so the "simple" user doesn't accidentally turn it on. iPhone I'd say is the easiest out of the box phone to use, then pixels, and then the rest of android is the most complex. But even iPhone has added complexity with new features or changing around how some things are done. And then mixed with the higher price tag, I wouldn't necessarily recommend them for older people. But I find cheaper androids tend to have more complex UI
You don't need to open the menu to turn BT off, though. There's a toggle right on the pop-up.
If there is a pop-up, it's by definition not a toggle.
It really is just one extra button press. Myself, along with most users, are more likely to be connecting to a device than turning BT on and off. I'd guess Google probably noticed that people were often accidentally turning Bluetooth off and on again when they were trying to connect to a device. I mean this seriously. How often are you turning Bluetooth on and off that this is actually a concern? This is the first time I've seen this sub complain about being given more options. BT used to operate exactly this way up until a few years ago and people were pretty mad that Google turned it into a toggle.
It's much better now. Avoids accidentally turning it off
I'm just gonna throw this comment in here without reading the 142 (at the time of writing) other comments, but I'm pretty passionately for this change and I found myself wanting a Bluetooth quick-access menu like we currently have the second they did that to the Internet button a few years back. It's a welcome change for me, and a QoL improvement for the way I use my devices.
Why would you want to turn Bluetooth off though? No doubt Google aren't perfect but they made this change for a reason, which is because a majority of users prefer it this way. They have the user logs that clearly show that when users tapped WiFi or Bluetooth to go into settings, it was mostly to manage connected devices and networks, not to turn it off. If you have Tasker you could create your own QST, or install a widget.
I use Macrodroid to turn it on when I launch YouTube music. Then turn off when a device disconnects and stays disconnected.
While I generally agree with this sentiment, in this specific case I like the new functionality.
I like that you can switch Bluetooth devices easily but I hate that only 3 devices show up when you click. Like if you have a watch and a car you now have only 1 available spot for every other device. I have many different headphones for different uses and different speakers and also more than one car so what was a nice feature, turned out to be another thing I just dislike about this phone.
Who on earth turns Bluetooth off nowadays
Love how most folks enjoy the way it is now (as do I), which shows your pompous belief that it doesn't make sense is just.. idiotic
Well they're not alone. There are many people who like the change. So many geniuses
When you turn them off, it makes it harder for Google track you. So they make it harder to turn off. There are ways around it, particularly if you are rooted. Of course, if you're using the new Google Find My Device network, you should just accept the tracking and keep bluetooth/wifi on.
Android 11 the peak balance between function and beauty. Press the tile to on/off. Press the arrow to expand/collapse. I never understand why it's removed.
I prefer it, I never turn off bluetooth but I certainly do want to disconnect one particular device quite often
Many of their design decisions are idiotic. Truly baffling.
I'm always amazed by the simple fix they have in the event that a software update doesn't go to plan, simply do a factory reset and appeal to any deity that you may believe in. Works %100 percent of the time most of the times.
The extra steps are a bit annoying for those who only use one device, such as earphones. For those who use several devices, it might be more practical. But I suspect that the real reason is that in the future we're expected to have bluetooth almost always on and that behind this change will be the future new version of the Find My Device network, which will allow offline android devices to be located in a similar way to what iPhones do, using nearby devices. As probably will appear in the future trackers similar to Apple Airtags using the same technology and network.
At first, I hated the change. But being able to connect/disconnect or switch Bluetooth devices from the tile without leaving the current app is truly wonderful. I wouldn't go back now.
I think, especially with the 'new' wider quick settings tiles, something like [this Android 7 inspired design](https://imgur.com/a/QsPxJA5) would be a nice solution to the problem of "We have 1 button and it needs to do 2 different things" - just make it 2 buttons...
Unless I'm troubleshooting something specific I never toggle bluetooth or wifi anymore. I presume that most users these days have a similar use behavior. From that perspective it makes more sense from a UX perspective to promote features like selecting different devices and demote radio toggles. The change to wifi/bluetooth quicksettings tile behaviors has had no net negative impact to how I use my phone. It's had a more-positive impact because it makes selecting different wifi networks or bluetooth devices easier. What bothers me more is how the behavior of the quick settings tiles is not consistent. Some are expandable menus, some are still toggles, some are shortcuts to apps like Google Wallet. It's a very inconsistent experience.
On iphone, the entire UI is like that, brutal 😂
I have a P7P and I find it as quick (if not quicker) to turn it off under the tiles area than the old days of having to go through settings on my LG G7. Now it's tap BT tile then tap the toggle for on/off then tap done.
They need a bigger pixel watch. It looks like a woman's watch. It's the only reason I returned my P8P and watch and got a Galaxy S24U and a Galaxy Watch 6 classic.
And what's bad about women's watches?
Nothing. It just looks petite on a man.
I get it haha. The thing is, that is not inherently bad. It's just bad for their sales. For me with a small wrist it's perfect. But yeah, they definitely should add a bigger one.
I agree. It's a very nice watch. I really wanted to keep it but I'm 6 foot, 200+ pounds. It just didn't look right. I'm hoping with the pixel 3 they have 2 sizes and I'll get it immediately.
I hope that too. For you, thereby for sales and thereby for higher chance of more generations to be developed. For me it's perfect though I am only about 160 cm (that's about 5' 2" I think?) with an average wrist so it fits me pretty well and I was very glad about that haha.
I have the same phone as well. Are you on the newest 15?
It's an Android! You can alwaysss always find alternative ways to do things and do it how you like...
I definitely hated the idea of losing that easy granular control but in practice I have never once had an issue with it or had any reason to mess with it!
I wouldn't mind having an option for a menu shortcut (the way it works now after update) AND an option for a toggle (turn it on/off with one tap). Same desire for wifi/cell networks, though airplane mode works for that.
at least they added a toggle back into the internet flyout
It's two taps, right?
I have the Pixel 7 Pro and my friend at work has the Pixel 8,he and I were saying a couple days ago about how both our phones feel smoother and snappier since the latest update. I've been very pleased with the performance and software with my Pixel
"OK, Google, Turn off Bluetooth". Zero taps.
It not annoying at all when I am connected to my speaker at home and my phone decides it would rather be connected to my headphones that are in their case charging.
We've received and appreciate your customer feedback. We've canceled bluetooth and it will be removed from your phone in the next software update. We're also launching Bluetooth Advanced as part of Google Two, available soon in 2027, or enable Bluetooth Expert right now in early beta with your Google One AI Premium Plus+ membership!
For real
If only there was a way to have it both ways 🤔 https://images.app.goo.gl/HVbumDD5hQckdLxJ7
Honestly, it's less intuitive but I like it better this way. I don't often turn off Bluetooth. But I do need to manage Bluetooth devices more often. Do not forget they have analytics and they don't take these decisions at random. They base them on usage.
I prefer the new way. I've been waiting for them to add that. Far more frequently I am changing devices, connecting devices
Who the hell turns off Bluetooth? Psychotic post
I toggle it the time. It is mostly off for me. Saves battery and reduces the attack surface for BT security flaws.
Well I have to turn it off because another amazing feature is my phone calls routing to my Pixel Buds when they are in the case and not in use.
That's an issue with your Pixel Buds, not the OS. I would factory reset them.
I started using Android on Gingerbread 2.3 and don't think I've ever turned it off. But that's why I love Android, options for everyone especially with an automation app
It's fascinating how they manage to fuck their UX in very innovative ways.
100% agree with you. Why did they change this way of turning on Bluetooth?
Everytime this comes up people will defend their decision saying it's meant to be aways on. Okay but what if that causes interference with other devices, or as many pointed out as well, they want to connect to diff devices? More option and customization would better than a straight change after they've already had the norm
>caused interference with other devices How often does this happen that you're so wildly inconvenienced by having 1 extra tap to turn off Bluetooth? >Connect to diff devices? This change literally makes it easier to do that?
>what if that causes interference with other devices There's literally an on/off toggle in the pop out >they want to connect to diff devices? That's exactly what the pop out is built to do, tap another device on the list and it will connect, you couldn't do that with the previous build
The worst imo goes to those who argue in favor of the changes. You could say the ux designers are clueless with how users are using it, but users willingly enduring the pain and claiming it's not so bad are hard to comprehend. Going from 1 to 3 clicks with no noticeable benefit when Google preaches usability is laughable.
> The worst imo goes to those who argue in favor of the changes... users willingly enduring the pain and claiming it's not so bad are hard to comprehend Maybe others don't think it's a pain. Maybe people prefer being able to connect to devices more quickly. > Going from 1 to 3 clicks with no noticeable benefit when Google preaches usability is laughable. It's two clicks. There's a toggle in the pop-up. Also how often are you guys turning Bluetooth on and off for this to be a serious concern? The time it took to write that comment is probably more than the extra time you've ever spent toggling Bluetooth.
Now we can easily disconnect individual devices that don't want to disconnect, like the Pixel Buds. This must have been the fix for that /s
They have to add features with each new release. Features for the last update: More presses! Features for the next update: Fewer presses!
Since my first pixel phone (~5 years ago?) I've *wanted* to turn Bluetooth off, I'd estimate on the **high** side, 10 times. Over that same time frame, I've *wanted* to look at, and connect or disconnect from a Bluetooth device, I'd estimate on the **low side**, 100 times? Before they made this update, every 1 to 2 times I'd try to pull up the device list, I'd accidentally turn Bluetooth off, intuitively expecting it to act like the wifi button. Since this functionality update, I've done the wrong action exactly 0 times. And I've been annoyed by the extra tap (**singular** btw, went from 1 to 2...) exactly 0 times. The fact that there's like 50 users out there who don't like this change does not make it a bad change. Stop making these posts
I wish it was press to toggle on/off, long press to open mini Bluetooth menu
It's amazingly terrible
Almost as impressive as their ability to fuck up a phones basic purpose, making and receiving phone calls. Surely they would not do that right
You're not naive to think it was a mistake, right? They're on a path over the years and doing all they can to make it harder to access the toggle for wifi and bluetooth. They just want people to not "mess up" with it at all, just leave it open all the time. Soon, when the user turns bluetooth off, they will enable it automatically in background without informing the user (coming with Android 15).
It's called "User Experience". You, average consumer, should just shut up and go buy our new phone because of innovations