Bluetooth

The box can play over Bluetooth on headphones or speakers. Everything about it is under Settings › Audio › Bluetooth

The box can play over Bluetooth on headphones or speakers. Everything about it is under Settings › Audio › Bluetooth.

Switching on #

The Bluetooth switch turns Bluetooth for headphones and speakers on or off. It takes effect at once.

You switch the Bluetooth chip itself in the Hardware card (folded under Bluetooth chip and controller). If the chip is off, the Raspberry Pi's Bluetooth hardware is switched off completely: this can make the onboard Wi-Fi more stable (it shares the radio with Bluetooth) and saves a little power. The chip switch only applies after a restart. The address of the box's Bluetooth controller is shown there too.

Pairing a device #

1. Put the device (headphones, speaker) into pairing mode. Usually you hold a button down for a while.
2. In the app, under Pair new device, tap Search. The search takes about 20 to 25 seconds.
3. Tap Pair next to the device. It then appears under Paired devices. There you can also connect, disconnect or remove it.

Devices that do not send a name are folded away under “further devices without a name”.

Connect automatically #

Connect automatically connects a known device by itself as soon as it is on. This helps if devices do not connect by themselves after the box has been switched on.

Which device does the box play on? #

Once a device is paired, you choose the output: the box itself (Speaker) or the Bluetooth device.

• In the app on the start page above the volume slider (Output).
• On the display with a tap on the volume at the top of the player. This only works if the switch Choose box or headphones on the display is on under Settings › Display & controls › Controls on the display (The player).

If the device is not reachable, the box says so instead of simply staying silent.

Battery of the headphones #

If connected headphones report their battery, the box shows it: on the display in Listen with on their tile (red at 20 % and below), in the app next to their name at the output and under Paired devices. Many headphones report it in steps of 10, some not at all (AirPods, for example). Then nothing is shown there.

Volume with Bluetooth #

For headphones there is a maximum of its own. It applies to Bluetooth devices and to the headphone jack. That way headphones may stay quieter than a speaker. You set it in the app under Settings › Audio › Volume with Own limit for headphones (Sound and volume).