Google is trying to get to the bottom of a Bluetooth connectivity bug affecting Pixel and Nexus owners.
Early recipients of Android Oreo are reporting a range of audio-related problems that appear to be linked to buggy Bluetooth.
Google has put out a call on its Nexus and Pixel forums for bug reports from owners affected by Bluetooth issues after installing the Android Oreo this week. Google released it as an OTA to Pixel and Nexus owners who’d enrolled in the Android Beta program.
The Bluetooth issues have manifested themselves in connection problems with Android Auto, wireless headphones, and Bluetooth speakers.
Many users are reporting that the phone will connect to the vehicle’s infotainment system, but from there they experience problems with audio output from vehicle speakers.
One BMW owner reported his Pixel pairs with Auto just fine, but doesn’t play audio from the car’s speakers. The vehicle speakers played audio when he used handsfree to receive a call, but didn’t work if he called out.
His wireless headphones also successfully paired, but audio cuts out for a millisecond every five to 20 seconds.
Several others reported audio cutting out intermittently on headsets as well as the Bluetooth connections taking longer and losing a connection over a shorter distance than previously.
Others are also reporting that Auto on Android Oreo is missing media information that should appear on the car display from music apps, such as Spotify.
Some owners have reported experiencing the same Bluetooth connectivity problems in Android O developer preview releases and are disappointed Google didn’t fix them before the final release. Frustrated users are spending time in vain on a range of troubleshooting efforts.
The problem doesn’t appear to affect all Android 8.0 users, but there are a significant number of users with different vehicle and headphone models complaining about similar issues.
According to Google’s Pixel and Nexus community manager, the Bluetooth team is investigating the bug reports that users are submitting. So far there are about 200 reports.
