Bluetooth not auto-connecting

[Steven Schaefer]

Hello. I'm having issues with my phone not wanting to automatically connect to a bluetooth device when the device turns on. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. 

 

Just got a new phone and decided to try to troubleshoot this, as I've also been having the same problem for a long time on my pixel 1. 

Found a lot of people complaining about this but no solutions. Is there any fix to make it reliable? 

 

I'm trying to connect to an FM audio transmitter in my car, which is admittedly a cheap device, but if it connects automatically sometimes, why can't it connect all the time? 

 

Pixel 4, Android 10. 

 

Thanks to anybody who can help. 

 

PS: 

I just noticed that if I'm in the Bluetooth settings menu, when the BR device turns on, it moves from the "previously connected" list to the "currently connected" list, but it doesn't actually start sharing audio. So the phone sees it, but it's like "nah bro."