Google Pixel 8 Pro Audio Device Connection Problems

[Issac Zachary]

So I thought I was being a nice guy getting my little wifey (married for 19 years) a Pixel 8 Pro. But one thing my wife loves is her music. And this phone has been a pain in the neck and a few other body parts.

 

We haven't been able to get anything to connect to the Bluetooth in our 2013 Toyota Avalon for years, so I got her an aux/PD dongle. It was working fine, but suddenly doesn't connect her audio anymore. It works fine with my Pixel 4a, although ironically I don't need it since the 4a still has the 3.5mm jack built in.

 

Well, we decided she could instead drive the Nissan Pathfinder with the aftermarket stereo with Bluetooth, but now we can't get audio over that either.

 

We've tried restarting the phone, the apps, and looking at Bluetooth settings. When we go to Bluetooth settings for a particular device, sometimes there's the "use this for multimedia" option, but sometimes it's mysteriously not there, and even if it is, turning it off or on for a connected device doesn't do anything. My older 4a works fine for these devices. It's as if my wife's Pixel 8 Pro will only play through the phone's speakers, and there's nothing that will let it play though anything else, be it USB or Bluetooth. Pandora, Zoom, Youtube, it don't matter, it usually doesn't work, and if it does it might do so for a short while, then go back to the phone's speakers.

 

What could be the cause and how on Earth do we fix this?