Having android phone audio and calls via BT w/o Phone Link, is it possible ?

Dear forum readers,

I’ve been trying to redirect phone calls from my android phone to my laptop running Windows 11 Pro (23H2, build 22631.3155).

At first, pairing and all BT communication was completely failing, but I finally understood that MS had changed something in the BT interface and that requires installing most recent drivers, which I did (installed latest Intel Wireless Bluetooth drivers, v23.30.0). Now pairing works, though I have to initiate it from my laptop (fails if initiated from the phone), and the device gets a cryptic name (“Bluetooth LE device” followed by hex numbers).

I can now use my phone’s internet connection via Bluetooth, but redirecting calls to my laptop still doesn’t work. When I try to switch it on (i.e. tapping the “Calls” switch on the phone), it shortly switches back off ; same goes for the Audio switch.

So my first question is : did anyone have it working ? Maybe it’s just that Microsoft wants to force people into using Phone Link, which I don’t want to use because it invasively and unnecessarily (for me) requires installation of an additional app on my phone.

If the answer is yes, then comes the second question : how shall I do that ?

I know there’s no hardware issue since I have been using that feature from Linux on the same machine for some time, without any problem (except for a volume problem, I had to tune down mic volume to 25%).

Your insights are welcome.

I use Whatsapp on pc linked to phone.

Intel Unison works well and is a breeze to set up.

OAT said:

Intel Unison works well and is a breeze to set up.

Intel® Unison™ App - Seamlessly Link Phones and Devices to Your PC

Intel® Unison™ app allows your PC to be the center of a multi-device experience by linking your phone or tablet and other devices to your computer regardless of operating system.

www.intel.com

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I've been trying this today, and it works much better than the Microsoft phone link thing.

Heck, I didn’t expect that nobody even got what I’m talking about. There’s a Bluetooth-based system that doesn’t require any additional app to work, but for some reason everybody wants to install proprietary and possibly invasive solutions instead. Hence for now I have to assume it’s impossible on Windows.

z3r010 said:

I've been trying this today, and it works much better than the Microsoft phone link thing.

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This looks fantastic. I plan on trying this sometime in the next week, thanks!

NovHak said:

Heck, I didn’t expect that nobody even got what I’m talking about. There’s a Bluetooth-based system that doesn’t require any additional app to work, but for some reason everybody wants to install proprietary and possibly invasive solutions instead. Hence for now I have to assume it’s impossible on Windows.

Click to expand...

Not sure what you expected. Windows offers a way to communicate between your PC and your phone, it’s called Phone Link, but you have made it clear you don’t want to use it. How else did you expect to have the two devices communicate without Windows having some kind of structure purposely made to do so? (it does and it’s called Phone Link)
Whats wrong with 3rd party software?

NovHak said:

Heck, I didn’t expect that nobody even got what I’m talking about. There’s a Bluetooth-based system that doesn’t require any additional app to work, but for some reason everybody wants to install proprietary and possibly invasive solutions instead. Hence for now I have to assume it’s impossible on Windows.

Click to expand...

But there is more than just one type of BT connection available (or, more accurately, more than just a single protocol that is usable on any given BT connection), and if your laptop does not support a particular profile (or, possibly, the driver package(s) for the BT implementation on your laptop have that functionality blocked / disabled) then it is not going to work.

See, BT isn't simply a single type of connection, much like most other networking connections - there are a multitude of protocols in use. To perform a given function, you need to have the appropriate protocol enabled and usable.

For a good list, see List of Bluetooth protocols - Wikipedia

For a better, more detailed explanation in more layman's terms, see this site: The Bluetooth Standard - A simple guide to the protocol for beginners

Specifically, see this section: The Bluetooth Standard - A simple guide to the protocol for beginners

So, if the established BT connection between your phone and laptop is not enabling the required AV protocols for transmitting and receiving audio (calls), then it won't work - and a symptom of that is when you try to force it, it looks like it tries to establish the connection, and then just quits.

z3r010 said:

I've been trying this today, and it works much better than the Microsoft phone link thing.

Click to expand...

what do you feel it does better? Just wondering. I never tried either.

andrew129260 said:

what do you feel it does better? Just wondering. I never tried either.

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Well, it works without disconnecting every few minutes, and that's a big improvement for me.

I absolutely love Phone Link, and I have no complaints at all!!!

I have noticed phone link and other things seem to work best with samsung android, but not other androids for some reason. Not sure why. Probably some secret sauce they built in partnership with microsoft im guessing

andrew129260 said:

I have noticed phone link and other things seem to work best with samsung android

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You might find a few threads of grief about Androids connecting properly with Phone Link. On the other hand, for me personally, my iPhone uses Phone Link without a hitch and detects it when within range. But I think it’s limited. Looking forward to giving Johns Intel Unison a go.
Looking at the homepage for Unison, I thought that being able to use your tablet as an extra monitor was pretty cool.

Also, according to this, it’s especially special in case your wife's water brakes while you’re in a work meeting

Just tried it out and got it working pretty well, and luckily no disconnections with my pixel 8.

I also found out widgets can replace desktop gadgets and turn off the ads, making it super clean (I never bothered with widgets because I figured it was just meant to show ads along with the widgets):



To make widgets clean and show just the stuff you want there, click settings in widgets, show or hide feeds > turn off microsoft start.

andrew129260 said:

Just tried it out and got it working pretty well, and luckily no disconnections with my pixel 8.

I also found out widgets can replace desktop gadgets and turn off the ads, making it super clean (I never bothered with widgets because I figured it was just meant to show ads along with the widgets):



To make widgets clean and show just the stuff you want there, click settings in widgets, show or hide feeds > turn off microsoft start.

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Nice.

If you have google voice on your phone, you can just login on the website in a browser on your pc and text or make calls. No need to link your phone. Your using an android, Google already has your private info.

If you need your phone paired with said PC to provide internet to the PC, use your charging cable or Hotspot instead of BT.

Sqrly said:

If you have google voice on your phone, you can just login on the website in a browser on your pc and text or make calls.

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You can also access your texts with the website: Google Messages - A simple, helpful text messaging app if your using the google messages app. Which will be the default on android phones going forward.

And you can use google quick share (formerly nearby share) to send and receive any kind of file.

andrew129260 said:

You can also access your texts with the website: Google Messages - A simple, helpful text messaging app if your using the google messages app. Which will be the default on android phones going forward.

And you can use google quick share (formerly nearby share) to send and receive any kind of file.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I use that (Messages for Web) all the time. It's great for sending photos from the PC.

It's rather irritating how they changed it to try and trick you into logging into google on your PC to do it. Now you have to drag up to see the "Switch to QR Pairing" button every time.

Sqrly said:

If you need your phone paired with said PC to provide internet to the PC, use your charging cable or Hotspot instead of BT.

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Sorry, is that just a general comment or are you saying that Intel Unison can be made to use USB cable & WiFi hotspot connections?
That would make it much more attractive an idea.
I thought it was BT-only from Intel's page about it. Perhaps I didn't study it well enough.

Denis

Try3 said:

Sorry, is that just a general comment or are you saying that Intel Unison can be made to use USB cable & WiFi hotspot connections?
That would make it much more attractive an idea.
I thought it was BT-only from Intel's page about it. Perhaps I didn't study it well enough.

Denis

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I'm saying you do not need Intel Unison or any other phone link app to make calls and send texts on your PC.

I would reccomend you head over to the app specific support site if your set on using that app.

Sqrly said:

If you have google voice on your phone, you can just login on the website in a browser on your pc and text or make calls. No need to link your phone. Your using an android, Google already has your private info.

If you need your phone paired with said PC to provide internet to the PC, use your charging cable or Hotspot instead of BT.

Click to expand...

As a long time user of GV, this only works for the GV account(s) and not the native cell provider.

Other than that, though, it does work as intended from the GV web site.

Sqrly said:

It's rather irritating how they changed it to try and trick you into logging into google on your PC to do it. Now you have to drag up to see the "Switch to QR Pairing" button every time.

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Well, it';s not a trick, so much as an ease of pairing, in that with the Google account you simply authenticate as needed with an image, and it goes to work. The QR code is there as a backup for folks who are using things like public terminals and such where they do not want to log in. I do agree about them 'hiding' it, it is less efficient, but not a trick in and of itself.

For example, the Quick Share app (nee Nearby Share) works best for me when I use it as a connection to "my devices only", which, naturally, means I log into my own devices, including the Quick Share app.