[disinterred]

I use arch linux and have never had an issue with pairing bluetooth with anything. In fact, imho, it works much smoother than Windows because I keybind bluetoothctl to connect to any bluetooth headphones, speakers, keyboard or whatever automatically using their bluetooth device IDs. To do this you must first pair them (I use the blueman-manager gui) and then get their bluetooth device ids and keybind the bluetoothctl command. All of this is easy to do by asking ChatGPT. Hope this helps.

[ssl-3]

I've never done much with Bluetooth under desktop Linux, but that sounds like a woeful pain in the ass compared to the usual steps for Android or Windows:

1. Pair headphones in a couple of clicks/taps; sound comes out.

[jauntywundrkind]

You can just pair as usual, yes, like any other OS, via a similar gui. And the device will then reconnect in the future.

What the parent is describing is an advanced flow, that can be helpful if you have lots of computers & need to juggle bt devices.

Setting up a hotkey just takes pre-work to setup. This workflow is optional. But it saves time & effort if for some reason you are one of the very few users who moves devices around a lot.

[Izkata]

A hotkey is more work than GP is describing. Pairing is a one-time thing, after that they connect automatically when the headphones are on and nearby.

...which, also, is exactly what mine do with Ubuntu. I used bluetoothctl to pair them once when I first got them, and when I turn them on Ubuntu automatically connects and switches the audio over. I don't have the same model headphones as GGGP, so I'm guessing it's a problem specifically with that model's implementation (Edit: or from another person who has the same model and no issues, perhaps some combination of hardware/software specific to that user).

[jauntywundrkind]

I think we're actually somewhat in alignment, but when you say

> Pairing is a one-time thing,

You ignore the two scenarios I face regularly, that stem from me having lots of devices and lots of computers & wanting to switch around what's paired to what.

We both seem to be trying to defeat the notion that using Bluetooth in Linux is hard or special (it's not at all, it works like anywhere else, and these reports of it being hard are from people with at best extremely small domains of experience & knowledge).

I was trying to add that Linux has further upsides for when you do want to go further, and highlight & interpret the parent post to show how I have those issues & describe how adding hotkeys (something only Linux does) would help me, an advanced user juggling many systems & device. I've clarified my post to mention that auto-reconnecting will just work on most scenarios (but I get why some folks might think it's cool to have hotkeys).

[LtWorf]

Yes the couple of clicks is the pairing. You have to pair.

[ssl-3]

Then this keybinding and device ID management business accomplishes what, exactly, other than exercising extra steps?

[LtWorf]

He likes to do it from command line. The steps are always the same.