1879150 - MacOS's switching of Default Speaker Output to 3rd gen AirPods put on during use seems unreliable

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 1879204

(Core :: WebRTC: Audio/Video, defect)

Description

[Jan-Ivar Bruaroey [:jib] (needinfo? me)]

STR (require 3rd generation AirPods with Automatic ear detection ✅ turned on):

1. Leave already-paired AirPods in their case
2. Open https://jan-ivar.github.io/dummy/gum_picker_output3.html
3. Hit Go! and allow camera and microphone if necessary
4. Take AirPods out of their case and put them in your ears to get the macOS "ding" and "AirPods connected" toast message.

Expected result (sometimes it works):

• I hear myself out of laptop speakers in step 3 (warning: lower volume to lessen feedback!)
• I hear myself in my AirPods in step 4

Actual result (sometimes it doesn't):

• I hear myself out of laptop speakers in step 3 and 4

If this doesn't repro it, close the tab before trying again.

Comment 1

[Jan-Ivar Bruaroey [:jib] (needinfo? me)]

Make sure the webpage reads Speakers: Default system output ▼ while testing.

Comment 2

[Andreas Pehrson [:pehrsons]]

Normally with airpods you have to put them in at least one ear for macOS to make them default, so closing as WFM.

Also, if you find audio coming out of a device you didn't expect, check your system default. If they match it is working as designed on our end.

Comment 3

[Jan-Ivar Bruaroey [:jib] (needinfo? me)]

I should have been more specific. Yes I do put them in my ear, I get the ding, and macOS says "AirPods connected", but I still hear audio out of my laptop speakers most of the time, not the AirPods.

Comment 4

[Andreas Pehrson [:pehrsons]]

Which device is the default output according to system settings when this happens?

Comment 5

[Jan-Ivar Bruaroey [:jib] (needinfo? me)]

Attachment: image.png

This screenshot shows default output is laptop speakers, matching what I hear. But I'm sitting with AirPods in which is frustrating from an end-user pov.

I think I've figured out how MacOS works here:

• If I put AirPods in my ear before gUM then the system default switches automatically.
• If I put AirPods in my ear after gUM then the system default won't switch until 3 seconds after I hit Stop! (as observed in screenshot).

IOW our use of the microphone affects how the OS works.

FWIW with this knowledge Chrome seems to work the same, so it might be fair to close this, but we may want to discuss possible mitigations to this, since it seems quite terrible to put this on webpages to solve.

Comment 6

[Andreas Pehrson [:pehrsons]]

FWIW my 2nd gen airpods seem to switch unconditionally.

Comment 7

[Jan-Ivar Bruaroey [:jib] (needinfo? me)]

Mine are AirPods (3rd generation) Model # A2564, and I'm on MacOS Sonoma 14.0 (23A344).

This inconsistency reproduces on YouTube.com on Chrome and Firefox as well, so this appears to be (deliberate?) macOS behavior:

STR:

1. Open System Settings -> Sound -> Output and keep it visible
2. Leave AirPods in their case
3. PLAY something on YouTube in a tab (audible through MacBook Pro Speakers)
4. The first time I put in my AirPods, macOS says "AirPods Connected" AND System Settings and audible playback switches to AirPods immediately
5. Putting them back in the case pauses playback to pause, and I have to click PLAY on YouTube again to resume playback, which is now coming out my MacBook Pro Speakers instead. So far so good.
6. The second time I put in my AirPods, macOS says "AirPods Connected" BUT System Settings and audible output STAYS with MacBook Pro Speakers, i.e. no change. This is surprising and seems inconsistent with when I did the same thing in step 4
7. WORKAROUND: If I now PAUSE YouTube playback and wait 2 seconds THEN System Settings visibly switches to AirPods. After this, I can hit PLAY on YouTube and audio is now through my AirPods as expected.

Closing this as it appears to be an OS issue. We should fix bug 1879204 so apps can detect OS switching and deal with it.

Comment 9

[Jan-Ivar Bruaroey [:jib] (needinfo? me)]

FYI this seems limited to 3rd generation AirPods with Automatic ear detection ✅ turned on (I'll update the comment 0).

Also, I should note in System Settings → Sound → Output I sometimes observe AirPods popping up again in the list (in a non-selected state) when they should disappear because I've put them in their case. I wonder if that's confusing things and if there's an OS bug here.

Comment 10

[Jan-Ivar Bruaroey [:jib] (needinfo? me)]

I should add I sometimes cannot repro, so it may just be racy.