iOS 14.4 Bluetooth bug, along with a possible fix
Bluetooth problems are plaguing some iPhone users, causing annoying headphone glitches.
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The problem, which was first reported to me by readers, manifests itself as periodic disconnections. Sometimes the headphones will reconnect, other times the problem requires Bluetooth to be switched off and on, and at its worst, it requires a reboot of the iPhone.
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I hadn't suffered from this issue initially, but had mostly been using my pair of AirPods Pro. On testing with other headphones, I noticed the problem -- periodic dropping of the connection for no obvious reason.
I tried all the usual things -- reconnecting the headphones, switching Bluetooth off and on, and rebooting the iPhone -- and that worked, but only temporarily. The problem would return, with no obvious cause.
I also tried deleting the affected headphones and re-pairing them, but this fix was also temporary.
I even tried the infamous Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings, to no avail.
What worked was quite drastic, but not as drastic as a nuclear option of wiping the whole handset. What I did was to "forget" all my Bluetooth devices. You have to do this one device at a time by going to Settings > Bluetooth and clicking on the blue i and selecting Forget This Device.
I also had to unpair my Apple Watch.
After this, I re-paired my devices (I had a lot of legacy devices from testing, so this was quite a quick process), and the problem disappeared.
Because this possible solution is non-destructive, I suggested that a couple of affected readers who were having this problem to do the same, and it worked for them too.