There have been a lot of discussions online about the purpose of A2DP hardware offload. But it seems like many people are confused about the concept behind this technology. So, what is A2DP? And what does it actually do?
The short answer is – “Advanced Audio Distribution Profile, or A2DP for short, is an audio profile that determines how audio is sent from one device to another via a Bluetooth connection. A common example is when you play music from your phone using a Bluetooth speaker or headphones.”
As a matter of fact, most smartphones have this feature baked into the system. As for what it does, the main purpose of A2DP is to decode the audio from its source. When this feature is enabled, the device, i.e., your smartphone, sends the audio to the Bluetooth device, where it is decoded. On the other hand, if you disable this feature, the audio is first decoded on your phone before being sent to the Bluetooth device.
How To Toggle On/Off?
Typically, A2DP hardware offload comes enabled in smartphones. However, if you want to turn off, you will need to go to your phone’s settings option, and open the developer options tab, where you will find the A2DP hardware offload toggle.
Before we get into the step-by-step guide of how you can turn your A2DP hardware offload on/off, we will need to first look at how to get access to the developer mode. Here is what you need to do:
- Go to your phone’s “Settings” menu
- Tap the “About Device” or “About Phone” option
- Find the “Build Number”
- Then tap it seven times
- Enter your PIN, password, or pattern to activate developer mode
- You will now be able to access the developer options tab
And here is how you can turn your phone’s A2DP hardware offload on/off:
- Go to your phone’s “Settings” menu
- Locate your “System” menu
- Find the “Advanced” tab
- Tap on “Developer Options”
- Scroll down to disable
Is The Disable A2DP Hardware Offload Greyed Out?
It’s common to see the toggle for “turn off A2DP hardware offload” greyed out. So, what can you do in this situation? Well, you can use a small trick here to access it.
- Go to your phone’s “Settings” menu
- Locate your “System” menu
- Find the “Advanced” tab
- Tap on “Developer Options”
- Scroll down to the disable A2DP hardware offload toggle
- If it is greyed out, then toggle the developer options off and then turn it back on
Remember that this trick may not always work if the phone manufacturer does not want the user to have access to it.
Should You Keep Your Bluetooth A2DP On/Off?
As mentioned a few times, A2DP offload is generally kept turned on by default. However, if you are facing issues when playing music or audio through your Bluetooth device, then you can try turning it off to see if there are any differences. A lot of people went as far as to even say that turning this feature off has actually improved audio quality. Unfortunately, it cannot be stated with certainty the effect A2DP offload will have on your audio quality if you do decide to turn it off. A general rule of thumb here is – if you have high-end headphones or earbuds, like the Apple AirPods, then turning off the Bluetooth A2DP hardware offload should give you better audio quality as AirPods have a better decoder than most regular phones.
