Connected Bluetooth experiences vary greatly from PC to PC. Some systems seem to behave properly, while others frequently lose connectivity or suffer from severe latency issues. Microsoft seems to want to change that in one of the latest Windows 11 Insider Previews, however, and optimize Bluetooth functionality on the PC once and for all.
In a recent
Windows Insider Blog post, quite a few changes were announced to Windows 11, including an improved Bluetooth experience. Starting with Insider Preview Build 22563, users will be able to simply click icons in the system tray, which will allow them to manage, check battery life, connect, and/or disconnect their Bluetooth devices from a simple interface. All of these features were available previously, but required navigating multiple menus and tunneling deeper into the control panel.
While managing your Bluetooth devices might be slightly easier in coming updates to Windows 11, that doesn't necessarily mean it will be completely reliable. The operating system has always suffered from reliability issues when it comes to dealing with Bluetooth. The most common is related to Bluetooth headsets, earbuds, or other audio devices. With these audio devices, Windows 11 would often randomly decide which is meant for audio output, while another device gets selected for "phone calls" or other types of media. This can be a headache for users that like to use Bluetooth headsets for video conferences, but don't necessarily leave them powered up at all times, and are forced to constantly re-connect and manually select the appropriate audio output from the sound mixer.
Whether or not the interface and usability improvements will resolve other Bluetooth connectivity issues is hard to tell just yet, but perhaps the simplicity of disconnecting and reconnecting from the system tray will make troubleshooting far easier. Other feature in the 22563 build include a better tablet taskbar that shrinks when the device is in portrait mode, new group policy management for Windows Update notifications, improvements to File Explorer for more seamless OneDrive integration, and even more emojis. There are also changes to some of the accessibility settings and a modification to see previews of your most recent Microsoft Edge tabs, along with a host of minor bug fixes.
