How to disable automatic Bluetooth audio sinking in KDE Connect?

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1

Hi everyone,

I’m having a highly frustrating issue with KDE Connect and Bluetooth audio, and after hours of searching, I couldn’t find a solution anywhere.

Whenever my Android phone connects to my Linux PC via KDE Connect, it automatically and forcefully configures the PC to act as a Bluetooth speaker for the phone. Audio from my phone instantly starts routing to my desktop.

I want to completely disable this automatic behavior, but I cannot find a toggle for it anywhere. Here is what I have tried so far:

  • I have gone through every single setting menu in the KDE Connect desktop app.

  • I have checked the plugin settings on the Android app side.

There seems to be no option to turn this off. Is there a hidden config file, a specific environment variable, or a PipeWire/WirePlumber rule I can use to stop KDE Connect from hijacking my audio automatically?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

2

Not sure how to disable it at the pipewire level, assuming this is the “cause,” but to stop it, you need to go to your PC’s Bluetooth config on the phone and disable it as an audio device. Or unpair it from your phone.

You can see some options I have below; obviously, disabling the “Phone calls” option is a good idea too.

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It isn’t KDEConnect doing this, as this does not stop for me when my phone is using the mobile connection and completely disconnected from WiFi/KDEConnect.

I unpaired the PC from my phone’s Bt, which suits me better.

There probably will be some Bluetooth options to tweak in a config file, I just never bothered to find if one is available.

3

Thanks for the suggestion, but unfortunately, that doesn’t solve the issue for me.

I am aware of that specific toggle in the phone’s Bluetooth settings, but the problem is that it does not persist. Every single time I boot up my PC and the devices reconnect, that toggle automatically flips back on, and the audio hijacking starts all over again. Manually turning it off every session is exactly what I’m trying to avoid.

Since my phone and PC are paired both via Bluetooth and KDE Connect, it feels like something is forcefully re-enabling this audio profile on every new connection. This is why I’m looking for a permanent solution (like a config file or a WirePlumber rule on the PC side) to block this behavior, so I don’t have to unpair the devices completely.

I wonder how I am the only one who dislikes this non-optional feature.