Bluetooth audio from an iPhone to windows 10 PC (A2DP sink)

I was able to do this in Windows 7, but now I have a Windows 10 PC and I can't get it to work. The iPhone is running iOS 11.4 and the PC has Windows 10 with latest updates (version 1709, OS Build 16299.431)

What I want to do is to be able to make music/podcasts on my iPhone play through the speakers on my PC using a bluetooth connection between them.

I have been able to pair my phone to the PC using the "Bluetooth & other devices" dialog as shown in the first screenshot. It appears in the control panel as a bluetooth device second screenshot and I can connect to the PC from the phone using Settings/Bluetooth. The problem is that I can't play audio from the iphone using the PC speakers. When I try, the iPhone just plays through its internal speakers.

Can anyone walk me through how to do this? Am I describing this functionality correctly?

Screen showing the iPhone is connected.
Screen showing device details.
Screenshot showing Bluetooth details on the iPhone.
But the iPhone does not appear as an input device in sound settings:
The Bluetooth adaptor is from Intel, latest firmware:

This question is distinct from the other that was cited because it describes the specific feature I am interested in the title, playing audio from iPhone to PC over bluetooth. The other question only refers to this as A2DP sink-- that's not a name that people can be expected to understand without familiarity with the complex bluetooth standards. The other question does go on to state that this is the audio streaming feature, but it wasn't findable when I started this question (didn't know what A2DP sink was until recently).

Angelo

Posted 2018-06-15T19:14:31.763

Reputation: 765

Does the iPhone show as an input device in the Windows Sound settings? – wysiwyg – 2018-06-15T19:18:43.880

@wysiwyg, thanks, no, it does not appear. I've added screenshots to my question to illustrate what I am seeing. – Angelo – 2018-06-15T19:39:32.680

Others have found these options to work. https://superuser.com/questions/958184/how-do-i-stream-android-audio-to-windows-10-over-bluetooth

– MEZ – 2018-06-18T20:31:14.890

Could you tell us more about your Bluetooth adapter? Is it from Broadcom or Intel? – Michael D – 2018-06-20T05:49:03.770

@MichaelD, thanks, It is from Intel. It was using firmware from 2017, but I just updated it to the latest, removed phone from BT device list, then re-added it, still same problem. Screenshot of driver info added to my question. – Angelo – 2018-06-20T12:05:23.717

I think the correct vocabulary words for what I want is "A2DP sink". I want my laptop to be an A2DP sink. – Angelo – 2018-06-20T12:27:56.397

I think Intel device is a bummer. Windows 10 provides it's own Bluetooth drivers which replaced the drivers from Win 7. I believe that's the reason why it behaves differently now. Had you said Broadcom, I would've told you to try older versions of Widcom or Bluesoleil. But with Intel I am not exactly sure. I have two suggestions: 1. Buy a cheap Bluetooth dongle and install older 3rd party drivers. 2. Try Shairport4w - it's a small software that let's you stream music from Apple devices to PC through WiFi.

– Michael D – 2018-06-20T13:06:08.183

Technically, I believe what you want is for your phone to act as an A2DP source, and your computer to act as an A2DP receiver. The phone acting as an A2DP source isn't an issue, but most computers don't support the A2DP receiver profile out of the box. You'll need to install drivers that include the A2DP receiver profile for this, but I'm not sure where to find them. – 3D1T0R – 2018-06-21T16:55:57.697

I did a bit of searching, and I can't verify it, but there's an article here where someone claims that installing Windows Mobile Device Center will make this possible. If I have time when I get off from work, I'll check if it works and write up an answer about it.

– 3D1T0R – 2018-06-21T17:11:45.563

This answer of mine might pertain to the question. I remark there that Microsoft has disabled A2DP sink capabilities since Window 8, or it just doesn't work anymore. You need to install another Bluetooth stack than Microsoft, and the best ones are commercial. See my answer for more information.

– harrymc – 2018-06-23T09:50:58.480

Possible duplicate of Is there any way to make Windows 10 act as a A2DP sink?

– harrymc – 2018-06-24T20:12:42.143

@harrymc, perhaps, but it took quite a while for me to discover that the name of the feature I'm missing is "A2DP sink". It's not a particularly intuitive name. I think that's one of the big problems with bluetooth-- bad names for stuff in something that is already very complex. – Angelo – 2018-06-25T02:04:46.090

Answers

I was able to find the answer on microsoft forums here

I have included the quote, as the answer is a ways down. The user Celestrion stated:

Microsoft's Bluetooth stack presently supports only the "source" role of the A2DP profile, which lets it send audio. It does not support the "sink" role of the A2DP profile, which would let it receive audio.

There is a Toshiba driver that installs this service on their laptops to make up for this regression (the Bluetooth stack Toshiba shipped with Windows 7 had this feature), but its INF file is set up to only install on Toshiba computers.

The rest of us are stuck until Microsoft learns that some of us plug our computers into nice speaker systems and might want to stream audio digitally instead of dealing with cables and the associated logistical hassle. Or, we might want to use the same headset for Skype and telephone calls.

Trenly

Posted 2018-06-15T19:14:31.763

Reputation: 995

1thanks it is a pity that MS can't simply come out and say, "hey, we disabled A2DP sink in windows 10 because X,Y,Z. This means you can't listen to your smartphone's music through speakers." I saw that very page, but the top answer was so unclear I didn't bother to read more. Giving you the bounty for actually reading through that!! – Angelo – 2018-06-24T15:59:06.583

1@Angelo So vendors of Bluetooth interfaces that's compatible with Windows 10 should be able to add functionality that will do this just like Toshiba does, right? This should be no different than features and functions of GPUs or other devices on Windows machines where the Windows OS has limited features to manage functionality whereas the vendor management app from the vendor has extended functionality. I think the vendors have a role in this as well and not just Microsoft so the vendors need to learn what people want functionality too with Windows 10 their stuff is compatible I would think. – Pimp Juice IT – 2018-06-24T17:08:50.230

Isn't that INF file plaintext? Couldn't it be edited? – Gabriel Fair – 2018-10-18T21:01:35.990

It seems like Microsoft has disabled A2DP sink capabilities since Window 8, or it just doesn't work anymore.

You could try to download and update the audio driver with software supplied by the manufacturer of your Bluetooth card/chip.

If that doesn't help, you could replace the Microsoft Bluetooth Stack with a third-party product, such as :

BlueSoleil Bluetooth Stack ($27.99)
Toshiba Bluetooth Stack (for the right hardware)
WIDCOMM/Broadcom Bluetooth Software (for the right hardware)

So the only options I can think of are:

Try BlueSoleil and buy if it fixes the problem and the free version is too restrictive.
Replace your network adapter with one that has better Bluetooth Stack available.

harrymc

Posted 2018-06-15T19:14:31.763

Reputation: 306 093

thanks! that helps me. My situation is that I would like to avoid adding third party stuff because it's a work PC scenario. – Angelo – 2018-06-24T16:00:58.943

1So you accept a negative answer? – harrymc – 2018-06-24T16:20:45.150

1@PimpJuiceIT: I'm just another loser who believed the poster in "What I want to do is to be able to make music/podcasts on my iPhone play through the speakers on my PC using a bluetooth connection between them". Live & learn. – harrymc – 2018-06-24T17:59:46.237

@harrymc,They other guy had 1 point, you both provided useful info. Could have gone to either of you but it's a bigger boost for him since you're already at 229K. It's just points anyway.. does it really matter? – Angelo – 2018-06-25T02:08:43.140

And yes, I accept a negative answer, why not? I am now asking on a Microsoft forum for a reason why they no longer support the very useful a2dp sink feature. – Angelo – 2018-06-25T02:27:48.577

Features disappear because of rewrites intended to simplify problematic code, meaning bugs. It's very rare that they return. In almost all such cases, it's up to third-party software to fill up the vacuum. – harrymc – 2018-06-25T06:16:48.940

That's certainly plausible but Microsoft also has a long history of keeping things working across OS releases. Many applications written for, say, Windows XP can still run today in Windows 10. In the absence of a concrete reason, one is lead to believe that bluetooth functionality would follow the same pattern. – Angelo – 2018-06-25T11:47:49.587

The list of disappeared features, never to return, is too long to include here. In fact, Microsoft is very happy to pass on troublesome features to third-party products which cost nothing to maintain (at least to Microsoft). – harrymc – 2018-06-25T12:28:12.323

BlueSoleil recently switched to MS stack, so this option is no longer viable. I have a BT dongle on BS chip and even after downloading driver and installing it all I have is MS stack available. Also, it's possible to "sideload" Toshiba on any hardware, but it involves some driver hacking and about 30 min. – AcePL – 2020-02-24T10:29:23.290

I had this problem with a £3.50 ebay dongle, for which I had lost the driver CD. As stated by others, Windows 10 default drivers don't support A2DP sink mode.

The CSR 4.0 bluetooth Harmony software stack solved it for me.

Carpet_Diver

Posted 2018-06-15T19:14:31.763

Reputation: 11