Why does Android appear to not support volume control from headphone inline remote?

[Android Central Question]

I have had Sony MDR1R headphones since my first Xperia Z and the volume control on the cable does nothing. Same on my Z2 then my Z5 and now my XZ Premium. When plugged into an iPhone it works perfectly. I understand there is a difference with Apple and how the use the poles but seems odd this has never been resolved on Android devices. Found lots of posts talking about Android compatible cables and headphones but no luck finding a cable to allow the inline volume to work with my current headphones.

 

[SpookDroid]

Well, you can't 'resolve' something that's not really an issue... If the wiring on your headphones is different than what your Android phone supports (which, in most cases, differs from Apple devices), it just won't work. Would you expect an Ethernet cable to work no matter how you wire it? Nope.. Same here.

In your case, the Sony headphones might be Apple-compatible and that's about it Android DOES support in-line controls... as long as you use the proper hardware. BT headphones shouldn't have an issue.

 

[kryptonian]

Well, you can't 'resolve' something that's not really an issue... If the wiring on your headphones is different than what your Android phone supports (which, in most cases, differs from Apple devices), it just won't work. Would you expect an Ethernet cable to work no matter how you wire it? Nope.. Same here.

In your case, the Sony headphones might be Apple-compatible and that's about it Android DOES support in-line controls... as long as you use the proper hardware. BT headphones shouldn't have an issue.

Seems like a basic function that many people across many forums have questioned why it hasn't been rectified over the years. Maybe it's the manufacturers responsibility, there is evidence here https://www.androidauthority.com/google-in-line-headphone-controls-android-nougat-devices-727734/ that Google wanted to have a standard across oems from this article in 2016.

I myself have tried several different headphones with inline controls and none respond on an android device when pressing the volume +/- only the centre button works to pause/play or receive/end a call. Whereas they all work on an iPhone. Lots of headphones are 'Smartphone' compatible not just 'Apple' compatible so yeah unless it's clearly stated otherwise, you would expect them to work with the features advertised.

Plenty of accessories are advertised as Apple compatible but I'm not aware of headphones that are labelled as Android compatible and I suspect a lot of people would not know how to find out which ones were and wouldn't know they weren't until they tried ti use them.

Don't follow your Ethernet cable comment, if you bought two Ethernet cables from different manufacturers you would still expect them both to plug into an Ethernet port and work because there is a standard set for ethernet ports and cables. The same could be said of headphones with a 3.5mm jack as its a connector that's been around a long time and up until recently, standard on phones, mp3 players etc. So you would expect one pair of headphones to work with two different devices that both have a standard 3.5mm input.

Are you suggesting that the 'right hardware' is BT headphones? That's not really a solution to the problem.

There is not much information on what headphones do support the feature on Android devices.

I suspect part of problem is that volume +/- is not required but optional to manufacturers under the specification here https://source.android.com/devices/accessories/headset/plug-headset-spec.html