Mic and playback controls on earbuds suddenly won't work with Android 8.1.0

[Hollex4553]

I have 2 phones, my old phone with android 8.1.0 and a new phone with android 9 pie. the old phone worked fine with apple and sony earbuds that have a mic. But for some reason, the mic and play back controls on the earbuds stopped working. However, it works with the new phone that has android 9 pie. I even factory data reset the old phone and still the earbud mic and playback controls won't work on that phone. What could be the problem. Could an OS update have screwed it up?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Headphones that are specifically "Made for iPhone" are more likely to have compatibility issues with Android devices due to the slightly different headphone jack configuration. But that wouldn't necessarily explain the problem with the Sony pair -- unless they're also specifically Made for iPhone.

 

[Hollex4553]

Welcome to Android Central! Headphones that are specifically "Made for iPhone" are more likely to have compatibility issues with Android devices due to the slightly different headphone jack configuration. But that wouldn't necessarily explain the problem with the Sony pair -- unless they're also specifically Made for iPhone.

Actually the apple earbud mic and playback controls work with the new phone that has android 9 pie. But the Sony earbuds, which is compatible with both apple and android smartphones, does not work with the old phone although it works with the new phone. The Sony earbuds that I have is not specifically made for iPhones. It works with both iphones and androids. I wonder what could be the problem.

 

[B. Diddy]

Did you already try cleaning out the headphone jack on the old phone (by blowing it out with a can of compressed air, and cleaning the inside with a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol)?

 

[Hollex4553]

Did you already try cleaning out the headphone jack on the old phone (by blowing it out with a can of compressed air, and cleaning the inside with a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol)?

I just tried this and still the problem persists. To be clear, the actual earbuds work with both earbuds plugged into either phone (they deliver sound), but only the mic and playback button sequences don't work with the old phone with both earbuds.

 

[B. Diddy]

It may be that the older phone's headphone jack is faulty. Can you test one or two more headphones that have a mic and remote controls? If it still happens with those, then I'd say it's a problem with the jack. I doubt it's a system update issue -- otherwise, we'd see a lot of complaints about that on the forums (assuming it's not a really obscure brand).

 

[Hollex4553]

It may be that the older phone's headphone jack is faulty. Can you test one or two more headphones that have a mic and remote controls? If it still happens with those, then I'd say it's a problem with the jack. I doubt it's a system update issue -- otherwise, we'd see a lot of complaints about that on the forums (assuming it's not a really obscure brand).

Actually, I read another post on androidcentral about the mic not working on an earbud and they said they had to turn off google assistant. So, I turned off google assistant on the old phone, and the mic and playback controls started working again; for instance, the playback stop and start middle button on the earbuds worked. But right after I clicked on the volume up and down buttons on the earbuds, the whole thing (mic and all playback controls) stopped working again except I could still hear sound. At that point, I tried the earbuds with the new phone and unsurprisingly everything on the earbuds worked. I factory data reset and disabled google assistant on the old phone once again and that didn't help. Even after doing this, the earbuds didn't come back to life on the old phone although I could still hear sound from it. I'm really confused. Could I have fried the 3.5mm audio port when I clicked on the volume up and down buttons on the earbuds?

 

[B. Diddy]

And they still don't work if you turn off Google Assistant again?

 

[Hollex4553]

And they still don't work if you turn off Google Assistant again?

Right, I turned off google assistant again and that didn't help.

 

[B. Diddy]

I doubt it's anything you did -- still think there's something wonky about the jack.

 

[Hollex4553]

I doubt it's anything you did -- still think there's something wonky about the jack.

Yeah. I'm beginning to think that too. I think I'm just going to recycle the old phone. Such a shame too; I only had that Samsung J7 for only a year. They don't make them like they used to anymore -- even the so called "high end" phones. Anyways, thanks for your help.