If you constantly switch output devices on your Windows 10 system, you will be glad to know that there is a feature that will make your audio device switching needing much easier directly from the taskbar.
If you are reliant on your Windows system for constant entertainment and aren’t content with the quality of speakers that came out of the box, you will find many benefits to investing a bit more money and buying a decent pair of audio accessories to improve your audio life on the system.
This is done by many users for a few reasons:
- The system built in speakers might not be loud enough for the users needs such as when watching a movie, listening to a song, etc.
- To preserve a little system battery life at least by playing through AUX and not Bluetooth.
- To better conduct and carry out voice or video chats because let’s be honest, built-in microphones will never be good.
I am a frequent user of external speakers and headphones, and regularly face the problem of going through an arduous process every time I need to connect the speakers or switch to another audio output, whether it be through Bluetooth or AUX on your system.
New Output Devices Option In Audio Settings Taskbar
A new feature in the Insider Preview Build 14328 allows users to switch their output device seamlessly between devices without ever having to leave the taskbar.
To quickly select an output device, just click on the Audio Settings icon in the taskbar. You’ll see a list of connected audio output devices above the volume bar. Just select one of them and voila! You’ve instantly switched between them. You can see this in the screenshot below.
On your current Windows installation (10586.218) you have to right-click on the sound icon in the taskbar, choose Playback devices and from there manually select the output device of your choosing.
If you are trying to pair an Bluetooth or AUX device, it takes a couple of tries before your device successfully pairs with Windows and can at times be considered an inconvenience.
As it is, built-in speakers with laptops and desktops aren’t of decent quality, so a third party sound accessory has become a need for people who want to enjoy media on their systems, whether it is in the form of video games, TV Shows, Music, etc.
With the help of the new setting that is currently in the Insider Preview and will soon head to the (hopefully) Anniversary Update later this year. Many users will definitely be glad to switch audio output on the fly.
As it is, the entire process can be quite cumbersome to go through every time you wish to connect your speakers or other audio output devices to your system, unless you have a fixed Aux setup.
In the case of Bluetooth speakers you will have to re-sync them whenever you wake the system from sleep, at first it does become quite the nuisance but once you become efficient at it the job does become easier.
If you are a frequent user of external audio output devices, let us know in the comments section below about your thoughts on the feature in the latest Insider Preview.