I have a Galaxy S22 Ultra. For the last few months, it has started randomly switching the audio output, but within whatever device it's playing. For example, if I'm watching a YouTube video on Bluetooth headphones, they will suddenly go silent, then pick back up but with distorted audio. Any attempt to change the volume displays the media volume bar (eighth-note symbol instead of the Bluetooth symbol) and doesn't change the volume. The headphone buttons also start taking on the functions of a call, so pressing the pause button mutes my microphone but doesn't pause the music. If I go to the Bluetooth settings, and turn off the "Connected for Calls" option, it seems to fix it temporarily.
This is also not restricted to headphones. If I'm watching a video using the speakers, it will suddenly go silent, then the audio will come out of just the earpiece as though I was on a call, then switch to "speakerphone" then back to the earpiece. Restarting the phone fixes this problem about 50% of the time.
Hopefully, someone can help because this is the same problem that I have with my Verizon Samsung Galaxy s23 Ultra. I will try to explain my situation a little bit differently. I will be listening to any music (Spotify, Amazon Music, YT Music) or video (YT, Chrome Website, Tiktok) through Bluetooth. A call will come in, if I reject it OR accept it when it disconnects then Bluetooth does not go back to the clarity of listening to music. It will continue to play as if I am listening to the music through the voice call. On my car Bluetooth I will press the hang up button on the car and it will say "call ended", then continue to play through the music through the voice call. I can keep pressing the hang up button and it will repeat the process. It does it with my galaxy buds 2 as well as my JBL Charge. It seems like the phone still thinks that the call is going on and thus playing the music through the phone call. Its bizarre but I wonder if there is a phone setting that's causing it from preventing to switch off the voice call. I don't use Verizon voicemail but I will try to disable it and see if that changes things.
The only fix I have figured out is to shut off the bluetooth and then turn it back on. It will reconnect and then the music is clear. I might just wait till One UI 6 to come out to see if the fix is solved for that.
Turn you phone off and on again, clear the cache, update the software, reset Bluetooth, check for app updates, and boot it into Safe Mode to see if a third-party app is the problem. If nothing works, you might have to do a factory reset, but don't forget to back up your stuff first! If the problem still sticks around, then it's time to go to a service center.
