Bluetooth pairing WITHOUT app

[Acoustisynth]

Hi, I purchased the Quiet Comfort Earbuds. How do I connect bluetooth WITHOUT an app? Please, tell me there is a way... or I’ll be returning these immediately. SMH 

[Charlotte_G · Accepted solution]

Hey @Acoustisynth, welcome to the Bose Community!

You can connect without the app through your device's native Bluetooth settings. To put your earbuds in pairing mode, hold the button on the case for a few seconds until you hear "Ready to connect".

Let me know if you have any problems with this.

[Mike Walls]

I cannot find any info on why I should use the Music app to manage my QC earbuds.  There seems to be no user manual, limited and useless online help, and no indications of the functionality involved.

I only want to manage use of my new earbuds as audio input/output device for phone and various computers.  I have zero interest in streaming  music or managing any "smart" speakers.

So far, over intermittent efforts this week, this is what I think I've learned.  However, I'd be delighted to be corrected if I am wrong or have missed anything.

• The Music app says it can add additional BT devices, but does not recognize three different PCs sitting on the same desk (one Mac & two Win 10).
• Threads on the community forums indicate that if I did add another device to Music app, I could not use the app to switch between them -- which seems to be what you are saying in this reply.  Switching has to be done by manually disconnecting from the old device by turning off BT functionality and manually turning it on for the new device.  Note that this means I cannot ever use the buds with my company Mac because it has BT keypad and mouse.
• The documentation is extremely vague as to when I have to pair the buds to a device manually vs. when the app manages pairing, or if I have to pair and then connect.  (I do not normally use BT so all this is new to me.) 
• If, as I understand the situation, the Music app shuts down as soon as I try to disconnect from the phone in order to connect to another BT device such as my PC.  So, any built-in functionality is no longer available for the buds.

The bottom line is that for all I know right now I can delete the Music app and manage BT connectivity at the device native level, with no loss of any functionality for the buds.  What if anything would I be giving up?

I knew the device didn't support multi-point connectivity, but I thought from the marketing fluff that it at least facilitated switching between connections.  Apparently that is not true.  Now I find myself wondering why I spent all this money for such limited functionality.  I might be better served by investing a modest amount in a high-quality microphone and cheap USB headset.

In sum, I am very frustrated and disappointed with the design and support for these earbuds.  I have had several Bose products in  the past and they have all been of the highest quality.  I am not sure any longer this is true.  Please help me better understand what this product can and cannot do, so I can decide whether to return it.

[Keith_L]

Hi Mike Walls,

We do have a full owner's guide as well as a number of handy guides showing you how to get the most out of your buds available on our website HERE that I'm sure will help explain the functionality of the buds and the app! We can also answer any questions you may have in the Community too.

The Bose Music app itself won't connect to other Bluetooth devices, but it will show all the Bluetooth devices stored in the pairing memory of your earbuds, which is why the app would not have detected your PCs when you were using them. 

You wouldn't necessarily need to turn off Bluetooth on your Mac when switching between devices, you can disconnect the headphones from the Bluetooth device list in the Mac, and connect your second device after the connection to the Mac has been broken. Turning off the Bluetooth feature is just the easiest and quickest way to disconnect from one device so the earbuds are ready to connect to another device.

You can uninstall the Bose Music app and connect your earbuds to other devices using the Bluetooth device list on the Bluetooth devices you are using. You can manage the connections to any devices you are using without having the app interacting with the earbuds.

What you do get by using the app however is access to extra controls and greater customization of how the earbuds work, as well as any firmware updates to add new features and bug fixes as time goes on. Some of the things the app allows you to customize are the Noise Cancellation level, and favorites that are stored to the buds, what the Shortcut button is assigned to do, and whether volume touch controls are enabled. Once you've set these settings to the desired settings you can get away without using the Bose Music app with the earbuds, but if you ever wanted to change the settings again you would need to use the app!

I hope this helps clarify this for you, if you have any further questions let me know!

[Mike Walls]

Thanks for prompt response and partial clarification of my confusion.

The manual you linked to is for the QC Earbuds.  All it says about the Music app is (a) multiple internal references to how wonderful the app is, with an internal page reference for more information, and (b) one paragraph about the Music app that just says download it and follow the instructions.

Why cannot I get a list of the relevant functionality the Bose Music app provides for the QC earbuds?