# Speaker Keeper

> Speaker Keeper is a free, open-source Windows tray app that stops a Bluetooth
> speaker powering itself off during silence, so the Bluetooth speaker on your
> desk behaves like a wired one that is simply always on.

## The problem it solves

Almost every Bluetooth speaker powers itself down after a few minutes without an
incoming audio stream, to save battery. On a desk, where the same Bluetooth
speaker is used as the everyday PC output, that behaviour shows up as:

- the first second or two of a track, video or call being clipped while the
  Bluetooth speaker wakes up
- nothing playing at all until the Bluetooth speaker is reconnected by hand
- the Bluetooth speaker disappearing from Windows sound settings until its power
  button is pressed

Common ways people describe it: Bluetooth speaker keeps turning off, keeps going
to sleep, keeps disconnecting when idle, cuts off the first second of audio, has
to be woken up before every song, drops out of Windows sound settings.

## How it works

Speaker Keeper opens a WASAPI render stream on the default output endpoint and
feeds it digital silence, so the A2DP link stays up without a sound being made.
The stream is hidden from the volume mixer, and it follows the default output
device, so switching outputs or losing the Bluetooth link rebuilds it.

## Facts

- Platform: Windows 10 and Windows 11. A macOS version is on the roadmap, after a
  Microsoft Store release of the Windows version.
- Price: free, with lifetime updates. MIT licensed, source public.
- Privacy: no account, no telemetry, nothing leaves the PC. It goes online only to
  check for updates, and only if automatic updates are turned on.
- Install: one small file, no .NET or other runtime. Starts with Windows.
- Scope: Bluetooth speakers only. Earbuds and headphones are deliberately left
  alone so they still power off when put away.
- Works with any make of Bluetooth speaker. Only the battery readout varies, since
  it depends on whether the Bluetooth speaker reports battery to Windows.
- Per-device: each Bluetooth speaker you own gets its own switch, and the app
  remembers them.
- Windows SmartScreen shows a "Windows protected your PC" warning, because the
  installer is not code-signed. More info, then Run anyway.

## Links

- [Website](https://speakerkeeper.github.io/): the whole product in one page, with
  screenshots and the FAQ.
- [Download for Windows](https://github.com/kevinabouhanna/speaker-keeper/releases/latest/download/Install.exe): the installer.
- [Source code](https://github.com/kevinabouhanna/speaker-keeper): MIT licensed.
- [How it's built](https://github.com/kevinabouhanna/speaker-keeper/blob/main/docs/TECHNICAL.md): the WASAPI silence stream, the tray UI, the update path.
- [Releases](https://github.com/kevinabouhanna/speaker-keeper/releases): every version and its notes.
- [Report a bug](https://github.com/kevinabouhanna/speaker-keeper/issues): issue tracker.