Can you play music with the square magstripe reader plugged in?

[WhistleHop]

I purchased a TRRS audio splitter to plug one branch into the reader and the other to a stereo system.  The reader works when the stereo port is not plugged in but as soon as the stereo is connected the reader drops out.  Is there any fix for this? Can audio be played via Bluetooth while the reader is plugged in?

[Sean · Accepted solution]

Great question!

Since the reader requires the headphone jack, any audio would be forced to play over over that channel. This means that sadly, you won't be able to play music while a reader is plugged in. 

I also just tested out your second question, and it looks like even if you were to use a bluetooth speaker, anything plugged into the headphone jack would take priority. 

I'll be sure to pass along your feedback to our engineering team.  My suspicion is that this is a hardware limitation and won't be something we can change. Nonetheless, I'm really glad you surfaced this question! 👍

[hechoamano]

This reply was created from merging an existing thread: Playing Music via Bluetooth, Using Reader on Virtual Terminal

Hello! Is it possible to play music via bluetooth and use the headphone jack for the magstripe reader simultaneously? When I plug the reader in, the music stops as my computer seems to want to route audio to the headphone jack.

Thanks!

[Helen]

@hechoamano I've moved your post to this thread to you can read the answer to this question! Are you using music from your computer at your store/business? 

[antillagorilla]

Edit: oops I guess it doesn't work because it also disables the square reader from working when you activate that app... Sorry. I don't know how to delete this reply or I would.

I know this post is from a long time ago, but nevertheless is still relevant to many people now. I don't know about iPhones, but on Android, I found an app called "Lesser AudioSwitch" which will allow the audio to play over the device speakers or Bluetooth even with 'headphones' plugged in (including the Square Reader).