Mainly because of bluetooth headphones with multiple computers. That way they are paired to only one computer and I can use them with other computers at the same time. Just right click on paprefs system tray icon, change the sink and the audio is sent somewhere else. I know it's now possible to have bluetooth headphones that have multiple connections but it wasn't the case a few years ago and I still find it much more useful this way.
But it's also useful when I have my laptop near my main computer and want to use its much better speakers instead of the crappy ones on the laptop. Right click, select another sink, and that's it.
It's just nice to have the option to send the audio from one computer to another. It's a shame that it's apparently a niche thing.
When it works (!), it's one of the reasons I brag to my tech friends about Linux, and why I switched to Linux many many years ago. In fact, it was when Esound was a thing. But once in a while it stops working after an upgrade or a dist-upgrade, and I have to spend time trying to fix it.
I like to joke around with tech minded friends that Windows keeps breaking with every updates, but then I have to spend an hour finding out why my sinks disappeared after an upgrade, and I'm forced to realize that... sigh... these things happen with Linux too.
Audio over the network is a feature of pulseaudio/pipewire from a module aptly named "module-simple-protocol", and as simple as it is to make it work on Linux (when it works), it's unfortunately not as easy on other platforms. Technically speaking, it's possible to do that on Android with an app called "Simple Protocol Player" but it's apparently very glitchy and you're going to need some patience for the setup. It's from someone that wanted to stream audio from an HTPC with Ubuntu to an Android phone, but the author states that it's pretty buggy. Here's the link to their blog: https://kaytat.com/blog/?page_id=301
So the short answer is unfortunately "no", unless you want to practice your patience on a project.
Bah. I've been using Linux for 25 years, started with a derivative of Slackware, then used Slackware for about a decade, and switched to Debian. I used 5.25" floppies and manually set IRQs so I'm quite comfortable with Debian and tinkering in general.
For friends and family I prefer LMDE. Snap packages can go to hell.
I never noticed any latency when I'm not using bluetooth. And no, the devices do not speak to each other. For PA/pipewire, this is just an audio sink as any other.
There is latency when using bluetooth but this is pretty standard. It just doesn't increase (or not noticeably) when streamed to another computer.
Free software. Try to use apt on Android, or run software that you can use on a desktop. And no ads in every app.
Root access, that is, being admim of your own device.
Being able to access the file system and support for different types. For example Android doesn't support NTFS and needs FAT. Plugging a simple USB drive has mixed results.
This is from the top of my head. I use both but I really don't like how Android is locked down and so limited, even for power users. I really wish I could have a real "pocket computer" instead of this thing that feeds me ads.
Setting up an ad blocker for a whole device often requires root. I gave up with my new phone and just have ublock origin on Firefox but that's the point. I can't easily install something that will modify the DNS because I have no admin access on my phone.
That's why I also do give up on certain apps. For example I don't like the ads in Boost so I stopped using it. Sometimes I pay for the version of an app without ads. This doesn't happen on Linux.
Also being heavily pushed towards apps for websites like YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, Facebook... Lemmy, Mastodon... They are all "best experienced" in apps, and most of them will probably try to push you ads or make you pay.
Again, I'm relatively tech savvy so I can find other ways, but it's still annoying and disappointing to have to constantly find ways around the system. It doesn't happen in Linux.
If I need to choose, I'll go with Android but to be quite frank, I would really prefer to have a "real" computer operating system on those devices. For 10+ years I've been waiting for a device that I can put in my pocket, use it on the go, with a data connection, and have the possibility to dock it and continue using it as a full fledged computer, with Linux if possible.
I know some high end Android devices can be "docked" and connected to a monitor, but they are far too expensive and/or too rare. Also, you still have to use apps instead of proper computer software. I don't like the "everything is an app" model, where they all have to have ads and/or paid versions. Android and "mobile" operating systems are a pain to use. I want to have control over my device.
And I also know there are some devices that can to this, but with the level of technology that we have, a device like this should be easy to find. Yet, it's all niche stuff that isn't really polished nor working really well. It's all damn phones and tablets with "mobile" operating systems that locks users. I wonder if phone/tablet manufacturers keep it that way because there's no demand for this, or if they simply want to continue the milking of the mobile users.
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And Debian is supposed to be the stable one ( lemmy.ca )
The last two upgrades have broken my audio setup....
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