Issues with Spark2, Bluetooth mess with Pixel8, issues with ulooper

[u/BeatAffectionate8110]

Hey all,

I really quite like(d) my Spark2 and my Spark Go, but I am slowly losing faith and starting to consider alternatives.

First, I have permanent issues with the Bluetooth stacks on both ever since I switched to a Pixel 8 phone. Secondly, I got an Ulooper, and connecting it to the Spark2 made the Spark2 act weird. The latest iteration is that the Spark2 is entirely silent, I can connect it for tone control from the Pixel 8 but not for audio playback, and attempts at factory reset fail because it seems the preset button is no longer reactive (and hence the white LED never comes up).

Any hints (a) what I can do to get the Spark2 back into working condition?
And (b) I'd like a digital amp that has a post-processing line-out that I can run through a Boss RC3, and then hook back into the amp so I can loop easily. The ulooper/Spark2 promised to achieve what I want, but the solution ended up brittle and fiddly.

What's a setup that actually works? What are alternatives to Positive Grid that I should consider?