In this sentence, “By the way" refer to “however“?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
"By the way" here is used to make someone aware of some extra information, or to talk about something you just thought of. It is similar to the word "additionally", but not quite the same as "however" which means "but". Ex: By the way, I'm allergic to fish. Ex: Oh, by the way, I have a funny story about that.