It's amazing to me that Apple can't get Bluetooth right in iOS 10

donnation

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For all of the push for wireless with the iPhone 7 and iOS 10, it's mind boggling to me that Apple still can't get Bluetooth right.

I own an iPhone 7Plus, a 6 Plus (running iOS 9), and a One Plus 3T. Both the 6 Plus and One Plus 3T connect flawlessly to my car Bluetooth, which is a 2015 4Runner. The iPhone 7 Plus takes several attempts for it to connect. I have to turn the stereo on and off every single time to get it to connect. Then once it connects it starts playing music through the phone first, then through the Stereo. It also plays automatically in iOS 10, whether or not I want it to. Both the 6 Plus and One Plus 3T connect immediately and don't start playing anything until I hit play on the phone.

It's really disappointing that I'm running iOS 10.3 Beta 4 on the 7 Plus and they still haven't fixed this. It's an inherent software issue and for all of the promoting of going wireless this is a complete failure on Apple's part. I hope this is fixed some time in the future.
 

owlyn

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I have a 2016 RAV4 (I mention this because you and I are both Toyota). Wife and I both have the iPhone 6 running 10.2.2. Bluetooth works flawlessly almost all off the time (99.99%). When there is a problem (c'mon-it happens, we're talking computers here), the solution Toyota suggests is to reboot the phone, which is the solution that has always worked for me. You may want to check the settings on your Entune app on your phone, and also make sure you have downloaded the latest Entune updates in your car and on your phone.
 

donnation

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I have a 2016 RAV4 (I mention this because you and I are both Toyota). Wife and I both have the iPhone 6 running 10.2. Bluetooth works flawlessly almost all off the time (99.99%). When there is a problem (c'mon-it happens, we're talking computers here), the solution Toyota suggests is to reboot the phone, which is the solution that has always worked for me. You may want to check the settings on your Entune app on your phone, and also make sure you have downloaded the latest Entune updates in your car and on your phone.

I don't use the entune app on any of my phones. I tried it to see if it would help and that app is complete garbage and didn't fix anything. My wife has a 6SPlus running 10.2.1 and her phone has the exact same problems as my 7Plus, which started with iOS 10 on her 6S Plus. Her 6S Plus also had this issue with her 2014 Traverse, which tells me it's not just Toyota vehicles. The 6 Plus running iOS 9 and the 3T running Android Nougat don't have this issue, which tells me it's an issue with iOS10. Restarting the phone, unpairing and repairing doesn't fix it. To me that says it's an issue with the software.
 

donnation

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Is the 6 Plus also on 10.3 Beta 4?

No, the 6Plus is still running iOS 9. Its not a beta issue as its been present since day 1 on the 7 Plus and started as soon as my wife updated to iOS 10 on her 6S Plus. Apple has acknowledged that there have been bluetooth issues but they've never fixed it.
 

Ledsteplin

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I don't use the entune app on any of my phones. I tried it to see if it would help and that app is complete garbage and didn't fix anything. My wife has a 6SPlus running 10.2.1 and her phone has the exact same problems as my 7Plus, which started with iOS 10 on her 6S Plus. Her 6S Plus also had this issue with her 2014 Traverse, which tells me it's not just Toyota vehicles. The 6 Plus running iOS 9 and the 3T running Android Nougat don't have this issue, which tells me it's an issue with iOS10. Restarting the phone, unpairing and repairing doesn't fix it. To me that says it's an issue with the software.

Have you submitted a bug report on this to the Apple beta team?
 

Easycure1974

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I Have a Volkswagen Passat GTE and use Bluetooth every day with my iPhone 7 plus and has never had a single issue with it. Also using the phone with three different Bluetooth headsets and two Bluetooth speakers and it always work 100% for me. Running 10.3 beta for the moment
 

donnation

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I'm not saying it doesn't work. It will connect. But to have to turn the stereo on and off and then have the audio start playing through the phone and then start playing through the stereo is a little ridiculous. It shouldn't play through the phone at all and shouldn't play automatically when none of my other devices do.
 

Just_Me_D

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I'm not demeaning anyone having Bluetooth-related problems with respect to their iPhones, but it's frustrating as heck for people like me who aren't experiencing these problems whatsoever and regardless of the device our iPhones are connected to. I try so hard to understand what could be the problem. Why are some having the issues and others are not? Is the problem on Apple's end or the connected device's manufacturer's end? What's the difference between Google's implementation and Apple's? Anyway, I hope those of you who are having these problems get the situation resolved soon...:)
 

donnation

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I'm not demeaning anyone having Bluetooth-related problems with respect to their iPhones, but it's frustrating as heck for people like me who aren't experiencing these problems whatsoever and regardless of the device our iPhones are connected to. I try so hard to understand what could be the problem. Why are some having the issues and others are not. Is the problem on Apple's end or the connected device's manufacturer's end? What's the difference between Google's implementation and Apple's? Anyway, I hope those of you who are having these problems get the situation resolved soon...:)

I think it's on Apple's end. I own AirPods as well and sometimes it takes forever for them to connect.
 

Just_Me_D

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I think it's on Apple's end. I own AirPods as well and sometimes it takes forever for them to connect.

Really? My AirPods connect almost instantly to my iPhone 7 Plus. I wonder if resetting the network settings or resetting all settings would help. In regard to the problem being on Apple's end, it could very well be. By the way, do you have an Watch? If so, how's the connectivity to it?
 

imwjl

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We don't see any difference with the Apple hardware or software connecting with our cars but the year old Toyota bluetooth is more idiosyncratic or less reliable than our older Subaru.

AirPods are working as advertised or at least as good or better than any other item I use (two cars, two brands of speakers, and two brands of earphones).

The periodic phone (and Apple Watch) reboot help all this.
 

donnation

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Really? My AirPods connect almost instantly to my iPhone 7 Plus. I wonder if resetting the network settings or resetting all settings would help. In regard to the problem being on Apple's end, it could very well be. By the way, do you have an Watch? If so, how's the connectivity to it?

Yes, I have an Apple Watch. Connectivity to it is perfect.
 

donnation

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Have you asked Toyota if there is a firmware upgrade for the RAV4's audio system?

It's not Toyota. It does the same thing in my wife's Traverse and also did the same thing in rental Tahoe that I had for a couple of weeks.

I know it's an iOS issue because it doesn't do it on Android and doesn't do it on iOS 9.
 

doogald

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It's not Toyota. It does the same thing in my wife's Traverse and also did the same thing in rental Tahoe that I had for a couple of weeks.

I know it's an iOS issue because it doesn't do it on Android and doesn't do it on iOS 9.

And yet my iPhone running iOS 10.2.1 does not have BT problems? And my last Android phone was far more problematic with Bluetooth in comparison? (You should see all of the BT problems with cars that are reported on Android Central in the forums that I follow.)

I'm not discounting your issue, only pointing out that I see far fewer BT issues on iOS forums like this compared with Android forums. Bluetooth is hard.

Have you considered doing an encrypted backup to iTunes, reset and set up the phone from scratch, and see if the phone works better? It may be that there is some corrupt data that's causing an issue. Or even backup, reset, and restore from iTunes - sometimes that solves problems like these.
 

donnation

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And yet my iPhone running iOS 10.2.1 does not have BT problems? And my last Android phone was far more problematic with Bluetooth in comparison? (You should see all of the BT problems with cars that are reported on Android Central in the forums that I follow.)

I'm not discounting your issue, only pointing out that I see far fewer BT issues on iOS forums like this compared with Android forums. Bluetooth is hard.

Have you considered doing an encrypted backup to iTunes, reset and set up the phone from scratch, and see if the phone works better? It may be that there is some corrupt data that's causing an issue. Or even backup, reset, and restore from iTunes - sometimes that solves problems like these.

Yeah I've tried that. It's an OS issue. Otherwise it wouldn't work perfectly with iOS 9 and my 3T. There is no other explanation for it. And also look at the tons of reports of Bluetooth problems people have been having with OS10.
 

nikkisharif

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No BT issues with my 6s Plus (beta 4) or 7 Plus but the beta has caused an issue with images in Tapatalk. I also have an issue with wifi connectivity at work, which sounds a lot like your BT issue, but the issue is with the network. It's not updated for the new OS yet, so it takes awhile to connect.
 

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