The updates to iOS 8 have been very important to our readers who suffer great connectivity Bluetooth issues with their in-car infotainment systems. Let’s look at all the rumors surrounding iOS 8 updates, Apple Watch and CarPlay to see if there is any hope for iPhone owners with Bluetooth pairing issues. If the Bluetooh problems persist, they may lock-out the future of new Apple devices such as the Apple Watch or Apple Car.
Beta Versions of iOS 8.2 & 8.3
Two beta versions of iOS are being tested by developers iOS 8.2 and iOS 8.3.
It has been reported that iOS 8.2 may be released next week, even as soon as Monday. Published changelogs indicate the iOS 8.2 beta 5 at 258 MB contains “bug fixes and improvements”.
iOS 8.2 has a blood glucose tracking feature in the Health app, which had problems with the way the data was displayed. In the update users can toggle between mg/dL or mmol/L with descriptions. iOS 8.2 changes the Bluetooth control panel for the new health features.
So if you are driving with low blood sugar levels in-car with your Apple watch, you may be know to stop to eat lunch. However, you won’t be able to ask directions form Siri via Bluetooth unless all the iOS 8.2 or 8.3 Bluetooth works.
The Apple Watch is expected to be released on March 9 and an iOS software should support the Watch. The Apple Watch is not a primary device it can’t make phone calls on its own, it connects to the iPhone for around $350.
Apple Watch Must Communicate with iPhone 4S 5/5S/5C & 6/6+
Let’s see how is the Apple Watch going to communicate with the mother iPhone? If the watch communicates with Bluetooth, all Bluetooth profiles should be fixed. Another feature in the Apple Watch is tracking via Bluetooth 4. Apple has not stated what method of wireless communication will be used between the iPhone and Apple Watch.
Apple Watch to Replace Key Fobs?
“The Apple watch is designed to be able to replace car keys and the clumsy, large fobs that are now used by many vehicles,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told The Telegraph. He hinted that Apple is working with automakers to offer either NFC or Bluetooth to unlock cars.
So here, we have Apple trying to lock and unlock doors on cars with NFC or Bluetooth but has not be able to fix massive Bluetooth issues with almost every make and model of car. Bluetooth connection problems have been reported with many car models such as BMW, Audi, GM(Chevy, GMC, Cadillac, Buick), Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Mazda, Lexus, Fiat, Hyundai, Honda, Citroen, Pontiac, Volkswagen, Volvo, Toyota, Dodge, Acura and more.
CarPlay to the Bluetooth Rescue?
Apple’s plan is to connect iPhones to cars is by using CarPlay, a slimmed down car-designed version of iOS for touchscreens in cars that connects via a lightning cable in the first version. That could be a problem for car owners because only Ferrari has operational CarPlay unless a car owner wants to buy a new Pioneer (winner of Tech CARS Award for best CarPlay), Kenwood or Alpine infotainment systems.
We often see massive news about Apple CarPlay. However, in a recent webinar from IHS showed there is very little knowledge of CarPlay for most new car buyers. Among nwcar intenders, only 20-25% have heard about Apple CarPlay, Android Auto or MirrorLink, according to the webinar hosted by Mark Boyadijis.
There are reports that the beta version of iOS 8.3 now in beta 2 has the ability for CarPlay to connect wirelessly. Beta testers have shown a screen shot telling users to hold the Siri button down to set up CarPlay wirelessly.
It is not clear if the wireless connection for CarPlay in iOS 8.3 will be Bluetooth, it could be some form of Wi-Fi (which most cars currently don’t have) or iBeacon.
Those of us who have experienced iOS 8 Bluetooth issues with almost every in-car infotainment system on the market are going H-U-G-H? How can CarPlay connect to cars wirelessy, when we can’t even make phone calls or important contacts?
A report from Car and Driver says that Ford is working on integrating CarPlay in Ford SYNC 3. The New York Times recently reported that Toyota will not deploy CarPlay.
Apple is reportedly working on an iOS 8.4 beta, that is not ready for developers yet. It is rumored to include big changes in streaming music services.
But What About Our Bluetooth?????????
The question marks get even bigger when the various rumors that Apple is working on developing an electric vehicle.
The over 800 commenters who forked up $600 or more for the new iPhone 6/6+ are already frustrated and saying that they will never buy an Apple product again.
It seems logical, that before Apple adds more and more iPhone or Apple Watch features to cars, it should fix the issues iOS users are already complaining about with Bluetooth problems and their cars.
If Apple doesn’t fix current Bluetooth issues, the owners of iPhones won’t buy the Apple Watch to start their cars or even buy an Apple car because they have taken a bite out of Apple and it is very sour…
If you have updated to iOS 8.1.3 or iPhone 6-6+ and it fixed or fried your Bluetooth issues with your in-car infotainment system, please let us know in the comments below, be sure to note your make, model and year of your vehicle as well as the problem you are experiencing.
Read a summary of Bluetooth issues and fixes along with the new “audio-only” connection fix. Read the most popular nuke-it fixes. J.D. Power reports Bluetooth and voice command issues are the most reported technology problems by car owners.
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I have a 2015 ILX and an iPone 6 running IOS 9.2.1 I finally got messaging to work, though I can;t reply. I can receive calls over Bluetooth, but it will not display the caller’s name. Acura service could not fi this. Guess it’s an Apple issue.
09/2015 IPhone 6 on latest version 8.4. Brand new 2016 Toyota Forerunner. Bluetooth won’t stay connected. You can make one…or maybe two calls if you’re lucky. Toyota dealer says it is an issue with iPhones.
I just upgraded to 8.4 and now Bluetooth doesn’t work in my 2010 Tiguan. It worked fine with all other updates.
Hello fellow iphone / Bluetooth device users: I have solved my iphone 5 BT problem.
I have a Sony Receiver w/Bluetooth, NFC & App Remote Model # MEX-N5000BT.
After I updated to ios 8.3, my iphone 5 would no longer play music via Bluetooth.
I read the Sony manual and found a key to solving this issue.
It says that when connected by a USB cable that the Sony receiver will pair automatically with the iphone device. So, I hooked it up and immediately the iphone was requesting that 2 apps be installed ” App Remote” and ” Pandora”.
I installed them both. Then retested and the Bluetooth issue was fixed. It now plays music as it did before the 8.3 update. I hope this also works for you.
Hello : My first fix only lasted a short time
This is the new fix. After I updated to ios 8.3 my iphone 5 would no longer play music via Bluetooth. Or I would have to reconnect every time I used it.
I read somewhere that updating to 8.3 or any 8. ios via wifi, causes problems. Apple should just remove the option to update by wifi. It creates mysterious iphone issues and makes Apple look like idiots.
When they are ” Genius’s “.
So, you need to back up your iphone, then do a full restore using itunes, then restore from your backup.
Make sure you change the name of your iphone before you do the backup, I added the date after the name.
My iphone now plays music as it did before the 8.3 update. You may have to manually resync your mail, music collection and non Apple software. I hope this also works for you.
Just got a new iPhone 6 and had no idea about the bluetooth issues. My iPhone 4s worked like a champ with the iOS 8….so no issues with the operating system or car, but bluetooth alone on my iPhone 6. I cannot connect bluetooth from the new phone to my MacBook Air as well. Its not my Ford Focus 2009 with Sync….that worked with my old iPhone 4s bluetooth. Its this new smartphone and I will do what others are saying….trash this phone and switch BACK to a droid phone. Totally amazed how Apple cares little for their customers and simply focus on the next $$ project while existing technology is failing.
Own a 2012 Subaru Outback. Bluetooth worked fine with my iPhone 5. Bought the new iPhone 6 yesterday and discovered it fails to stay paired after the ignition is turned off. Subaru screen says “device not detected” and I have to pair the phone each time to get it to work. Have not tried hands free cell calling yet…
I have a iPhone 6 and 2013 Ford Escape and since I did the IOS 8.3 it will not connect via bluetooth.
So, iOS 8.2 improved Bluetooth use in my 2010 Mazda 3 Sport with my iPhone 5S, but I still had a few annoying issues that I was having to live with (having to manually switch to Bluetooth output if a call was instigated from my phone).
As I also suffered intermittent wi-if dropouts, I jumped at the opportunity to install iOS 8.3 – what a mistake…!
I nuked my setup (deleted car and phone pairings, “reset all settings” on phone and disconnected car battery), but now I can’t re-pair my phone at all..!!!
After the pairing failure, I can select the device again on my phone’s Bluetooth screen, and it’ll temporarily connect audio (to allow music playback), and although not paired, will still sometimes allow call audio through Bluetooth, but it all fails again once I switch the ignition off (I have to delete the phone pairing, re-pair, then reselect after failure).
To cap it all, I downgraded to iOS 8.2, and I still can’t get my phone to pair again..!!!
I love my iPhone, but use in my car is a “must” for me, and Apple seem to be demonstrating over and over again that they are simply incapable of delivering a consistently workable solution for this vital requirement.
They still seem to be ploughing all their expertise into new technologies (Watch and CarPlay) instead of fixing what they have consistently failed to deliver to their loyal customers already. That is a completely unprofessional approach and is going to bite them big-time if they don’t sort their O/S out soon.
I have the Alpine iLX-007 (purchased Dec. 2014) and an I Phone 6. After some initial connection issues after installation were resolved it worked fine. I updated the software to iOS 8.2. Now I get an error message saying the deck doesn’t support the I-Phone. I’m now sorry I bought this POS. Anyone have ideas how to fix this mess?
I once loved Apple products. They worked!
Now it’s like the bad old days of Microsoft when every new version was going to fix problems. I bought two a Alpine car audio systems for my car and my wife’s car so we could use Siri when driving. My wife’s wirked well with iPhone 5 and IOS 7 so at Christmas I forked out over $2000 for a car system and Iphone 6 and now it has been a huge waste of money. Bluetooth doesn’t work properly and Siri is useless. I am so angry …..
I am waiting to see what the new Samsung S6 is like and may sell the iPhone on EBay. I can’t even imagine what Apple is thinking. They are so caught up with the Iwatch that they have forgotten to make their products actually work. I am not interested in their Iwatch or any other stupid new product they have. I wish every day that I could revert back to IOS 7.
I updated to 8.2 yesterday and since then I have not been able to use my phone in my car via Bluetooth. I had 8.0.something prior to the upgrade and everything worked fine. I am using an iphone 5s and an aftermarket Kenwood DDX372BT head unit in a 2013 Toyota 4Runner.
To say that I’m unhappy would be an understatement.
Follow up…. I deleted all of the saved devices from my phone and started over. All is well with the world now. Well, it will be once I get that damn storage full message. I only have 2.5 gigs of apps, songs, pictures, etc and it is still full.
Just updated iOS 8.1.3 to 8.2.0 and it fixed the USB connectivity failure of my iPhone5 to my 2015 Mazda CX-5. Prior to the update, the car’s system recognized the phone (as an iPod) when plugging it into the vehicle’s USB port. The grayed out “USB” tab on the dash LCD screen changed to a touchable “iPod” tab. Going to that page I would get “Reading iPod…” for a couple seconds followed by “iPod error…” With 8.2, after about 15 seconds of “Reading iPod…,” the car audio system starts playing music that’s on the phone. No error.
This is very good news because Mazda and Visteon acknowledged a problem with iOS 8+. Now you can play your music!
Bought iPhone 5c to my dad, updated to iOS 8.1.3 and was unable to pair with VW Tiguan 2010. I was unable to pair also my iPhone 6. On the other hand in my Skoda Octavia 2013 everything works fine. It was quite bad surprise, pitty I didn’t know before – would try BT with original iOS version 7.
Apple’s diligence with its software is not unusual. For the iOS 8.2, the company released five beta versions to its developers. It also released it when Apple decided to give its developers a hand with the Apple Watch’s Watchkit developer tools.
6 months ago, we purchased a CPO 2011 Toyota Avalon with a JBL stereo/Nav system. There were no problems connecting my wife’s iPhone 5 to the stereo. But once we updated the phone to iOS 8.1 she began having the dreaded Bluetooth connection issues.
Our Toyota dealership was unable to help, rightly blaming Apple and the recent iOS updates.
After I found your website and read tips to resolve the issue, I backed-up and did a full Reset of her iPhone (I learned from an IT pro that iOS updates should ALWAYS be done using a hardwire connection to your computer via iTunes, NEVER via iCloud or wirelessly).
After the reset I was able to reconnect the phone and get it to work again. FYI – I own a 2011 Toyota 4Runner (non JBL stereo) and I have NEVER had Bluetooth connection issues from 2 different iPhones. I hope Apple steps up to resolve the issue with the next round of iOS updates.