Bluetooth Oddities and GPS fun.

[crbeau]

Amazingly, the phone communication works better than any of the 4 speakerphones I've had in the past year. People can finally talk to me in the car. On other units my transmission was awful! My phone is an HTC One (M7), and they are notorious for not working well with most Bluetooth devices.

Apparently, the i Sport model has a non-up-gradable base stereo, so no infotainment for me. It seems that there a currently no aftermarket stereos as well.

So where are the oddities?

1. Have to crank up the volume on the music if I even want to hear it. I keep the volume on the phone @75%, but when it plays to the Mazda, well I have to crank the stereo up from 22-26 to 35 before I can hear the volume. I don't have to do this on my Bluetooth headphones. Also, no love for the android music player and road travel so if you have a suggestion for a better app for travel I'd like to know. I have not tried the AUX jack as of yet.

2. Never receive my turn by turn directions form Google maps. Also, alerts for messages are never received. However, if I'm on a phone call, all these sounds are received. I really miss having my emails and txt message read out to me.

3. Does anyone have a solution for a location to put your phone? Seems they really want you to lock it in the center console box. Honestly, I don't even really see a place to put a standalone GPS unit. The one spot I'd place it is used by the radio, the other is right in front of the cd player and that is a bit too low for me.

I'm seriously considering getting a tablet for this car and devising a holder to place it on top of the radio, then using Bluetooth for phone calls and aux for all other audio. Devising a holder may well be easier than it sounds.

 

[crbeau]

Thanks rvoll, that's the closest I've see to a mount that will work for my phone!

Hoping someone can verify they've had the same experience with turn by turn.

With the mount, it will likely be easier to use the aux for phone-system sounds and audio. If I use the phone I can use it's built in radio, so I can keep the cars system on the AUX input.

 

[crbeau]

Looks like issue 1, the volume level is due to a volume limiting service on my phone. Should be some kind of work-around available. Also applies to the AUX connection not just BT.

With issue 2, I noticed that if I turn off the media audio, the notification sounds will play. Still no text to voice or turn by turn though. -Have to set aside some time to play with this.

 

[crbeau]

Looks like a lot of new android O/S or devices are coming with the volume limiter. I have found two workarounds, your mileage will vary depending on which phone you have.

Volume Boost did not work for me, but for others it has worked well:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Kibohely


This one worked for me (HTC One M7 Viper One mod):

No Safe Volume Warning
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/module-nosafevolumewarning-t2718933/

http://repo.xposed.info/module/com.pyler.nosafevolumewarning



_____

Recap

1. Found an app to fix the volume level.

2. Now I need to experiment with Bluetooth modes and aux outputs so I can get turn by turn and notifications working.

3. Waiting on budget for phone holder.

 

[Sean O'Gorman]

I tried flashing an all-around volume enhancer for my LG G2, and it didn't make much of an impact, other than making my notifications way too loud when not connected to anything. I'm at 30-40 when driving, with the ALC at 4-7.

My biggest issue is sometimes the Bluetooth doesn't connect properly, or doesn't connect at all. Usually this happens if another app (such as Dash or Torque) is connecting to my OBD Bluetooth dongle, or if the audio app I'm using is already open. Sometimes it'll just say connecting, or stop altogether, or I'll get "BT Audio" on the screen, and then the steering wheel and head unit controls to skip or pause don't work.