Enable iPhone microphone while using headphones without built in mic

Question

Level 1

8 points

Enable iPhone microphone while using headphones without built in mic

Hey,

I was wondering if there was a way to enable the iPhone's microphone when regular headphones (without a built in microphone) are plugged in. One of the most exciting features of the 3GS for me was the Voice Commands meaning i can change my music with ease while driving, but my phone is plugged into my car stereo via the mini jack socket. When i try the voice commands, it doesn't work because it's looking for a signal coming from the headphones microphone, which obviously isn't there. Anyone have a solution?

Thanks

iPhone 3GS, iPhone OS 3.0

Posted on Jul 10, 2009 11:49 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 10, 2009 12:09 PM in response to Woz Records

hmmm that's weird, because I use my car FM Tuner with my iPhone all the time (which plugs into the headphones jack) and I still am able to use voice commands with it...idk what to tell u

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Answer 2

Woz Records Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 10, 2009 12:31 PM in response to Smooth4Lyfe

i mean it does work on the odd occasion which is strange but the majority of the time it doesn't. but say for example someone calls me and it's plugged into my car stereo, when i answer, i can hear them through my car speakers but they can't hear me till i unplug the mini jack, so it's not just the voice commands that is effected for me

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Answer 3

fugu_v

Level 1

0 points

Jul 14, 2009 8:55 PM in response to Woz Records

Yup, I've got the same issue. If you look at the plugs of a regular headphone and the ones with microphones you'll see that the ones with mics have four metal connection points instead of three--left and right audio, ground, and the mic. When you plug in regular headphones what I think is happening is that it shorts out the mic connection, which is why it turns off. When I get the chance I was going to play around with it to see if I can consistently get it to work. Will let you know if I do.

As a side note: when the iPhone is plugged in from the bottom the sound comes from Aux-out instead stead of the headphone jack, which is why the microphone works. You'll also notice that sound from the phone (people talking) does not seem to go through the auxiliary out.

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Answer 4

fugu_v

Level 1

0 points

Jul 15, 2009 2:47 AM in response to fugu_v

Noteworthy: This thread here has a lot of discussion on the topic:

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9824688

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