iPhone 4/iOS 4 bluetooth muffled on other end

Some of the people here who are convinced there is something wrong with the phone or iOS4 are going to tell you that sooner or later you are going to have problems. But my experience is the same as yours: I bought the Jawbone Icon, went to their website as suggested in the user guide, downloaded and installed the update that was waiting, and installed the A2DP software. My headset works great and I love the battery life and the new features. No problems at all.

It is fortunate for you that downloading the update worked for you. I take exception to your implication that, for us folks that have downloaded the latest ICON software and are still having problems, we are somehow misguided in blaming Apple for the problem we're experiencing with our bluetooth devices.

Great for you, but I for one am still having problems with my ICON, I'm also having problems with my backbeat 903 and my Motorola S305. These all worked fine on 3.1.3 and now do not stay connected, even within 2 feet of the iphone, after upgrading to 4.0.1. So, yes... I am convinced there is something wrong with iOS4 and I have empirical data to prove it.

Right, you have data to prove that you are convinced there is something wrong with iOS4 but you don't have data that proves there is actually anything wrong with iOS4. There's a difference. There are maybe 40 users posting here about problems they are having, out of perhaps tens millions of iOS4 users (it runs on other devices besides iPhones). To use an overworked analogy, it's as if you surveyed the emergency room at your local hospital and concluded everyone in your town is sick. More telling is the fact that many of us are NOT having any problems using this same software and equipment, and others of our number are not coming here to share with you how well it's working. I'm sorry you are having problems and I'm trying to help you by encouraging you to look at other solutions besides waiting for an update to iOS4.

So, for those users whose bluetooth headset worked fine on their 3GS who upgraded to iOS4 and suddenly started having issues with all the same hardware which worked fine previously, there is no evidence of this being a software issue, huh?

Not sure what kind of logic you're using, but several people have had issues using the exact scenario I just described. All of their hardware must have suddenly gone bad at the same time!

Guys, forget about him; he totally missed the idea. Of course it's OS related. It may not be only OS but for sure it's at least OS.
I guess there's something f*cked up in resource administration controller: when one specific threshold is met, the controller cuts the power to an unsufficient level.
This threshold may be based on some pid scoring, that's why so hard to detect the flaw.

I've written some 3 feedbacks to apple regarding this, and so were many of you, for sure. Apple knows.

James Bailey

This issue is huge. The only reason this isn't a huge PR disaster for Apple is because most people don't use Bluetooth.

My 8 month old Mercedes BT worked perfectly with iOS3. It's useless with iOS 4. Ergo, iOS 4 is broken.

Ditto here!

My VW Golf bluetooth worked fine on 3G iPhone with 3.1.3, as did my BT headsets.
Now, with IOS4 on the 3G and my second 4G iPhone I have problems with connectivity, quality of sound, lost connection and failure to view phone book.
I spoke to Apple support last week twice. On Thursday I was told there was no problem with their bluetooth, and that it was down to the car manufacturers to sort out. On Friday I was told that "Apple was aware of some issues." The girl I spoke to was far more forthcoming than most at Apple regarding this and the issue with the proximity sensor. Call them yourselves today and see what the response is, its possibly changed again. Please post the answer here.
At my local Apple store the tech guy said neither he nor any of his colleagues had any problems with their 4g iPhones. This either means that they came from a special batch or they have all signed the Official (Apple) Secrets Act!

All Apple need to do is admit there are some problems on here and get working on a resolution.

TonyZ

More importantly, ladies and gentlemen, is any news regarding iOS 4.1 and SDK Beta 3?

Thanks to expert David W. Martin for including our complaint in his list over at CultofMac.com!

"There are a plethora of problems being reported about the iPhone 4 and iOS 4 and I hope that this update will address them. I’d particularly like to see fixes for the following..."

Proximity sensor
Bluetooth connectivity
Bluetooth muffled audio
iPhone 4 yellow tinged photos (rear facing camera)
Slow performance issues on the iPhone 3G

http://www.cultofmac.com/apple-releases-ios-4-1-and-sdk-beta-3-to-developers/

Hold on dude.

I didnt imply that your misguided in blaming apple at all, I just meerly said what (so far) has worked for me.
Somthing that I should point out too, when I first got my icon, it worked flawlessly with my iphone 4, but I decided to update the software in the jawbone to the lastest standard software and again everything was fine.
I wanted to try A2DP, so I put that on and again everything was fine.

It was only when I switched back to the standard jawbone software that my blue tooth connectivity problems started.
So I went back to the A2DP and ALSO did a "Reset all settings" on the iphone 4, at this stage I dont know whether it was the reset on the phone or the change to A2DP on the headset thats cured the problem.
I guess I shouldnt have tried both fixes at the same time, coz now I dont know which one seemed to cure it.
But at least for now it appears to be gone.

I do beleive that their is a major bluetooth issue with iOS 4.0.1 and that problem needs to be sorted by apple.
Their is no way that their would be this many people with problems if no problem existed.
I have a strong feeling that my problems will return as others have said they have, Im just glad that for now its fixed.

I have opened a case with Apple on this.

ALSO, in the course of "debugging" the issue, I have learned the following, while working with the Voyager Pro.

1) Calls answered initially on the iPhone using iOS 4.0 / 4.0.1 and then transferred to the headset will always be muffled.
2) Calls placed from the iPhone, where the headset is active right up front are fine; however, changing the audio source back to iPhone and then back to the headset will cause the audio to be muffled.

In conclusion (using iOS 4.0 / 4.0.1 and any of the mentioned headsets/speakerphones) any time the call is transferred from the iPhone to the headset/speakerphone, it will become muffled even if initially it was fine (e.g. started out fine on headset and was transferred to iPhone and back to headset, in which case it will then be muffled for the other party).

Folks who think they're not having an issue should try the following while in a call:

While using your headset in a case where the other party thinks your audio is just fine, transfer the call audio source back to the iPhone. Have the other party confirm that the audio is still fine. Now transfer the call back to the headset. Ask the other party if the call is still fine or if it is more muffled than at the start of the call (before transferring to iPhone and back to headset).

Heres another odd thing....

Since I did the fix yesterday, my Jawbone Icon's name has changed in the audio selection panel when on a call.

It used to say "Jawbone Icon"
Now it says "Bluetooth Audio"

Everything is still working fine, and the range of the headset from the phone, pretty much covers my whole house, I can walk anywhere in the house and not loose connection.

All -

I'm working with Apple engineering on this issue. As of 8/3 they were still requesting additional details from me on my testing of this issue with various BT headsets. It's clear that they recognize this as a valid defect and are trying to resolve it.

As of my last communication with them, they had not gone through all the permutations of call origination/call answering that we've discussed in this thread. I provided them some very specific BT headset models and steps to try and asked that they focus on situations where incoming calls are answered on the iPhone (with a BT headset already paired) and then switched to the headset as that seems to most often result in garbled audio.

Please continue to post any specifics on headset model and steps to reproduce.

BMWHD1 -
I've got the muffled voice/ you're in a tunnel with 3 different headsets:

Motorola H17 (I've tried 2 brand new ones)
Motorola H715 (about 6 months old)
Jawbone Noise Assassin from AT&T summer 2009 model

I've tried all 3 with 3 different brand new iphone 4. All 3 have the same problems.

I've done everything on here, including reset all settings, network settings, delete BT then turn off wifi, reconnect and retry. Tried it with wifi on, wifi off, initiate the call, not initiate the call etc.

hoo wrote:
BMWHD1 -
I've got the muffled voice/ you're in a tunnel with 3 different headsets:

Motorola H17 (I've tried 2 brand new ones)
Motorola H715 (about 6 months old)
Jawbone Noise Assassin from AT&T summer 2009 model

I've tried all 3 with 3 different brand new iphone 4. All 3 have the same problems.

I've done everything on here, including reset all settings, network settings, delete BT then turn off wifi, reconnect and retry. Tried it with wifi on, wifi off, initiate the call, not initiate the call etc.

Thanks. I'll pass this info along to engineering.

Please add Plantronics Voyager Pro and Nokia BH 607