IPhone 4 Bluetooth Issues

Donnfrompalmbeach, I gave up on BT when iOS 4 came out and trashed the performance of my Jawbone. I switched to using my buds almost exclusively for the past year or so, to give me some semblance of hands-free. I only rejoined The Struggle for Truth and Justice for iPhone Bluetooth when the headset jack on my iPhone started shorting out two weeks ago, rendering my earbuds useless.

In any case my new $35 Blueant V1x seems to be continuing to provide acceptable service so far.

Unfortunately, "Your results may vary."

It is baffling that some headset work for some people, but not others. Again, I am talking about how my voice sounds to the other person. As I have stated in previous post, I used a Plantronics Discovery 975 with an 4S and it worked incredibly, but on another iPhone 4S, it was pure junk. Used a Era and junk for me, but others here say it works. Am now using Plantronics Voyager Pro HD and works very well for me, but now Don says it doesnt work for him.

I wonder if somebody could contact C/Net or some media outlet like that who would publish this and bring some media attention to it so Apple maybe feels pressure to respond. Seems like they are now getting like so many other big companies that are non-responsive to their customers needs and wont accept responsibility for a problem.

ilBanker,

- to your point, "...that some headset work for some people, but not others...", this is something that has intrigued me from the beginning. As a recovering engineer I have tried to connect all the dots that are known in this anomaly ("that some headset work for some people, but not others"). For me:

1. this cannot be explained by variations in iPhone or BT headset hardware (antenna, RF circuits, etc). Such variations would only have impact if Apple's quality control were truly crap. (ok maybe it is but humor me for a bit in thinking it is not)

2. nor do I think this anamoly could be explained in variations in iPhone OS software (DSP, multitask algorithms, etc) since code is code is code, and we're all pretty much using the same iOS, 5.01 unfortunately.

3. what I think--and have thought for some time--is this problem is caused by some combination of installed and/or running apps, some additional combination of iPhone Settings, or, Apple's alleged 'echo-control mods' they instituted with iOS 4.

I am about 90% certain that Apple knows the root cause of this anomaly. My sense is that Apple is not correcting this problem because their Apple brand headsets work precisely because the echo control was tweaked, and 'un-tweaking' it would **** off those users. Conversely, if my assumptions above are reasonably correct, they obviously cannot acknowledging this huge freaking screwup, because they would expose themselves to substantial damages.

- to your thought, "...I wonder if somebody could contact C/Net or some media outlet like that who would publish this...", I think that idea is spot on.

ilbanker,

Yes I tried two Apple earpieces with the 4 and the problem still existed.

Shame too I liked the look and feel of them.

They're hard to find new now since they're discontinued.

Guess apple doesn't know how to do bluetooth maybe they'll get out of the phone game

too since they don't make a good one.

Just a fancy ipod that can make calls if you're lucky.

I am having Bluetooth issues as well.

I am having some of the same issues that are already described on this thread, but I am also noticing that iOS does not seem to handle more advanced BT devices such as the Jawbone ERA and the Pantronics Discovery 975 series. Those devices also use iOS to display the battery life of the headset on the iPhone. It's a cool feature, but I have noticed that quite often, the battery display for the BT headset does not display properly (battery is displayed as empty when in fact, I know that the headset is fully charged). As well, I am unable to use the headset to make or receive calls. Resetting the headset does not solve the issue. Repairing also does not solve the isue. The issue is only resolved if a reset of the iPhone is performed.

It seems to me that there is a communication problem with BT headsets and the BT stack within iOS. I am not really a software guy so I can't theorize beyond that, but there is definitely a communications glitch between the BT headset and the iPhone. This may also be reflected in the garbled speech that people are experiencing.

So here is the latest email from product support:

"I passed the link to this forum onto our engineers and have not heard back. As the device has been replaced multiple times for the same issue, I don't know that I can offer another resolution for your issue at this point. Thank you for providing this information."

That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. Basically, I view this as an admission that there is something wrong. And to the person earlier, Thanar, there are other reasons than tethering to connect to a computer via bluetooth. Syncing for one, and file transfer is another. Apple makes a big deal out of wireless sync to itunes over wifi in ios5, but why not have done this years ago with bluetooth? Sometimes the best thing to do is use a standard and not mess with it. My plan is to pick up an android phone that will operate on 4GLTE, and see if that is any better. There are many issues with this phone, all related to a poor antenna design. Wifi not holding a connection, dropped calls, bluetooth. I believe the fact is that the iphone 4 is an inherently bad hardware design, and those flaws are carried to the 4S. Apple is known and proud of the fact that they design the form first, and then tell engineers to make the technology fit into that footprint, period. Im a pretty simple guy, but we are still dealing with a connection technology that has been around for a long time, Radio Frequency. Think back to the rabbit ear days of TV, when you put your hands on the antenna, the signal got interrupted. Same principal here.

Issues with Bluetooth - the iPhone 4 cuts in and out with the car bluetooth and portable bluetooth devices.....Bought several Blue tooth devices and they all have intermittant connection problems...

This is clearly an Apple problem !

I'm also having the same problem with my iPhone 4. The phone often disconnects when

My phone is in my pocket during my bluetooth connection. I replaced the headset. Still no luck resolving this. The range is horrible. APPLE PLEASE FIX THIS!!!

Just another data point. I had posted earlier experiencing bad quality and range issues with a bluetooth connector to my hearing aids. I'm happy to report that it now works great, but I can't tell you what changed. Early in the process I did one or two cold starts with the phone, and that is the only thing I can point to as changed. My quality is good and as with my previous device, if the phone is on a different floor from me, the connection remains solid and I can answer an incoming call. I then make my way to the phone, but I'd say that connection is perhaps even better than it had been with my previous phone. I received an updated version of my device, and it paired and worked well right away. It has the voice from text connection capability, so when someone calls (if they are in my contacts), I hear not only the incoming call but who is calling.

I have no idea why I had so many problems at the start nor why it has been resolved. Or why others continue to have problems. I've read here some comments that rebooting fixes things for a while, but the problems slowly come back. That's not been my experience, luckily. BTW, I did check and these devices are BT 2.x. The iPhone is 4 but if you read descriptions of the use of 3.x and 4.x, it appears those are more designed for low power sensor communication. But whatever, the backwards compatibility seems to work just fine for me.

Thanks Tom, when I got off the train I deleted the bluetooth connection, then performed a cold restart of the phone twice. I repaired my device and it was a 1000% improvement !! The issues I had are now resolved. My range increased dramatically like 35 feet and the device is in my pocket and the connection is STRONG.

Thank you very much, this should help a lot of folks in the apple community.

LG

Ok after my last post the problem has resurfaced. It appears to occur when the iphone4 is repaired with a second Bluetooth device. The connection the first device is broken and inorder to restore the connection I have to "Forget this Device". Then recreate a new Bluetooth connection which sometimes requires that I power off the phone then turn it back on before doing the repairing.

Awful! Why is Apple not resolving this issue! I know many in the community have expressed this similar issue with their Bluetooth connection on iPhone 4. If a tone at Apple is monitoring this blog please resolve this issue. Nobody is having a good user experience.

LG

Update: my iPhone 4 continues to interface reasonably well with my new BlueAnt V1x. Some muffling still happening but it is at least a 'reasonable' call quality. Range is still no issue, out to normal 10 meter Bluetooth range.

I find two things help overall signal quality: I always do a hot reboot every morning and I use the "Max" noise canceling level on the V1x, even in a quiet office.

This morning I paired the V1x with my new iPad 2, for purposes of Skype calls on the iPad. Not yet had a chance to do skype on the iPad yet so we'll see about that soon.

In all cases about iPhone 4 bluetooth troubles...

1. First TURN OFF WiFi,

2. Then go to Bluetooth preferences, on, and search, pair some device.

3. When using device (headset for ex.) still WiFi must bee turned OFF. If WiFi working, there is some kind of strange interference, bucket effects, crackles and other ****.

Maybe it's stupid, i don't understand that, but it works

Radek, I have WiFI on all the time, and it is frequently in actively connected when I'm on a call. Has no effect on my bluetooth.

LG1906, glad the reboot had some benefits. I've read here that the BT degrades over time, but I've not had that happen. I also have two devices paired and that too doesn't seem to effect things. I'm having a problem with my second device - echo like effect that feeds back my voice but I think that's the device, not the phone.

Bottom line is that while mine seems to be working, there is clearly something not right about the iPhone interface with BT. I've not heard of such problems with other phones (though perhaps searching their support forums would show that). Apple needs to take on the issue. Users shouldn't be left having to the hocus pocus of turning off this feature or that, holding the phone in a certain way, testing phones in microwaves or any of the other things I've read in just this thread alone.

Tom - please ask Your callers during the phone conversation, go and check the quality of your signal, ask the caller "as you hear me?" with your WiFi working and without. I thought that is clear and beauty, because I heard everything clear... Callers not