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Level 1

15 points

iPhone 7 Google maps delay on bluetooth

I use my iPhone 7 with Google Maps in both cars, connecting via bluetooth and set up as a bluetooth phone call. It has worked fine like this for years.

Recently both cars started missing the first second or so of the voice directions. e.g instead of saying "In 300 yards turn left" she says "...yards turn left". It's very frustrating.

I recently changed ISP and now have wifi calling turned on on the phone but I don't think it's that. I've tried turning it off and it makes no difference.

It still works fine if I have music playing via bluetooth in the cars so it seems to be a delay starting bluetooth or waiting until the link is established before starting the message.

Any ideas?

iPhone 7, iOS 14

Posted on Oct 21, 2020 1:30 AM

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295 replies

amayson Author

Level 1

15 points

Dec 6, 2020 1:10 AM in response to Colin - apple

Hi Colin,

I doubt it is car related. We have two cars in the family and it worked fine in both for a long time (Subaru Forester 6 years and Hyundai i10 6 months). It started in both cars at the same time so it looks unrelated to the make of car.

Dec 7, 2020 12:27 AM in response to amayson

I have the same problem since upgrade to iOS 14. Before the upgrade google maps BT directions worked absolutely fine. Now unless I have music streamed via BT, voice directions miss first few words. I have started to make many direction mistakes owning to this. Now I am using directions on phone speaker rather than over BT. The problem is quite annoying. I checked my car with another apple device (not upgraded to iOS 14) and it works absolutely fine. So the problem is definitely with the upgrade.

amayson Author

Level 1

15 points

Dec 7, 2020 12:49 AM in response to smartgoose

Hi Smartgoose,

Please see my posting from 3rd December above. It would be great if you can test with Apple Maps (I'm sure you'll get the same problem as Google maps) and then find an hour to raise it with Apple Support to reinforce to them that there are lots of people with the problem. They will make you run all sorts of tests on your phone which will show nothing wrong but eventually escalate you to technical support. They will escalate it to 'engineering' who are the ones who actually sort out problems and need to know it's a widespread problem to make sure they fix iOS 14.

You may be able to bypass some of the lower levels by asking to be put through to 'Technical Support' directly. Good luck.

Dec 13, 2020 9:39 AM in response to smartgoose

I tried going through my blue tooth earbuds thinking if I bypassed the car audio it would work. It didn't help! Same issue! It is dangerous because I live in a new area and NEED the voice guidance: especially in busy traffic.

amayson Author

Level 1

15 points

Dec 13, 2020 11:31 AM in response to CairnMom1985

Do the Bluetooth ear buds still use hands free calling (HFC)? I think that’s the problem as it takes time to set up the call.

If I use mine without Bluetooth ie through the phone speakers, then there is no problem. Also if I already have Bluetooth connected for music then there is no problem either.

Sasforge

Level 1

4 points

Dec 18, 2020 3:58 PM in response to amayson

I've been having this issues for about a year -- started after an update on iPhone 7 plus and continues with the new iPhone 12 just purchased. Issue on Apple Maps, Google Maps and Waze. It used to be great -- not very dangerous

Dec 18, 2020 4:13 PM in response to Colin - apple

I too doubt that this is a car issue. I have the same car (Mercedes 2015) on which my both iPhones - 7 and XS - worked perfectly fine. I updated 7 first to encounter this issue while XS worked fine. Then I updated XS with new iOS and bam - now even that has the same problem. So I believe it is iOS issue rather than a car issue.

amayson Author

Level 1

15 points

Dec 19, 2020 1:42 AM in response to Sasforge

I updated the phone to iOS14.3 two days ago and it still has the same problem!! Very disappointed, Apple Support told me they thouoght it would be fixed in the next update. I'm going back to them... again!

amayson Author

Level 1

15 points

Dec 19, 2020 1:45 AM in response to amayson

Please can everyone who has this problem raise it with Apple Support. I have raised it through Apple Support to 'Engineering' but it's not been fixed in iOS 14.3. The more people who raise it the more seriously they will take it.

Dec 19, 2020 9:10 AM in response to amayson

I am so happy to find this discussion. I was beginning to think it was me. I also noticed the same issues when using a running app with wired earbuds, not Bluetooth. When I got mileage or pace info, the voice kept cutting in and out. So, it’s not just happening with Maps app with Bluetooth. I have been on the phone with Apple Care at least 5 or 6 times and they have tried all the “fixes” listed here. (They even exchanged my phone for a new one at the Apple store. And I was sent to the Geek Squad at Best Buy twice). None of them seem to have any knowledge of this being a widespread problem. What a colossal waste of time for tech support and us customers. I plan to write an email and/or snail mail to complain. As one person here mentioned, it’s not just an annoyance, it’s dangerous. My phone is 14.3 also. 🤬

Dec 19, 2020 9:54 AM in response to Ptgirl100

Apple is surely aware of this issue by now, thanks in part to the efforts of people in this thread. Further complaints to Apple are unlikely to have any effect. But they will notice when their inattention to these kinds of issues causes consumers to replace their iPhones with Android devices.

Dec 19, 2020 4:26 PM in response to Expertperson

I contacted Apple support shortly before 14.3 was released. They confirmed to me that this is a known bug and that they are working on it. Unfortunately, the support tech wasn’t able to confirm when the bug would be fixed. Clearly it wasn’t fixed in 14.3. Hopefully in the next update...

amayson Author

Level 1

15 points

Dec 20, 2020 11:36 AM in response to FrustratedwithBT

I was driving with my daughter in the same car in which I have a problem with my iPhone 7 on iOS 14.3. She has an iPhone 6 on iOS 12.4 and has no problem with voice commands in Apple Maps or Google Maps.

It reinforces what this thread believes, that this is an iOS 14 problem.

DSYinNC

Level 1

22 points

Jan 8, 2021 1:26 PM in response to az786

I have this problem as well. I have made all sorts of attempts to fix it without success. The lack of support from Apple on this is frustrating and dangerous. My husband suggests that it is an attempt to discourage using google maps on an apple device and thus no attention from Apple. Interesting theory.

amayson Author

Level 1

15 points

Jan 27, 2021 1:18 AM in response to Bob.at.SBS

That's bad news... I thought they would fix by now. I feel a few more hours on the phone toApple Support coming on!

One very small plus of the current lockdown in the UK is that I'm not going anywhere so I'm not using Apple Maps.

iPhone 7 Google maps delay on bluetooth