Bluetooth audio problem and 2011 Mazda 3

Question

Level 1

20 points

Bluetooth audio problem and 2011 Mazda 3

There is a great deal of conflicting information in regards to bluetooth audio compatibility and various cars (2011 Mazda 3 in my case) and the iphone 4... So I'm trying to get a straight answer!

Anyway my car (according to Mazda) supports AVRCP 1.3, however when pairing to my Verizon iPhone (4.2.6), the car reports BT Audio (which denotes that the device has less than AVRCP 1.3 support).

So question 1... Does the iphone support AVRCP 1.3 in its entirety or is it some limited incarnation of it or simply just A2DP?

Question 2... The options that I have with BT Audio allow me to skip the track, but won't allow me to pause/stop (I hit the pause/stop and the audio stops for split second and then restarts) So what's the story here?

Question 3... What am I supposed to expect from the iphone 4 in terms of bluetooth support? i.e.
Plays blue tooth audio? (Yes it does that quite well in my car)
Allows Skip, Pause functions from car controls? (It skips track, but NOT Pause)
Shows current playing track? (Ok I'd assume that the most advanced smart phone on the planet would support this simple function, but I don't believe it does and if it doesn't...why not?)

Answers anyone?

iOS 4

Posted on Feb 14, 2011 7:22 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 19, 2017 9:23 AM in response to Blarnson

I've had a problem with the Bluetooth connection between my 2010 Mazda CX-9 and my iPhone7 and IPhoneSE. The dealership did their research and was told that Apple and Mazda vehicles do not play together well. The issues I've had have been (1) pairing the phones with the Mazda. It paired originally but now does not recognize it and all I get when I try to pair is "Error-Pairing Prohibited." (2) when it was paired, the music would play extremely fast on a random basis. (3) when both phones were paired, it would not switch between the two phones. If it did make the link with the second phone, the music on the phone would show that it is playing but no sound comes out of speakers. (4) I had to get the dealer to reset the stereo to its original factory in order to delete the phones from the stereo list, but since then we have not been able to pair either phone to the stereo so no Bluetooth phone or Bluetooth music.

The only help I got from Apple was to "Forget this device" from the phone, delete the phone from the stereo, restart my phone, and try to pair again. The SE phone no longer pairs with the stereo. The 7 paired with the stereo but cannot work any of the controls or hear any music. It basically does not work although it shows that it is paired.

The dealership told me that Mazda Customer Care told them that after the iPhone 4, the 2010 Mazda was unable to link properly with the newer iPhones, and that there are no upgrades on the stereo firmware or software to allow for a proper link between the two. His only suggestion was to buy an after-market stereo, or get an external Bluetooth speaker so I could have handsfree phone. Kind of a bummer that neither Apple nor Mazda has a solution.

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Answer 2

sn4p2k

Level 4

1,228 points

Feb 14, 2011 9:52 AM in response to brassman1234

if I can be honest with you the iPhone 4 has been terrible with bluetooth since the launch its very buggy doesn't work with a bunch of stuff basically the only way to fix your problem is to wait for a update from either apple or the car manufacturer and hope it fixes the problem

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Answer 3

Ziatron

Level 5

4,186 points

Feb 14, 2011 11:11 AM in response to brassman1234

It seems like every other time there is a new version of the iPhone firmware or an update in the firmware to my car radio the Bluetooth interface stops working.

I have since changed to a hardwired dock connector in all my cars. I find it sounds MUCH better than Bluetooth and better than the Audio Jack in the car.

These ALWAYS work.   Just about any car audio shop can install these at a low cost.  

They are unaffected by firmware updates, and they charge my iPhone and iPod at the same time. So when I get out of my car I have a fully charged iPhone.  

Go hardwired, it will ALWAYS work.  

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Answer 4

whatheck

Level 5

4,131 points

Feb 14, 2011 12:13 PM in response to brassman1234

brassman1234 wrote:
So question 1... Does the iphone support AVRCP 1.3 in its entirety or is it some limited incarnation of it or simply just A2DP?

Yes, the iPhone does support AVRCP. The Supported Bluetooth profiles article says that it supports "pause, play, stop, next track and previous track for AVRCP."

When you look at Wikipedia, the AVRCP profile goes up to 1.4. It looks like the iPhone supports the 1.0 profile.

Question 2... The options that I have with BT Audio allow me to skip the track, but won't allow me to pause/stop (I hit the pause/stop and the audio stops for split second and then restarts) So what's the story here?

Thats all that AVRCP 1.0 supports.

Question 3... What am I supposed to expect from the iphone 4 in terms of bluetooth support? i.e.
Plays blue tooth audio? (Yes it does that quite well in my car)
Allows Skip, Pause functions from car controls? (It skips track, but NOT Pause)
Shows current playing track? (Ok I'd assume that the most advanced smart phone on the planet would support this simple function, but I don't believe it does and if it doesn't...why not?)

The first article that I linked provides details about what bluetooth profiles are supported by the iPhone and what you can expect it to do.

To get the most functionality, you'll want to keep your car stereo and your iPhone updated. Previous iOS updates have included support for more bluetooth profiles.

WTH.

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Answer 5

brassman1234 Author

Level 1

20 points

Feb 14, 2011 3:19 PM in response to whatheck

Thanks for the info. You know the answers were practically right in front of me, I just didn't dig deep enough. Anyway all the functions of AVRCP 1.0 are supported with the iphone 4 and my car (previous, skip, repeat and even stop/pause). The only issue is the stop/pause doesn't seem to work reliably. I have to slowly click the button on the car twice and half the time it will work! (Note that it's not the physical button itself as it works perfectly with a CD). So this issue is either a car BT glitch or iphone glitch, but either way it's not a game changer! The audio sounds fantastic over blue tooth and once I get a dash mount installed, I'll be able to have the controls right in front of me anyway. Song info would be a bonus, but again if I have the iphone mounted right in front of me, I'll be able to see all of that anyway!

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Answer 6

brassman1234 Author

Level 1

20 points

Feb 14, 2011 3:24 PM in response to Ziatron

Thanks. And I agree, a hardwired connection is undoubtedly the best solution. I'm just not that crazy about having my dash dismantled to install it. Half the time when you do that, you introduce rattles into your dash that would probably drive me crazy! Who knows, maybe after the car's a couple years old, I'll take the plunge!

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Answer 7

brassman1234 Author

Level 1

20 points

Feb 14, 2011 3:29 PM in response to sn4p2k

Well I think there's a better chance of Apple updating their bluetooth support then Mazda updating theirs without buying a whole new car!

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Answer 8

Ziatron

Level 5

4,186 points

Feb 14, 2011 6:27 PM in response to brassman1234

I'm just not that crazy about having my dash dismantled to install it.

There is less dismantling than you think. The car radios are designed to come out. Car audio shops are very familiar with most cars.

I had this done to three vehicles, no rattling at all. The sound is superb, and when I get out of my car my iPhone is at 100%.

I tried the Bluetooth route. The car would get its firmware updated, it stopped working. iPhone gets its firmware updated, it stops working. It was a CONSTANT battle.

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Answer 9

KyleKr

Level 1

0 points

Feb 15, 2011 9:21 AM in response to brassman1234

{quote:title=brassman1234 wrote:}Shows current playing track? (Ok I'd assume that the most advanced smart phone on the planet would support this simple function, but I don't believe it does and if it doesn't...why not?){quote}

Just wanted to comment on this...

FWIW, I have a 2010 Ford with SYNC in it, and it also does not display current track information over Bluetooth. I've tried this with a Moto Droid, and now, the iPhone 4. Other functions of SYNC, like voice commands (ex: "Play artist xxxx"), also do not work over Bluetooth. Seems like a restriction of the audio systems in these vehicles rather than a phone restriction.

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Answer 10

brassman1234 Author

Level 1

20 points

Feb 15, 2011 3:40 PM in response to Ziatron

Ziatron wrote:

I'm just not that crazy about having my dash dismantled to install it.

There is less dismantling than you think. The car radios are designed to come out. Car audio shops are very familiar with most cars.

I had this done to three vehicles, no rattling at all. The sound is superb, and when I get out of my car my iPhone is at 100%.

I tried the Bluetooth route. The car would get its firmware updated, it stopped working. iPhone gets its firmware updated, it stops working. It was a CONSTANT battle.

Well I did look into hardware integration and there is no available 'media bridge' or integration kiet of which will allow direct integration for an iphone for the 2010 or 2011 Mazda 3 (although there is for prior year Mazdas). You can always get FM or aux in integration but I'll stick with bluetooth for now as that at least gives me some control via my steering wheel. Ironically Mazda does have Ipod integration, but this does not work for the iphone. So I'll have to wait until the 3rd party guys catch up with this and provide integration modules (I know DICE indicated sometime later this year).

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Answer 11

TonyBony

Level 1

0 points

Feb 20, 2011 8:59 PM in response to KyleKr

Definitely the phone. I paired my VAIO laptop to my car (2011 Mazda3),and track info was displayed when I played tunes throught Windows Media player. When I used iTunes, nothing came up, and of course with my iPhone4, no info is displayed.

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Answer 12

SpikeFL

Level 1

0 points

Mar 17, 2011 8:26 PM in response to brassman1234

Darn thats bad news for me to see. I was thinking about trading for a new Mazda 3 and hoping that everything was going to work with the radio. Do you have a nav system or not?

Also, I have an 09 Mazda 6 and all of the functions including next track, previous track, pause, etc all work with my iPhone 4. Just the radio isn't smart in enough to show text, if it was even able to.

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Answer 13

brassman1234 Author

Level 1

20 points

Mar 18, 2011 3:43 AM in response to SpikeFL

I don't have integrated nav with my car. However after considerable research, I've determined that the iPhone has limited bluetooth audio support. In short the bluetooth profile is AVRCP 1.0 for the iphone whereas the car supports AVRCP 1.3. What that gives you is skip, repeat, play and pause (although pause works somewhat intermittently... I often just hit the power button for the car stereo to pause playback, as this always works and the music track will pick up exactly where it left off once you power up). You can't get text from the iphone to show current playing track and whatnot because the profile isn't supported in the iPhone. Music quality however is excellent. Voice also works perfectly via bluetooth. You can't transfer contacts to the car, because Apple doesn't have this bluetooth profile available.

I have seen some cars having the ability to merge their nav platforms with the iPhone, but being I don't have the nav with my car, I can't say whether this works or not via bluetooth, but I doubt it. Note that some cars have USB ports of which may allow this level of integration, but the Mazda 3 does not. The dealer available 'iPod' integration kit is just that... It works for the iPod only. I looked for 3rd party modules that might provide additional integration options for this car, but the last time I surfed for this, the companies that make these sort of things hadn't caught up with providing this level of support yet for the newer Mazda 3's (2010, 2011). Heck, Mazda themselves may have this level of integration available as an option... eventually.

Here's the link to the bluetooth profiles supported by the iPhone.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3647

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Answer 14

Jun 14, 2011 3:32 PM in response to brassman1234

i have a 2011 mazda 3 and iphone 4 and i figured out if you tap the play button twice quickly it will pause almost every time then tap once to play again.

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Answer 15

Jul 27, 2011 7:22 PM in response to jstumpalump;150

Has anyone gotten the track/artist info to show in a Mazda?

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