bluetooth music issues after iOS6 update

Again, look at my analogy for wireless routers. All of these head units and blue tooth communication devices worked just fine with iOS4, iOS5, iOS5.1, and somehow they all stopped working with iOS6.

Do you really think that the FUTURE PROTOCOLS should not be backwards compatible? Pioneer has successfully been using a version of blue tooth that worked flawlessly with the iphone iOS prior to 6. Why would it be Pioneer's, or any other companys responsiblity to insure that future versions of apple software stick to the working protocols that are on millions of peripherals out there? Pioneer should not be forced to change prior setups due to apple's negligence of not offering a backwards compatible version of blue tooth?

I've been an "apple fanboi" by owning every single phone they ever made. I've never had any issues like this. Apple has yet to release a single statement on blue tooth issues, nor the battery issues.

Pioneer was basically forced to step up to the plate and take partial blame because they do not want to be inundated with returns for everybody who upgraded to iOS6. They have to maintain a working relationship with apple or they would lose the rights to say their devices work with the iphone. Pioneer is in a bad spot, along with all the other companies that were screwed over by Apple failing to test these items.

I'm not sure how many of you followed the beta forums for iOS6, but this was a known problem since day one when it was released to developers. Apple knew this was an issue and did not correct it.

I also notice that pioneer head units that used to support video in will no longer be able to handle it due to apple's switch to the new connector. It is not compatible with video out. Again, apple screws everybody.

But in the end, apple cares about money. They're a business. And I'm sure the return of all my business phones will easily be negated with the sales of lightning connectors in about ten minutes through their website.

Apple has lost a customer in me unless they address or patch this in the next week... I have thirty days through at&t to return my device if I am not happy, and I surely am not happy.

I just called Apple support & opened a case on the Bluetooth issue.

Less than a week after it's official release, Apple's CEO issued an apology for the new MAPS app. Yet a hardware/software compatibility issue that COULD NEVER HAVE PASSED TESTING WITH APPLE OR THE AFFECTED MANUFACTURERS remains unaddressed.

The MAPS app issue was practically front-page news.

On the call, Apple support told me that the issue is in the hands of the device manufacturers, and not Apple. I also asked about rolling back to IOS 5.1.1, but was told that's not "allowed". The tech said not to expect IOS 6.1 for at least a couple of months due to all the other bugs they are working on, and that Apple has received thousands of complaints regarding Bluetooth issues under IOS 6.

I'm not angry. I'm very frustrated. I'm sure many of you following these forums are experiencing the same feelings & problems. Please make your voices heard by contacting Apple support directly to open a case file.

<Edited By Host>

Same with my Kenwood DNX9990HD. I emailed the Kenwood tech team and this is what I received back from them,

"

Please note that we are documenting all issues regarding the iOS6 update and iPhone 5; however, we cannot confirm when or if an update will be released by Kenwood."

With the 6.0.1 update my bluetooth issues have been resolved and yes 4.0 HF profile Apple is using is backward compatible. When I first purchased my I5 I could not control the vol with my Motorola car bluetooth. I also could not use the steering controls when streaming with my Acura. After the update and deleting and repairing my phone, all issues have been resolved. My Motorola Bluetooth has the old HF profile 1. Im a happy camper.

So I updated to iOS6.0.1 a few days ago, but just went to use my Jabra BT620 headphones tonight. Before the update - all was perfect! After... I can only control music and use voice activation. The headset does not appear as an audio device any more for video or audio.

The exact same thing happened after I upgraded to either iOS4 or 5, can't remember. Probably 4. It took some searching, but ultimately a download from Jabra, connection to a WinXP system and firmware update for the headphones fixed it.

Looks like I have to wait again now for the same thing. I didn't see any updates to BT listed in the 6.0.1 update notes, but I'm pretty sure there must have been something. (Using iPhone 4)

Hey chan. I have the Pioneer AVH-2400BT and iPhone 4S. After "upgrading" to IOS 6 I see the following issues:

• No longer begins playing automatically where it left off (worked great with Pandora, Rdio, etc before IOS 6)
• No artist, track, genre information is displayed

I've heard others say that the controls on the display no longer worked. I never really used the controls anyway. I was so happy that it would just start playing when I turned on my car. Now I have to control everything from the phone, including starting one of the music apps.

Good news is the handsfree callling works fine still. Hope that helps a little.

Dr Agonlord wrote:

It worked on IOS 5. Apple released IOS 6 and it stopped working. How is that not their fault? a forced innovation that triggered an issue that did not exist until APPLE updated IOS.

the issue may be in errors in other manufacturers implementation, but for those of us affected, it was apples update/innovation that initiated the failure of our hardware.

I really am not getting into a slanging match again, but Apple broke it, so apple should at the very least acknowledge it. For some people apple can do no wrong in this world, I am not one of those people

Apple's not going to be responsible for another manufacturer's bug, end of story.

Go ahead, trash Apple, sell your iPhone, whatever, but it's not going to change.

The Bluetooth protocols changed between what was delivered in iOS 5 and what was delivered in iOS 6.

The changes are supposed to be backwards-compatible, according to the Bluetooth SIG.

However, if a particular company got their implementation wrong, the new protocol won't be compatible with their device, it's as simple as that.

For example, older Mazda 3s could only support devices running AVRCP 1.3 or less due to a firmware error in their device.

AVRCP 1.4 is backwards compatible, but if a manufacturer has code in their device that looks like:

if (avrcp == 1.1)

do_stack_1.1();

else if (avrcp == 1.2)

do_stack_1.2();

else if (avrcp == 1.3)

do_stack_1.3();

else

error();

there's nothing Apple can do, and the device will "break" due to Apple' support of AVRCP 1.4.

Look, there's no reason to snap at each other on here.

The problem is well documented, and every case helps prove it and push Apple and other manufacturers.

At the same time, there are plenty of cases where there are no problems at all - I mentioned one, with the Kenwood KDC-X696 head unit I purchased. It works perfectly with the iPhone 4, 4S, 5, and iPad 3 with iOS 5 and 6.

I know that a friend's Volkswagon EOS works at least as well with the iPhone 5 as it did with the iPhone 4, but for bluetooth it's limited to phone calls and always has been because of corners cut by Volkswagon.

Some people have found solutions that work, others haven't. Some people insist that their stereo won't work no matter what, while others with the same stereo claim there is no problem (Ford has come to my attention).

It's not simply that Apple "broke" something with iOS 6 - otherwise, the bluetooth connection would never work for anyone unless it was a device released after iOS 6, which is clearly not the case. It shouldn't have happened, but the fact that this bug was uncovered by an Apple update doesn't mean it is strictly Apple's fault.

Nevertheless, it sounds like iOS 6.1 may solve the issue for many.

I would be shocked if any tech support person at Apple, Pioneer, Kenwood, Ford, Inifiniti, Mercedes, or whoever (especially at a local repair shop) actually knew what was happening behind the scenes or admitted it. None of those companies will likely ever admit to being at fault. Many of those 3rd party manufacturers have stated they have updates on the way to fix the problem, and it sound like Apple does as well. Even after the fixes, they'll likely all point fingers at each other. Why admit fault if they don't have to?

That said, someone pointed to a document on here from Apple stating that there is a known incompatibility issue with iOS 6 and bluetooth, but I can't find it right now. So Apple isn't denying it, they just aren't broadcasting it while they work on a solution.

I think a major problem here is that until very recently, car manufacturers and stereo headset manufacturers never had to pay attention to compatibility or updates. This is a new world to them, and there are growing pains. It used to be that you simply replace your equipment every few years (from their standpoint). And they are notorious for not strictly adhering to technical standards.

Apple hosts these forums, but they never (to my knowledge) reply on them. So there will be no response on here, other than from other users trying to help each other.

Keep contacting Apple about it, by all means. But push the third party manufacturers as well, who are most likely at fault.

Ok this is my third attempt to submit this message, apparently apple's own site does not function on their own iPad.

Saphod wrote:

We are only able to provide support for the compatible phones listed on www.mazdahandsfree.com.au. The phone has to have Bluetooth and a "handsfree" profile and to have passed our testing in order to be compatible. A "headset" profile is not compatible with the Mazda HandsFree system. We do not have any other knowledge regarding this phone or have any troubleshooting tips

Ok this part of the reply helped me find a little bit of information. First, Apple changed the profiles to add MAP. Also, apple expected this issue, they stated it here http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3018, it is a year old, but they expected it with iOS 4 and newer.

Here is what the article says.

When using a stereo Bluetooth headset or other stereo Bluetooth device with an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch*, certain features may not work as expected. Examples include:

• Pressing previous and next controls has no effect.
• Pressing play/pause control only pauses or starts playback.
• Pressing other headset controls has no effect.

* Stereo Bluetooth is available only on iOS devices that support the A2DP Bluetooth profile. Refer to iOS: Supported Bluetooth Profiles.

...

After updating your device to the latest version of the iOS, you may notice that certain features on your stereo Bluetooth headset no longer function as expected. Certain Bluetooth headsets do not fully conform to industry-standard Bluetooth protocols, so changes in the iOS (made to ensure compatibility with industry standards) may affect these devices. This is expected behavior and does not indicate an issue with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

Contact the headset manufacturer for more information.

So basically we all are waiting on the manufactures to fix the issues.

crankerchick wrote:

William K has fervently and repeatedly referred to the Mazda example as a previous indicator that a fault can lie with the OEMs of the Bluetooth devices, and there is no denying that example. That said, this particular problem isn't with one single manufacturer, so the example serves no more purpose than to just say, it's possible it isn't Apple's fault, and I will concede that. Some of you all need to concede that point as well. It IS possible that it isn't Apple's problem. Perhaps other OEMs aren't following the standard exactly and Apple is so their stuff broke up in the update.

That said, we would ALL be better off if Apple would do something to remedy the situation, as clearly they have the juice for the configurations to work, since they worked in the past. As was also pointed out, though, that also isn't likely to happen.

Once more, here's the deal:

Those manufacturers are releasing fixes.

They wouldn't be spending money and engineering time if it was an Apple bug, they'd just wait for Apple to fix it.

If they're releasing an update, it's a bug in their code.

Apple can't "remedy the situation" if it's not their bug; they're adhering to a published standard and aren't responsible if other manufacturers didn't or don't.

All it would take is one person out there with a Bluetooth sniffer/protocol analyzer to post what Apple was doing wrong and how it diverged from whichever protocol it was diverging from, and it would be all over Slashdot, Gizmodo and the way things have been lately, the network news (with the person responsible likely getting a fair amount of PR themselves if they so desired.)

None has, and believe me there are many, many people on the net who would happily do so as they're not Apple fans.

Blame Apple if you like, but if it's an incompatibility with say the latest version of AVRCP, when Android phones begin shipping with that version they won't work with those head ends, either.

It's not so much that the stereo vendors implemented AVRCP 1.4 incorrectly; it's supposed to be backwards compatible with AVRCP 1.3.

It's more that if the vendors didn't properly implement 1.3, or worse yet put in checks to see if the version was just 1.3 (as opposed to say 1.3 or greater.)

Note also that AVRCP 1.5 has already been published, so it's a continual and ongoing upgrade process for all involved.

There's nothing obvious in the specs that I've been able to find (believe me, I've looked) that would have "broken" AVRCP 1.3 compatibility, so I suspect in many cases it's more of this kind of firmware coding that's at fault (Mazda apparently did something similar to this in their head ends for the Mazda 3):

if (device_avrcp_version == 1.3)

feature_mode = extended;

else

feature_mode = basic;

The Galaxy S3 doesn't implement AVRCP 1.4.

It implements 1.3 like iOS 5 did. The stereo that you are using does not implement AVRCP 1.4 correctly so it defaults to 1.0, which doesn't have track information or the status of the music source, which makes the stereo controls non-functional.

crankerchick wrote:

For educational purposes, how do you know it is reverting to 1.0? Can you provide a source for that statement? I have read qute a bit on this but haven't seen any real detail on exactly what is going wrong on the stereo side.

I don't have any inside knowledge and I'm basing this on what AVRCP is suppose to do. From Wikipedia:

Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP)

This profile is designed to provide a standard interface to control TVs, Hi-fi equipment, etc. to allow a single remote control (or other device) to control all of the A/V equipment to which a user has access. It may be used in concert with A2DP or VDP.

It has the possibility for vendor-dependent extensions.

AVRCP has several versions with significantly increasing functionality:

• 1.0—Basic remote control commands (play/pause/stop, etc.)
• 1.3—all of 1.0 plus metadata and media-player state support
  • The status of the music source (playing, stopped, etc.)
  • Metadata information on the track itself (artist, track name, etc.).
• 1.4—all of 1.0, 1.3, plus media browsing capabilities for multiple media players
  • Browsing and manipulation of multiple players
  • Browsing of media metadata per media player, including a "Now Playing" list
  • Basic search capabilities

The fact that iOS 6 AVRCP still works on all stereos that I know of, but only provides basic remote control commands for some of them, would suggest that those stereos are only utilizing the 1.0 functionality when 1.4 profile is used.

About Alpine CDE 133 BT and iphone... Here's a reponse from Alpine France :

The transition to ios 6 no longer allows the management of audio streaming function.

We do not update for CDE133BT now and waiting for information from our head office to know if an update will be posted or if Apple provided a new version of ios.

Does someone have others news from head office ?

Because i just bought my Alpine but wish to return it if there is no solution

No new info dude, if you goto the link below it says that my head unit will need a firmware update so I'm trying to track down how to do such a thing. I have the AVH-P4400. I doubt anything will come out, it'll be fixed when Apple updates iOS 6 to the next big update 6.1.x. I'm just tired of having to reach for the phone to change the Pandora station

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Apple+Compatibility