bluetooth music issues after iOS6 update

I just successfully updated the software on my AVH-2400BT (North America) using an early-2011 15" Macbook Pro over Bluetooth.

Just make sure you follow the directions EXACTLY or you will error out. It took me 15m with 3 failed attempts (not following directions precisely). Should only take ~5min if you do it right the first time.

The track data is back, and it even adds the Track Number info if you have correct meta-data engrained!

Thanks Pioneer, for helping to restore this feature, as it was 90% of the reason I bought this headunit in the first place.

Now, back to the music.... 🙂

Hey,

I have an iphone 4S with iOS 6.1 installed and now I am able to connect to my pioneer DEH-P8400BH but it no longer automatically starts playing and I am not able to play, pause, or skip tracks using the head unit. With iOS 5.1.1 everything worked perfectly. This has to do with the new bluetooth firmware that apple has implemented with iOS 6. The only way to resolve this is to get your head unit firmware upgraded. Pioneer has released an update for selected units.

Pioneer site: http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/UnAssigned-Content/Firmware+Updates/O ptional+Bluetooth+Firmware+Update+for+Select+2012+Pioneer+CD+and+DVD+Receivers

I have not done this yet since it appears the only way this can be done is through a laptop that has bluetooth. It appears that it should work. Not sure though, worth testing out for sure.

I have very BAD news. I just called Pioneer back and they informed me that apple dropped all support for parrot blue tooth modules, which is what pioneer uses. And because the module is hardware, they can't do anything about it. They suggested I call apple and complain.

I'm ******.

I think my iphone 5 is going to be returned. This is the end for me.

Been doing a lot of reading; (and quickly restoring back to 5.1.1 untill Apple stops signing the firmware, seems to be my best option).

As i understand it ios5 supported AVRCP 1.3 - this provided the metadata information (and also must have linked in with the controls). ios6 supports AVRCP 1.4 - this provides for browsing control.

So the question I have is; Is AVRCP 1.4 supposed to be backwards compatable with 1.3 (personally I'd have suggested it should be otherwise its not just an iteration but a 'new' std and should be 2.0).

If so; then theres a bug to be fixed within the 1.3 implementaion of these units (I have an Alpine CDE-W235BT - which, from the marketing speil is Parrot based) or Apples 1.4 is to be fixed to work within the standard.

If not, then we're SOL and 1.3 stuff will never work with ios6 onwards....

I agree KingOfLimbs12, even if they are not compatable with each other; make the version a selectable option.

Anyway, for what its worth I've just downgraded to 5.1.1. and after the initial horror of still experencing the same issues, I cleared and re-paired the device, then all functionality has returned to normal.

Am glad I didn't go ahead and preorder a iphone 5 (was waiting to see what deal I could maybe get playing one carrier against another) now because this is a dealbreaker for me.

Kenwood knows there is an issue, as do most at this point. (I don't work for Kenwood, but have talked with techs there, and there is a post on here from them too).

I've tested my 4 running 6.0 on a few units and there are issues, and they vary from brand to brand and model to model (tested JVC, Pioneer, Kenwood so far).

The OS has been offical for a few days, give people at chance to test things and see what's up. If you want to get mad at someone the priority levels would be:

1. Bluetooth Association for having so many variences and options within their standard - read it, it's brutal how many optin's and out's their are. As well for not building in better legacy support assurances into their spec.

2. Apple for not providing hardware and software beta's earlier, and with longer test windows

3. Manufactuers for not being more proactive in testing this stuff - but with so many models and phones etc - it's tough to do without full completion of #1 & #2.

BT 4.0 only adds features to the BlueTooth API, it does not remove any; if the connected device doesn't use those new features it should work as it always did. I was using a BT 4.0 device with my iPhone 4s before I updated, and both it and the system in my car, which is BT 3 (2012 Prius) work as they always did.

BT can be finicky with any device; the things to try first are to unpair the device from both the phone's side and the car's side, then reboot the iPhone and pair again. Also, if the car has a "reset" option for the audio system try that, then pair again. On the iPhone it also sometimes helps if you Reset Network Settings (Settings App, General/Reset).

UPDATE: I spoke with an Apple technical advisor this morning and they assured me that Apple would NOT be able to fix the problem. Each manufacturer will have to update their equipment to corect the issue. I was also told that apple released the new Bluetooth format to the manufacturers long before they released IOS6. ( Not sure I believe that of course )

I guess my new Pioneer iPhone integrated stereo is now just another stereo. Back to plugging in a cable for control. THIS *****!!!

One more thing, the technical advisor told me they do not even look at the support communities. That is why I called them and scheduled a call. Believe it or not they called precisely on time. Not that it did any good of course.

kz5fhz wrote:

No Matter how you look at it, if there was a change to support future products or if they are correcting a faulty programming, apple needs to keep the old platform supported or don't allow a new IOS to be installed on legacy equipment.

100% Apples fault.. I'm quite sure that all manufactures didn't flood us with updates to work with IOS6. The only thing that changed is Apple IOS... Out of all of the problems that have popped up, it's only logical...

Sorry, not necessarily.

Apple does not have to break their products to work around a broken infrastructure.

Third party vendors also do not update their products of an issue is someone else's fault.

I suspect, but do not know, that something changes in the latest Bluetooth AVRCP that some third party vendors aren't dealing with well, even though they theoretically support it. If that's the case, it's the vendors' sloppy programming at fault, not Apple's and there's no reason Apple should revert their product to an older revision in that case.

In short, if it's Apple's bug, they'll fix it; if it's other vendors, they won't and shouldn't.

Almost all the reported issues are with Alpine, Kenwood, Logitech, Pioneer, VW and BMW; seems there's likely a common denominator in software development there someplace, especially given the number of devices with which iOS 6 seems to operate smoothly.

(Once again, iOS 6 has been seeded to developers for several months now; are you telling me that none of these companies bothering to have a single engineer with a Developer account load an iOS 6 seed on an iOS device to make sure their products still interoperated makes it Apple's fault?)

But time will tell and shouting about it here won't do anything as this is primarily a user to user forum; only contacting those vendors will.

Bluetooth is an industry standard protocol, and both sides of a standard (providers and consumers) need to work correctly for a protocol to work properly.

It's amazing how customers with, to quote a few here, a "new Alpine" or "new Pioneer" unit are upset at Apple and not Alpine or Kenwood.

(As an aside, I'm not happy with the new Maps either, but this is a different issue, and those laying the issue at Mr. Jobs' deceased feet are clearly not recognizing the multiple times in the past Apple has made a correct change that other products had problems dealing with, and Apple's position has always been to get it right and let the ecosystem fix their broken products.)

I talked with Apple Cust Svc this morning and they ran me through a couple of possible fixes to no avail. They are aware of the problem and are working on a programming fix in a future patch.

I would think that they would know better than to disable EVERY device running IOS 6 for Bluetooth Radio/Pandora.

Here's an update for all Pioneer people. It's the basic not our fault, but their fault. ViceVersa for Apple. Just got off the phone with Pioneer, and they said that were pretty much out of luck. They're working on stuff, but the new Lightning Connector transmits audio Digitally now, instead of analog signals. The decks can't read it. So if you have or spent a bunch of money on a new deck from Pioneer, you're out of luck as far as using the iPhone 5. If you updated to iOS6, they said they are working on an update to have it work with the decks.

As far as bluetooth streaming, same deal. Pioneer claims Apple changed their bluetooth, so it's not compatible. Apple says it's Pioneer who has to update their decks. This would ultimately fix the Artist/Title info showing up on the deck, as well as gain controls again.

Basically, if you got an iPhone 5, and spent a ton of money on a new Pioneer deck like me (AVH-P8400bh) you're screwed. I hope i'm wrong though...

I too am seeing problems with Bluetooth AVRCP controls on my Pioneer AVH-P2400BT. I am able to stream to the stereo, but not control (play/pause/forward/back) nor see album information on the stereo. I first started noticing this problem with my new iPhone 5 on iOS 6. I have not tested whether or not my old iPhone 4 is affected, but based on other people's posts, I am pretty sure it is affected as well.

What is interesting is that my Pioneer DEH-P7100BT (a few years old and in another car) still has all the same functionality it did with my iPhone 4 on iOS 5. Based on the functionality of that stereo and the description of AVRCP on Wikipedia I believe that stereo implemented v1.0 of AVRCP (i.e. no track information but just basic control).

On the otherhand the AVH-P2400BT stereo had all the functionality mentioned for v1.3 of AVRCP.

And the change that happened in iOS 6 was that they implemented v1.4 of AVRCP (this is based off what I have read in forums. I cannot find any official source saying that iOS 6 implements AVRCP v1.4).

Although I am not very familiar with the implementation details of AVRCP it looks like one of the following is the root cause:

1 - The newer pioneer radios (AVH-P2400BT and the like) are attempting to connect via v1.4 even though 1.4 wasn't fully implemented/tested on them, and thus the control functionality is not working.

2 - iOS 6 has some type of backwards compatibility issue with AVRCP v1.3 (since that issue is clearly not existent with v1.0 on my older Pioneer stereo).

Can anybody else confirm that they are able to connect to an AVRCP v1.0 device with an iOS device running iOS 6?

Hopefully if we gather enough troubleshooting information for Apple (who is hopefully reading this LARGE thread), they will be able to determine if it is an issue on their end and fix it if it is.

On the otherhand it if the issue is with Pioneer/other stereo manufacturers something tells me it will take longer for a fix (although I could be wrong about that too...)

Well I just got my iPhone to connect to my car's head unit via Bluetooth, with steering wheel controls, touchscreen controls and metadata display. All I did was closed all background apps, then turned my phone completely off and back on. It auto connects again with full functionality with my car everytime I have tested it. Seems like such an easy answer, but it definitely worked for me. Hopefully this works for others with head unit problems.

Sounds like the same problem ... I have a Pioneer AVH-P3400BH, an iPhone 4S and an iPad 2. Prioir to IOS 6 (5.1.1 to be exact), the bluetooth audio controls and the ID3 tag information on the car stereo worked fine on both the iPhone and iPad. I also have an aftermarket module hooked up the factory steering wheel controls which also worked prior to IOS 6 (now only the volume works). When I tether the iPhone/iPod with the stereo's iPod cable (in iPod or App Mode), all works fine...it's only the Bluetooth audio streaming that's an issue. Phone calls over Bluetooth seem un-affected by all of this. I've worked with Apple support and have tried resetting the Network Settings along with performing a Reset All Settings (with another iPhone 4S, after it was also upgraded from 5.1.1 to 6). I've also reached out to Pioneer as well, but they are still looking into it. So far no solutions and nobody has acknowledged repsonsibility. Next step is to try my wife's Razr Maxx. Not sure that will prove anything to either Apple or Pioneer anyway, even though it's obvious to me that this is an Apple issue. I hate being stuck in the middle like this!!!!

Well, unfortunately I am in the same boat... I have a Clarion NX602 Nav. Unit which I was paired to under 5.1.1 streaming audio and life was good. After the IOS 6 upgrade I lost it, my wife has not upgraded her iphone and it

works perfectly still. I performed all the latest firmware updates to my NAV unit which is now running faster than ever but the IOS 6 device is just having issue's all the way around. When you spend that much money to build your system this gets frustrating very quickly. I hope to see a resolution soon, the whole point of new releases is better service and more features not the lack there of.... the thing that burns me the most is Apple will not let you go back to the previous version that worked !