bluetooth music issues after iOS6 update

This post is for anyone using a Parrot bluetooth system. I use my iPhone over a Parrot mki9100 system. I started getting the same AVRCP remote music control (i.e. play/pause/skip) issues and metadata (song name, artist) issues discussed in this forum once I upgraded to an iPhone 5 (with iOS 6 of course) . For me there is one very tedious yet effective fix for this: go to the settings menu, select bluetooth, select paired devices, select the phone currently paired and then select disconnect. After it's disconnected I reconnect by selecting 'connect' in the same menu. Controls and metadata come back every time I do this. I should note that after I disconnect the iPhone is still playing music and is still doing so at the point when the two systems reconnect. I come back to this point later in this post. Anyway, to me the fact that this works has two important implications. 1) I can't see this being an issue of compatibility between the Parrot and iOS versions of AVRCP if the functionality resumes after disconnect/reconnect and 2) I don't see how this could be an issue with Parrot's firmware if it works after disconnect/reconnect. Something seems to be going on with iOS 6 that prevents the iOS AVRCP from properly initiating. Back to my point about the ongoing music play during disconnect/reconnect, maybe a bug in iOS makes it such that music needs to be playing in order for iOS to properly initiate AVRCP? Whatever the cause, for those of you using Parrot systems and looking for a temporary fix (albeit an annoying one), try the disconnect/reconnect. And to Apple: I'm really looking forward to that fix.

Yeah I read that article the day it came out and, to me, it doesn't admit any fault, it just says there is a problem and Kenwood will work on fixing it for their products if possible.

Specifically:

The company is also developing stereo-Bluetooth updates for its head units to make them compatible with the Bluetooth version used with the iOS 6 operating system, which appears in the iPhone 5 and iPod Touch and is available for download to the iPhone 4 and 4S and previous-generation iPod Touches.

The new OS use Bluetooth 4.0 and AVRCP 1.4 (audio video remote control profile), which by definition should be backward-compatible with the Bluetooth 2.0 and AVRCP 1.3 versions used in Kenwood head units.

However Noetzli speculated that “some level of miscommunication” that is now apparent with the iOS 6’s version of Bluetooth might not have been apparent with the previous Bluetooth versions used by Apple in the past.

That doesn't sound like Kenwood saying they have a problem. It sounds like Kenwood saying the obvious, which is that Bluetooth is an industry standard that includes backward-compatibility, which Apple seems to have gotten messed up with it's move to AVRCP 1.4. My guess, and also what I have seen speculated by other tech sites, is that iOS 6 is failing to fall-back to the AVRCP 1.3 profile when the paired unit doesn't support 1.4. Now whether that is a miscommunication on the side of the unit or the iDevice, I'm not sure of--the specifics of the Bluetooth protocol aren't my specialty.

I'm pretty confident that Apple didn't intentionally take away support for AVRCP 1.3, in part because I don't think you can even comply with the AVRCP 1.4 standard without backward compatibility. More like something is just faulty somewhere.

That said, technically speaking, I believe the fix needs to and will come from Apple, which is good because depending on manufacturers to update existing products to AVRCP 1.4 will leave a lot of people waiting a long time.

For those unwilling to wait, the answer is simple, go back to your iOS 5 device is possible. If you move to Android, you will still be without AVRCP 1.3 (so no metadata), but if you are in the unfortunate camp whose bluetooth device doesn't work at all, then at least that problem will be solved.

I'm going to wait it out and just go with my work around, which is to make sure my phone is fully paired and connected BEFORE I attempt to stream music. This means making sure I take my car's audio source OFF of bluetooth before I turn the car off, so that when I turn it back on when I get in the car the next time, my phone will be able to fully connect before attempting to resume playback. That seems to keep my complete loss of bluetooth audio under control.

I'm in the same boat as many posters on this thread, have a brand now Pioneer head unit in my car (avh-p8400bh installed a few months ago - 2012 model) and I had full control of my bluetooth controlled iPhone 4 with iOS 5 including play/pause, skip track, song and artist info, etc. After upgrading to iOS 6.0 all I can do is stream music but cannot control the music through the headunit or see any of the song info.

I also bought an iPhone 5 and it does not work as well, exact same issue (I'm planning on returning the 5 but mainly for other reasons, extremely poor battery life for example).

I've read through many of the post on this thread and here is my two cents worth. It seems unlikely that the fault would lie with the manufacturers of the devices connecting to the iphone for two reasons. 1) many devices worked exactly as advertised when connecting to an iOS 5 device, the issue is only arising when devices are upgraded to iOS 6. Thus all else being equal, iOS 6 is causing the incompatibility issues as no hardware on either side has changed and only the iphone software has changed. 2) The sheer number of different devices and manufacturers that people are reporting incompatibilities with, from thrid party stereo headunits from numerous manufacturers, to stock car headunits, to bluetooth headphones, it would be highly unlikely that all of these units and manufactures have something wrong with their software or hardware.

To mee apple is the one that broke it in iOS 6 and they need to be the ones to fix it. It worked under iOS 5, no reason it should not work under iOS 6. Here's to hoping Apple comes out with a fix soon.

I've got an appointment at my local Apple store to address this issue and the issues with my iPhone 5. I'll keep you all posted.

crankerchick wrote:

Missing the point. AVRCP is a protocol with requirements, one of which is backward compatibility.

You're missing the point; backwards compatibility is a two-way street and both Apple and the implementor of th head end need to support it.

In particular, Mazda couldn't deal with a version of the protocol any greater than 1.2, and it was their implementation failure that caused the problem, not Apple.

For example, a line of code checking for a version of AVRCP >= 1.2 is future-proof; one that say checks if the version is 1.2 and ignores the data if it is not, is not.

spanks127 wrote:

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.

[ … ]

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.

Apple historically will not correct problems caused by their correct adherence to a standard.

Some wireless routers actually did break with the release of iOS 6, the biggest example being several HP (and Lancom) routers, as can be read here:

At least the iPhone 4S with iOS 6 sends a parameter "Extended Capabilities" in its association request to the AP. This "Extended Capabilities" parameter has a length of 4.

Now, the "IEEE Std 802.11n-2009" states that this parameter should have only 3 as valid length. Contrary to that, the current "IEEE Std 802.11-2012" defines the valid length between 3 and 8.

It seems that our HP/H3C equipment treats "Extended Capabilities" parameter length == 4 as fatal error and rejects the association (instead of just ignoring this parameter).

From the formal point of view, Apple's implementation is correct, and HP should correct its firmware. We've got in touch with HP about this issue and are now awaiting their response.

HP recently released a firmware fix to resolve this; there is at present no reason to believe that Pioneer isn't having to take similar action for similar reasons; note also that IEEE 802.11-2012 was supposed to be completely backwards compatible with IEEE 802.11-2007 and all its amendments (802.11k, r, y, b, w, p, z, v, u and s.)

To use an example I've used in other threads, let's pretend there's a bug where the head end calculates a request to add "2 + 3" as "5" but one to add "3 + 2" as "6."

If iOS 6 starts adding "3 + 2" where previously it had added "2 + 3," it's not Apple's responsibility to go back and make sure they only ever add "2 + 3."

Those who have been around for a while may remember a similar incident when Mac OS X 10.3 "Panther" was released in October, 2003: many, many users of a wide variety of brands of FireWire hard drives were finding their hard drives to have become corrupted once attached to a system running Panther.

It turned out those drive manufacturers all used one common part, the Oxford 922 bridge chipset, which is what turned out to have a particularly nasty firmware bug.

It's quite possible that, for example, some sample code distributed by the Bluetooth SIG could have had an error that, if used verbatim, would result in a problem like this.

Or it actually could be Apple's issue.

Point is, until someone speaks up, we simply don't know - we do not have sufficient data to reach a conclusion as of yet.

That's why it's vital to contact AppleCare if you're having this issue - so both Apple and device makers have the widest range of examples available to track down and completely root cause the issue.

But I can tell you that companies like Pioneer wouldn't spend the time and cost to release a firmware update for an issue that was likely to be fixed in one fell swoop by a future release of iOS.

For anyone with a 2012+ Acura TL, I just got off the phone with Acura again and got some new information. They do have reports of bluetooth issues since the iOS 6 update. They haven't tested the iPhone 5 yet, but they have received reports of issues with it as well.

They will be testing the iPhone 5 with the vehicle in November for compatibility, but they have already received reports of issues with the phone, from simple pairing issues and audio dropouts. For Tech owners, they have had reports of those problems as well as, of course, no metadata for songs.

This particular representative said that traditionally with Apple they do NOT receive the phones prior to release. The plan is to test it throughout November, notate what has issues and drill deeper into what is causing it and report the findings. That is traditionally how things are done.

Lastly, he noted that in the case of non-compliance on Apple's part, the best they can do, of course, is to report that back to Apple. If the issues are on their end, they can and do offer updates for vehicles that can be updated, when applicable. I asked specifically if they have updated things in the past, and if so, how long does it take, and he said yes they have been known to issue updates, but they do take time. In this particular case, due to the popularity of iPhones, issues like not being able to pair at all, have audio on a received call, and basic function issues would most certainly be addressed in some fashion if possible.

I would encourage anyone with issues to make sure you are reporting the problem to both Apple and your car/stereo manufacturer.

I stand by belief that the best hope for the fastest fix is from Apple, at least in my case. Perhaps it's different with aftermarket stereo manufacturers, but who knows.

My opinion, we just have to either sit tight and wait and see or return the phone if it's a dealbreaker.

Message was edited by: crankerchick

I just got off the phone with Pioneer's tech support. They confirmed there were changes made to iOS6's bluetooth functionality that disabled the track control, though playback is still functional. They apologized and are looking into it from there end if there is anyway to get it working, but the ball is really in Apple's court to get this AVRPC working. It looks like they either didn't add avrpc or lost the backwards compatibility if they upgraded it... either way, looks like we are waiting on Apple to fix it.

Apple - please acknowledge and fix this simple problem. Thanks!

I talked to the guys at the Pioneer Booth here at SEMA, and they said its Apples fault. With the 30 Pin to Lightning connector, you'll gain back MetaData, Pandora will work, etc., but video won't work. That's only with the iPhone 5. iphone4/4s will work. They also mentioned that a software update will be released for their decks that will fix the Bluetooth streaming. That will allow all data from songs to show up on your deck.

If you're expecting to have video play off of any apple product with a lightning connector, don't hold your breath. They said its impossible for them to convert the digital signal from the Lightning port out to an analog signal, which is only what the Pioneer decks read. They basically said we're screwed until the release an iPhone 5 compatible deck that's completely digital. Make sense?

Again, this is only for Pioneer peeps. Could go for other brands too. Hope this helps? I know I will be dumping my AVH-P8400BH (that I just bought) very soon!

Clarion owners,

After updating to 6.0.1 and it not correcting my issues with my Clarion NX-602, I decided I would call Clarion and get their point of view.

They mentioned they would be performing an update to their units and are working with Apple. I tried to get some background on it and they mentioned that this happened with the 5.0 update and again with 6.0 update. I tried to get an ETA on when this fix might go out and they wouldn't say but offered to call me.

I had to do some funky things in the Clarion phone-tree to speak with them - I'll update this thread if I actually get a call.

On a related side note, I tried pairing an iPhone 5 - no luck.

Super frustrating experience.

I'd like to go back to 5.0.. Anyone have rock-solid instructions for going back in OS? I'll give you a sweet hug or an internet bro-fist if you do.

-shizzelman

Having the same issue with a Parrot Mki9100 system. This may be out there already in a post somewhere, but just received this message from Parrot:

Our engineering team is currently looking into the issues with A2DP (Audio music streaming) and AVRCP (Audio music controls), at this time we are working on a software update to provide better compatibility but at this time I am not sure when it will be available to download

Thanks For Choosing Parrot

I gave Alpine a call yesterday (I have an Alpine CDE-133BT), and they finally told me an update that should fix the problem is getting preapared for release soon. Of course, they wouldn't give me an exact date, but it's good to know that they are well aware of the issue and working on a fix.

It seems as though different manufacturers are dealing with this issue in different ways. Sounds like Alpine and likely Pioneer will come out with firmware updates for affected products. I thought Parrot had a firmware upgrade in the works, but I'm not sure anymore. Here's the latest from Parrot:

"I have shared the link you send to the Apple forums with several of the managers here at Parrot.

Based on feedback like yours, we no longer list iPhones with iOS 6 as compatible with our MKi products for A2DP and AVRCP. We are currently testing the iOS 6.1 beta, and I have no information as to how that testing is going."

Thanks goes to Parrot support for acknowledging the issue and at least looking for a solution (even if it is just by testing Apple's 6.1 beta).

Hope I am not repeating something that is known already:

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

Pioneer head units seem to need updates ( found here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4327399?start=15&tstart=0 ).

I don't actually care any longer whose fault it is. I just want it too work.

Mazda? Apple? Anyone?

"proof,... exists with the change of IOS6."

That's not proof at all. Technologies have to change. Anytime you are the first one, you will run into these issues. If Apple implemented avrcp 1.4 correctly, it's up to the car stereo software people to correct their code. Android does not support avrcp 1.4 (that I know of), but when they do they may end up with the same issues for the un-patched car systems.

This has been posted several times already, but here it is again if you didn't see it:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4483

I had already tried the repairing and it did not fix it. However, before I tried a factory reset, I simply tried rebooting the iPhone and that seemed to fix it. So re-pair them and then reboot fixed for me.

Thanks for the post crankerchick