Shuffle Issue Using Bluetooth in a Mazda

There is an issue when connecting apple devices (iPhones, iPod Touches) via Bluetooth to some Mazda vehicles where the native Apple music app won't shuffle music. If you go to your Apple device and open the app, the Shuffle function becomes inoperable. If you tap to turn it on, it turns itself right back off. This does not happen when you are not connected via Bluetooth. This issue is noted plenty of places online. In my case, I have an iPod Touch 5g and a 2013 Mazda CX-9 Sport, but the issue is not limited to that device or that year/make of Mazda. From looking online, I believe it did originally work. However, Apple released a previous big update, iOS 7 perhaps, which is when the issue first started.

There are tips that have been given online, however they all have their own problems which keep them limited to being workarounds instead of solutions. One common suggestion is to use the voice commands to activate shuffle. This works, but only temporarily. Sometimes the device will shuffle regularly for a while. Other times you need to re-activate the shuffle every time you start the vehicle. I don't know why it is inconsistent.

Other tips have suggested using alternate music apps, and I have tried many. Some other apps make the situation a little better, but the shuffle often still resets, although you can at least still toggle the shuffle on more easily from within those apps. Unlike with the native music app, the shuffle function does not seem to be locked/stuck which leads me to believe the issue may be with the Apple app and not the vehicle's radio. Alternate apps have their own weaknesses which make them unappealing to me anyway. The biggest for me personally is that the "skip when shuffling" option for songs in iTunes does not seem to be recognized by any 3rd party apps. I have lots of non-music on my iPod and would love to not have to manually skip past every one of those tracks as I do with a 3rd party app.

The bottom line, for me, is that I want to get the Bluetooth shuffling working properly with Apple's music app when connected to my car via Bluetooth. As a consumer, that certainly seems like it isn't too much to ask. While I am not a programmer, I am not convinced that the issue is with the vehicle. It seems that nobody with Apple or Mazda is interested in fixing the issue which I find unacceptable, (although I know nobody cares what I think). Because the shuffle option on the Apple devices becomes inoperable when connected, I suspect the issue is actually on Apple's end.

Is there any hope that Apple actually cares enough to try examining their own code to do something on their end about this?