UPDATE 3/30/2015: After today’s preliminary testing with the vehicles above, this is what I found:
OUTGOING CALLS: In iOS 8.1.3, after much research and testing I have determined that the iPhone’s Bluetooth drops connection with the vehicle periodically, then immediately reconnects again, resulting in several seconds of audio silence on both ends of the call (same behavior as if you’re going through a cellular “dead zone”… but you’re not). With iOS 8.2, Bluetooth still exhibits the same issue, but now with an increased frequency. (NOTE: Unpairing & repairing Bluetooth connections as well as Resetting All Network Settings did NOT solve this problem… as other Internet posters, forums, and articles can tell you.)
INCOMING CALLS: In iOS 8.1.3, incoming calls suffered the same issues as outgoing calls (see above), but didn’t exibit any other Bluetooth problems with my vehicles. With iOS 8.2, Bluetooth issues for incoming calls are now significantly WORSE! Approximately 75% of all incoming calls will ring twice, then drop (i.e. “Call Failed”). 90% of the time, the incoming call ring won’t transfer to Bluetooth audio (instead only ringing on your handset). (NOTE: Unpairing & repairing Bluetooth connections as well as Resetting All Network Settings did NOT solve this problem… as other Internet posters, forums, and articles can tell you.)
STREAMING AUDIO/MUSIC: In iOS 8.1.3, Bluetooth audio/music streamed fine from my iPhone to my vehicle, even with 3+ Bluetooth devices connected simultaneously. My vehicle’s Bluetooth does not support Bluetooth audio, so I have installed a Kinvo BTC450 Hands-Free Car Kit (aptX) to play streaming audio through my vehicle’s speakers. The only issue I had was that the iPhone does NOT allow manual selection of assigning specific Bluetooth devices specific functions unlike Android 4.0.4 and above (for example, with Android I could assign incoming/outgoing call functions & audio to my car Bluetooth, and streaming media audio to my Kinvo BTC450… with iPhone iOS 8.2 and prior you cannot do that so the phone Bluetooth fights to assign incoming/outgoing call functions & audio to one of the two devices… usually the one that boots up the fastest). With iOS 8.2, not only is this problem still here, but now if you have 3 or more Bluetooth devices connected (not only paired) simultaneously, then it is as if the iPhone has to buffer streaming audio every few seconds, which will pause or stutter the audio feed to the Kinvo BTC450 (or whatever Bluetooth device you use). This happens with ALL streaming audio feeds, whether it’s Pandora, iTunes Radio, Rhapsody (although it occurs less frequently with some apps than others). After unpairing and re-pairing my iPhone to the device, suddenly ALL AUDIO DID NOT WORK! After doing this several times, I resumed driving in silence… then after about 15 minutes all of a sudden the streaming audio (Pandora which I didn’t pause) started streaming through my car speakers again (although the stuttering/pausing audio issue was still present). Resetting All Network Settings did not have an effect on this problem either. (NOTE: Unpairing & repairing Bluetooth connections as well as Resetting All Network Settings did NOT solve this problem. This problem is only solved by connecting only 1-2 devices simultaneously and preventing any more devices from connecting as other Internet posters, forums, and articles can tell you.)
MY RECOMMENDATION: If you use multiple bluetooth devices simultaneously with your iPhone/iPad (especially 3 or more)… then AVOID iOS 8.2 AT ALL COSTS! If you already upgraded (as I have), then from what I understand it’s too late to downgrade to iOS 8.1.3 since Apple doesn’t “sign” that firmware anymore… so your choices are either to live with iOS 8.2 or jailbreak... or switch to another phone manufacturer. If you don’t use Bluetooth or connect to multiple devices simultaneously (i.e. smartwatch, car Bluetooth, 3rd party car kit, radar detector, portable speaker, headphones, portable keyboard, etc) then iOS 8.2 may work OK for you. Hopefully iOS 8.3 will solve these Bluetooth issues… but based on Apple’s track record I wouldn’t hold my breath.
