Harley Davidson Boom! Box Infotainment Auto-Reply

Update Sat. 6/27/15. I contacted Apple Technical Support and opened a case with a Senior Technical Advisor. I shared the URL for this Thread and sent copies of pages 103 through 106 of the Boom! Box 2015 H-D Owner's Manual. Interesting that his father works for a H-D dealership. We tried multiple things to see if there would be a simple fix to the non-functioning Auto Text Reply issue. Auto Reply would not work regardless if the M/C was moving or standing still. In both cases text messages were received by the bike but of course the Boom! Box would NOT display messages when moving and instead read the text messages via the speakers (which is great). But NO AUTO REPLY! By the way, the Boom! Box must use the GPS to determine if moving because text message words were displayed while at a stop with engine running and in gear. We then tried sending/receiving text messages with iMessage turned off both while moving and standing still. Those text messages were sent as SMS only. We believe iMessage is not the problem since there was NO Auto Reply with or without iMessage. After about an hour of trying multiple work around solutions we believe it must be a compatibility issue between H-D Boom! Box software and iOS 8.3. The Sr. Technical Advisor has escalated the case within Apple. We hope to have a response mid week, next week. In the mean time I am going to double check that there has not been a H-D Boom! Box software update. Just verified my bike is at Boom! Box s/w level 1.18.3 and just talked to my local dealer and found out there is a new release. I'm off to Gator HD (yes, in Florida) to get the update and will let you all know if it fixed the problem. More later...

I did know that I could download Boom! Box s/w myself but it is always good to have an excuse to go on a ride and spend another H-D (stands for Hundred-Dollars). Just kidding H-D, we wouldn't spend it unless we wanted to! I did upgrade to 1.19.0. While at the dealership, the Service Manager came out and worked together with the technician on my Boom! Box issues. They tried texting to my iPhone 6 w/ iOS 8.3(12F70) both while the bike was standing still and while moving. Auto Text Reply still did not work. The Service Manager documented this and multiple commands that came back saying "This Feature Does Not Work With This Media Device" and took my contact information. He will be attending the National Harley-Davidson dealer meeting in a couple weeks and said he'd spend a lot of time with the right people while there. I forwarded this additional information to the Sr. Technical Advisor from Apple that is trying to help. FYI...until Harley / Apple fix the Auto Text Reply issue (and others) I am taking advantage of a non H-D work around utilizing my existing Apple Watch. My Apple Watch taps me on my wrist when a text message comes in. I raise my wrist and it displays the text message. At the bottom of the text message I can reply by choosing multiple pre-entered replies. I simply select the reply I want and press send on the watch. The pre-entered message I have pre-loaded is as follows: "This is an automated text reply: I am on my motorcycle right now. I received your text message via my Hands Free audio/texting system. Feel free to call me or I will text you back at my next stop". So far my Hands Free phone calls have worked incredibly well with the other party hearing me very clear with virtually no wind noise. Of course to enable the Hands Free phone calls I had to get the headset/microphone kit. Another "H-D"... In case you are interested, the Apple Watch starts at $349.

Just returned from Sturgis, glad I went two+ weeks early, great time but way too many people this last week! My first stop was to the Sturgis Convention Center where H-D was set up. Fortunately H-D customer service was there with a representative from the company that manufactures the Boom Box (Harman Kardon). I politely expressed my displeasure with the compatibility of the Boom Box with the iPhone 6 and latest iOS software especially after I invested in both the Street Glide Special & the communication kit accessory just to get the Voice Response (VR) Boom Box features.. I was especially disappointed that the Auto Text Reply and Voice Response (VR) did not work with the "Media" (music option). The H-K rep assured me that all EXCEPT Auto Text Reply should work with the iPhone 6 & iOS 8.4. We went out to my bike for me to demonstrate the Boom Box "Media" issues. He took two pages of notes & committed to follow up with H-K engineers. I returned the next day to find out that neither one of us were aware that the "Media" voice response only works when the iPhone is plugged into the usb port. Evidently in Blue Tooth mode the Boom Box can't see the entire play list so Voice Response (VR) commands can only work when the iPhone is plugged in. Second, when using VR, you must say the commands in a certain way. For example, if you want to play a certain song from a certain artist the visual prompt shows the words Play, Artist, Song. If you say Play, Taylor Swift, Shake It Off all as one string of words the Boom Box responds with something like "This Media Device Not supported". If you say Play and pause long enough for the Boom Box to come back and ask you "What Artist?" you then can respond with Taylor Swift, then pause again and Boom Box will ask "Which Song". I'm doing this for memory so the exact words may be slightly different but be sure to pause and let the Boom Box prompt you for the next required command. Once connected to the USB, the "Media" worked great including changing songs, etc... When connected to usb the screen also displayed the album covers while playing songs. Regarding the Auto Text Reply that does not work, the H-K rep said this was an Apple problem, that Apple does not allow any other system to interact with text messages through Apple. It made no difference if it was iMessage or SMS. I find this hard to believe since Apple obviously allows H-K & Boom Box to relay the text message from the iPhone to the Boom Box to display the message (if standing still) or to read it to the rider (if moving) because that works! Also, the iPhone allows the Apple Watch to respond to text messages so I believe the capability exists but we have a case of H-K & H-D both pointing their fingers at each other. I went back the third day to press this point harder but traffic was backed up for miles to get to the Sturgis convention center & I finally gave up and went to the hills to ride. I'll continue to work with Apple to determine if Apple really does block the Auto Text Reply. At this point I think all is working with VR and Boom Box on my 2015 Street Glide Special EXCEPT Auto Text Reply. Apple or H-K need to fix this, AND Apple should to add Auto Text Reply as a standard feature of texting anyway! I hope this update helps a little... more work to do!!! By the way, I am still waiting for the official response from the ticket I opened with H-D Customer Service on July 6th. Rusty from H-D Customer Service assured me they would be getting back to me after the Rally...

Auto text works or did for me anyways with android(Note4) I have since changed to ios and it seems yes Harley did not do right by our operating system. The auto text was a nice feature, Mine would auto text "I'm out on the bike right now, I'll call you back later" which was a reply I input on the bike.(15 RGS). Seems they didn't test or make accesible Iphones ios 8 at all for the phone text feature. And I'm sure by the time they do, ios 9 will be here and we'll be back to this thread all over again.

I have 2017 Road Glide Ultra. I had the same problem till (1) I updated my Infotainment system to the latest firmware (2) I followed all of the instructions to a T including the final instruction to turn off the motorcycle for 30 while the changes that you made were updated in the software. Works as advertised.... IPhone 7 Plus iOS.10.3.3

Have you gone into the iphone SETTINGS -> BLUETOOTH and selected HD RADIO, then tapped on the ℹ INFO icon and turned NOTIFICATIONS ON? If you don't do this it will not work.

Contact your dealer for compatibility information and requirements.

From what's here: http://www.harley-davidson.com/content/h-d/en_US/home/owners/infotainment/compat ability.html

It looks like iOS 8 has not been tested or certified as compatible at all, much less with that feature. Not surprising, really. That's a common complaint in the auto industry. It should not be a setting or permissions issue on the phone, it's a software issue on the head unit. See if there is an update available for the Boom Box.

Hi Jonfinpa,

Sotry to hear you're having issues with your new Road Glide too. I was able to get my SMS to work sporadically but not since I did the software update to Boom Box version 1.19.0. That did fix a couple of issues I was having but also introduced a few new ones which intermittently affect the ability to use the GPS, use any hand controls or buttons. Previous to the update, I had been able to get it to read incoming SMS messages a few times but never auto-reply. I would be really uneasy about letting them replace the stereo because IMHO this is a software issue, not a hardware defect. From what I've seen of the last 3 software updates, they don't do much testing before they get released. I foolishly did 1.19.0 right before a long trip and had my GPS crap out right after I gassed up a few hours later. Turning my bike on and off several times didn't fix it either. When I got back on my bike after supper, it was back to working ok, but I've had a few other hiccups since then. Luckily I had Apple Maps and a cell phone holder as a backup. Don't let H-D try to tell you its an iPhone or iOS software version problem because it's not. The people testing the Boom Box software probably aren't being given adequate time to fully test it or they just have crappy programmers, not sure which. Unfortunately from what I've read, H-D really hasn't trained the dealers at all on servicing the Boom Box hardware or software so they can't confidently resolve the issue either. Not sure what else I can tell you other than be patient and hope the next software update H-D puts out fixes your issues. Best of luck!

So I just found this and it listed a bug fix of "- Auto-reply nonfunctional after enabling in menu"

I upgraded my version from 1.19.1 to 1.19.2 but I haven't been able to test yet.

Here's the link....

http://www.harley-davidson.com/content/h-d/en_EU/home/owners/Infotainment.html

TThanks for the update, I have found a similar work around for my AT&T iphone, it's a app called DriveMode, does the same thing and you can set it to turn on automatically when the you are moving a specific speed.Of course I didn't need to spend 30 grand on a new Harley I could have just keep my old one and used this app😁

I do hope they get the issue sorted out along with the other issues, the system is a year and half old

Unfortunately you can't reply to a text message while the bike is moving. I have a 2015 FLHXS too. This was done for safety. I have the same limitation in my Honda Civic. Although I haven't tried it, you should be able to do it while your stopped with your Street Glide. Many people have had complaints about getting text messaging in general to work with the new Box Box systems. I have an iPhone 5S and can't seem to get it to work. They only thing I can suggest is making sure the setup for Bluetooth related to the Boom Box itself has notifications turned on. That made the difference on my Civic. Good luck!

So you've gotten farther then me for getting it to display and read the sms....I'll delete the pairing and try again today...btw you can update the Boom audio yourself, it's easy...you just need a 8Gb flash drive, no need to go the the Dealer...

http://www.harley-davidson.com/content/h-d/en_US/home/owners/infotainment/softwa re-downloads.html

Can't wait to fix the sms reply, I'm going on long trips and It's such a huge feature to let people know your on the bike so you can't reply.

Thanks for the effort for all of us..

Aaron

II'm sorry to be the bear of bad news but firmware version 1.19.0 did not resolve the auto text issue for me, however it did fix the auto volume increase by speed, but to my surpise when you slow down it doesn't get quiter, it stays loud, and it still blast out 3/4 or more of volume when you first turn on the bike, but not not every time... So I just continue to leave that feature turned off, I really miss it though.

Im afraid someday I'll go turn on my bike and it will blast the volume and blow up another speaker, I'm so glad it's under warranty, you would think HD would put in the firmware ( on first power up/bootup set volume to 10% ) DONE ! Problem solved

7/6/15 Update: I've contacted H-D and opened a Case #. I have a commitment that I will get a call back from an engineer after a meeting on Thursday. I've contacted the manufacture of the Boom! Box (Not H-D) and have a commitment for a call back by the appropriate internal contact. And I have an ongoing Case # with Apple working with a Sr. Technical Advisor who is working within Apple. No good news yet but at worst case I'll be meeting with H-D while at Sturgis later this month.

Just noticed HD has added a log of changes to the firmware updates.If you click the + to the left of the version number on the update page a list shows what issues the update version addresses, (GO HARLEY !) certainly a step in the right direction as not all updates apply to everybody using the system.Personally I live by the saying, if it ain't broke, don't fix it !