Apple Watch Interference with Auto Bluetooth
I just recently in past couple days purchased my Apple Watch (stainless steel, 42 mm). Yesterday was my first time using it in my Mazda 6 (2016) and my Mazda Connect system. Until yesterday my iPhone 6s Plus 128 GB phone had been working without any problems since the introduction of bluetooth 4.2 (using iOS 9.1 now) I had some issues with audio not always connecting before the 4.2 bluetooth update but for some time no problems. Phone connected fine, phone calls (receive and send) , uploading of my call list, music play lists, album lists, audio profile all worked flawlessly.
So I get in car, first thing I notice is the usual audio connect had problems in finishing. The music playlist would not load easily or properly, and the previous music playlist I was playing on my phone and which was paused--- which always starts automatically after load (when car starts) was not played but a playlist from yesterday (different than what I was currently playing on the iPhone). I finally just started the playlist on phone while this flakyness ensued and it would eventually play but the playlists and albums took alot longer to load on Mazda Connect before I could control there.
Next I found the music would play but with constant loss of audio every 10-15 seconds or so. I also observed that on the Mazda Connect Screen the updating of the time in the particular music piece was not updating but stalled somewhere past zero but never completed. Music kept playing but with the audio drops always happening. I then observed that on my watch or phone though the playlist music piece was playing even with the Mazda Connect dropping audio constantly and the time not updating (while it was on the phone/watch display.
I found lots of folks having this issue with bluetooth on various auto sound systems for connecting your smartphones and such via bluetooth since the watches intro, most seem to be in first few months thru July and pre Watch OS 2.x. A few still mentioned issue with 2.01 on their watch.
As usual lots of fixes suggested from repairing the phone, the watch, reseting either and both, unpairing the phone, watch from phone and then pairing the watch first to phone and then the auto bluetooth and phone, most did not work or only temporaily and sometimes caused major pairing issues between watch and phone or watch and car bluetooth.
The only workaround that seems to be feasible still is to put your watch in airplane mode then the phone and car bluetooth work as they are supposed to. So thats what I am doing and it works.
I have not tested yet but some also complain of same dropping of audio when using phone calls on the car bluetooth systems, so given my music audio issue I suspect I would have seen that but I want to be able to answer and use my phone via my car system when driving. It also uses my loaded contact list so I can determine if I should even reply so I like that.
I have responded to other threads on this issue (and folks see this interference not on just auto bluetooth systems, but other bluetooth devices). There are a few though who do not have issue and of course I have no idea how many of us watch owners have bluetooth auto systems and who have this problem. Most times the issues are posted by us with them and there is no easy way to determine if this is common or just some of us. But there is enough for the issue to produce many threads here and on the hardware part of the community discussions on the apple watch.
So I am curious how many of you who now have watch OS 2.01 have this issue, had it before with earlier OS's, and those who had before but found it fixed by 2.01 or not? Wondering if this is a hardware issue with the bluetooth on the watches or if a firmware/software update of its bluetooth might fix. It is not the end of the earth as the watch quickly goes back to full iPhone connection afterI turn airplane mode off. The basic features of the phone still work while in airplane so it is a feasible workaround for now at least in my case.
Thanks
Russ Jacobson
iPhone 6s 128 space grey (iOS 9.1) , Apple Watch stainless 42 mm (watch OS 2.01), MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013), iPad Air 1 128 GB (iOS 9.1), Apple TV 4 64 GB
<Edited by Host>
