Problem with iphone/Honda Handsfreelink

Besides re-pairing the phone and car, and calling Honda, what other troubleshooting have you tried? I have my iPhone 7 paired to my vehicle, although not a Honda, and I've not experienced this issue. The vehicle has the ability to switch calls to private.

Vehicle manufacturers will generally blame Apple or other handset makers when Bluetooth issues occur. However, the vehicle manufacturers receive copies of the iOS and it is up to them to make sure their vehicles work with the Bluetooth profile. There are some additional settings that you can check if you would like, or you can discuss it with Honda again about them updating their software. I'll respond with the other checks if you are interested.

I read your post and understand what you said about the calls automatically going to private. My calls can go to private if necessary, and there is a control button on the vehicle screen to do that. I realize that yours are doing it automatically and you are experiencing an issue.

If you go to Settings>General>Accessibility>Scroll down to Call Audio Routing, and see what the setting is. It should be set at Automatic. Now, I'm not sure if your use of Siri is creating part of the problem and the vehicle cannot understand those controls, but try that change. It may require you to forget the vehicle in the iPhone's Bluetooth area, and then power off the phone. Go to the Vehicle and forget the phone. Power the car off and back on. Then pair the phone and vehicle again and see what happens. That should correct it, since I've not seen this issue mentioned very much here at all. While you may find issues with other vehicles. I know that Subaru vehicles have issues with pairing via the radio system itself, and you have to do it with the steering wheel controls to get it to work. This is an issue with the vehicle manufacturer and their system. They should release updates to their software.

The following post may resolve your problem:

I have a 2015 Accord EX and my IPhone 5 would switch to private mode shortly after answering in the car. With the help of my technicians at Honda North in Danvers MA we discovered a setting on the IPhone in Settings- General - Accesibility - Interaction - Call Audio Routing. When we changed the setting from Headset to Automatic it solved the problem.

if that doesn't help, read the entire thread and pick a solution that works for you:

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/138-audio-electronics-lighting/149882-phone-go es-into-private-mode.html

Hana Road wrote:

In any event, there you have it--the latest in my HandsfreeLink/Apple saga. Any other suggestions?

Thanks.

To be honest no. No one that I know has had trouble with their devices. I have an iPhone 7, my wife and iPhone 5s, and my daughter an iPhone 6. All with the latest software, and we have a 2017, 2013, and 2012 Hyundai and everything works perfectly with any of the phones in any of the vehicles. While Honda is telling you it is an Apple issue, I'm leaning more towards Honda since I have not experienced a problem. Many of my friends know that I spend a great deal of time here, and always are telling me of problems they encounter. None are reporting this "private mode" issue, so I'm not sure it is what Honda is telling you, something new added to the Bluetooth profile. I'm not sure Apple can modify the Bluetooth standards for devices anyway, since they have to comply with the standards.

I'm sorry you are experiencing the issue, but it can be viewed both ways. I hope you are able to get it corrected, but it may not be an Apple update that is needed. I wish you luck.

My daughter has a 2017 Civic, and I have a 2017 Accord. We both have this issue on our vehicles, so we don't think it is so rare. It is a problem in 100% of our 2017 Hondas. We have not tried this fix, but will and report back.

So you are having 100% problems with Honda. My family has 3 different Hyundai, and none are experiencing a problem, and we have 3 different iPhones, all on the latest iOS. So for us it is 100% success in our vehicles.

To me, that doesn't point to the iPhone and iOS.

Thanks Chris for your expert opinion. Clearly, by your insightful reasoning, all of the Honda software just coincidentally went haywire simultaneously at the time of most recent IOS update. That likely scenario had not occurred to me. I guess you recommend we all just trade in the Hondas for Hyundais--to follow that line of thought.

And you believe that it is the iPhone and my evidence demonstrates it isn't. That is the only point I tried to make here. I've spent a great deal of time here and can tell you there are certain vehicle manufacturers that have problems with Bluetooth connections and that has been shown to be their failure to update the software for their devices.

All vehicle manufacturers receive the beta versions of the Apple iOS to ensure that their vehicles continue to work with the updates iOS and Bluetooth profile. It is the vehicle manufacturer's responsibility to maintain connectivity and to notify users if their software will no longer support the Apple product. You can do a search here for other threads similar to this one for other vehicle manufacturers and see that software updates for the vehicles in question is what corrected the issue.

I have had this exact same problem ever since I switched to a newer model of iPhone . The same thing happens with my 2015 Honda FIT . It used to automatically just answer on the car speaker but now it doesn't work and I've got to fumble to hit the '' transfer" button on the car monitor. Today I picked up my new 2017 Honda HR-V and the dealer paired my iPhone 7 to the Handsfree HondaLink . Phonebook did transfer but if I make a call I can't hear anything.

incoming calls don't ring in and the speaker isn't picking up calls. Even if I touch " Transfer" I still can't hear anything.

I never had any problem when I was using my old iphone 5c with my 2015 FIT . The trouble started once I tried to switch phones ( and then this new car isn't working at all with new phone) I have latest iOS with updates.

The “make sure it still works” is the issue. Apple changed something in the Bluetooth link. I had an iPhone 4S, so it was still on iOS 9.something. I bought a new iPhone 8, and suddenly the hands free link no longer functions. That’s an Apple issue, not a Honda issue. Apple added a “feature” (aka bug), and now wants to blame Honda. The “feature” has obvious fault. When you add a “feature” that requires every owner of the most popular brand of car in the country to have to a) get the car manufacturer to change their software, and b) require the owners to go to a mechanic to get their car updated, that’s not a positive. Alienating a large group of users is considered poor customer support.

Hana Road is spot on with his/her description of the "private mode" description! I bought a 2017 Honda Pilot a few weeks ago only to discover this incredibly aggravating problem! I spoke to a senior advisor at Honda who had some personal experience with the issue and he told me the exact same thing regarding Apple being responsible. He also added that it only happens with certain Bluetooth systems/versions and the Honda Pilot 2016 and 2017 were two of the versions impacted. While it is happening in other cars it's limited to a certain version of Bluetooth. He also added that some Android phones are starting to adopt the "private mode". There's really no such thing as safe cellphone usage in a car but Apple has managed to make this far more dangerous then it need be. While I do use handsfree calling most of the time I need to be able to use the device when logging into conference calls that are stored in my calendar. They contain the 800# and the individual conference code lines. All you have to do is tap the number and it dials the entire number for you. For some reason this doesn't work in CarPlay either but I may have a USB issue in my brand new car so we'll see if that changes when they get it fixed. I can't begin to describe how irritating this "feature" is. Poor poor job Apple!!!