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iOS 12 Bluetooth problems

Hi

I've just installed iOS 12 on my iPhone 7, and since I cannot get my car handsfree (a Citroen C3 - 2012) to work properly with the phone.

I can pair okay, and all seems correct but less than a minute later, the car loses communication with the phone. That is, it can see the phone as a bluetooth device but does not recognise the phone capabilities. No calls can be made, the battery level cannot be viewed and no media can be accessed. On the iPhone, the car is shown as BT RADIO, and is shown as "Connected".

If I tell the car to connect Telephone or Telephone + Media, it will connect again, but a few seconds later the same occurs.

I have tried the following,

1. Turn Bluetooth on and off on the phone.

2. Forget the connections on the car and the phone, and re-pair.

3. Reboot phone.

4. Hard reboot of phone.

5. Forget the connection on the phone and car, rename the phone and pair again.

6. Reset Network Settings.


Nothing has worked.

This all worked fine and various versions of iOS 11, so my only conclusion is that something has changed in the Bluetooth system in iOS 12.


I don't want to try to wipe my iPhone and downgrade, so I am hoping all the complaints will prompt Apple into looking at what has gone wrong and release a fix


Just as a follow-up, I also have my iPhone connected to my home DECT phones using bluetooth and this seems okay. Perhaps it is a standards issue affecting older Bluetooth systems?


If anyone has had this issue and has managed to find a work-around or fix, please let me know.


Thanks in advance.

iPhone 7, iOS 12

Posted on Oct 2, 2018 8:37 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 28, 2018 11:38 AM

I have and Citroën C4 2012 e-hdiafter ios 11.x and now ios 12 i had the same problem. Worked Well with ios 10

so I do hope that @apple will have a serious look at the bluetooth mode, so we can enjoy handfree speaking again.


My media player connect fine, the Phone connects When i reconnect to the car. Then it disconnect from the telehone, but not the media connection.


hope anyone who has a solution post it here 😉😎

33 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 28, 2018 11:38 AM in response to Abailey152

I have and Citroën C4 2012 e-hdiafter ios 11.x and now ios 12 i had the same problem. Worked Well with ios 10

so I do hope that @apple will have a serious look at the bluetooth mode, so we can enjoy handfree speaking again.


My media player connect fine, the Phone connects When i reconnect to the car. Then it disconnect from the telehone, but not the media connection.


hope anyone who has a solution post it here 😉😎

May 22, 2019 8:16 PM in response to Abailey152

I've previously posted on here... and my issue hasn't been resolved but I do have a workaround if anyone is interested. It's similar to methods others have posted.


Sequence of activities:

  1. Place a call on my phone (e.g. to an information number) prior to it connnecting to the bluetooth system
  2. Hit the ignition button. The call transfers to the bluetooth car's bluetooth system
  3. End the call and it stays connected for both phonecall and media.


I generally leave the call going for about 20-30 seconds, and it keeps connected while the ignition is on. As soon as I restart the car it is disconnected, but at least I have an interim solution until I install and improved head unit.


FWIW I had an issue the other day where Spotify wouldn't play through the system. My phone, and the bluetooth system were telling me it was playing but nothing was coming through the speakers.

Nov 4, 2018 3:22 AM in response to rickkunde

No good news, sorry.


Citroen want me to go back to the dealer. Some good that will do.

All I want to know, is if there has been any sort of firmware update I could apply to the radio and they want me to pay for someone to disconnect and reconnect my batter. Useless!!!


And, yes 12.1 has done nothing to fix the issue.


One weird event happened a few days ago. I was in the middle of a call on my phone when I climbed into the car and started it. The phone switched over to handsfree, but I expected it to then switch back over once the handsfree was lost. However, it didn't. I continued with the call then hung up. Afterwards the phone stayed connected and I was able to make other calls. This lasted until I switched off the ignition.

Since, it has gone back to dropping out.

I'm now 100% convinced this is a bug in Apple's bluetooth code, but it must be something very specific. How can we get Apple to chase this up?

Dec 4, 2018 3:07 PM in response to troelsfromholbæk

Just commenting on here to let Apple know this is definitely a problem on their side of the fence. Exactly the same issue with my iPhone 6S recently upgraded to iOS 12.1 and a 2011 Peugeot 508. I believe that Citroen and Peugeot use the same Bluetooth system. Bluetooth music works perfectly, but the phone initially connects then drops the connection approx 30secs later.

Edit: also FWIW, my households Android devices work perfectly with the system.

Jan 9, 2019 11:35 AM in response to Abailey152

I have exactly the same problem! Bought a Citroen C4 2011 last week and Bluetooth connects fine. But mobile handsfree never does. I connect it and it connects for 10 seconds then disconnects again! So frustrating! Also the car doesn’t recognise the phone when I put it in the USB.. Which again is probably because of the latest update on iPhone. I have to use a AUX as the sound quality is so poor via Bluetooth. Hopefully there will be a solution soon.

Jan 11, 2019 2:30 PM in response to hubert96

i will go back to ios 11 in the mean time i guess or move to android


You cannot go back to a previous version of iOS unless you purchase a device running that version of iOS and never upgrade it.


You can move to Android if you want, but Android follows the same Bluetooth specification Apple does, and odds are if the Citroen head end is at fault you will experience the exact same issue regardless of whether the phone is Apple or Android.

Jan 27, 2019 5:15 AM in response to Dogcow-Moof

You say that Android uses the same specification however, my 2012 DS4 has the exact same issue. Both myself and my other half have iPhone XRs each of them will pair but handsfree calling does not work, shows as available on car for a few seconds then dissapears.


However, using a friends P20 Pro, it connects absolutly fine, calls, music everything. Have updated to 12.1.3 to see if that would help. Nope just as broken as always.


Can stream music fine, no problems there. Just calling is completly borked, come on Apple, dont tell us its our cars fault. There is obviously an issue with your bluetooth implementation.

Jan 27, 2019 9:42 AM in response to KirkFletcher

There are no issues with the vast majority of Bluetooth devices on the market, which seems to point more towards the device you are connecting to than your iPhone.


Note also there are two distinct Bluetooth devices that need to pair with the headend, one for audio and one for phone calls. For example, most auto head ends offer the ability to pair only with the phone, allowing you to use Bluetooth for phone calls but USB for (higher quality) audio.

Jan 28, 2019 2:29 PM in response to Dogcow-Moof

iPhone 6s on ios 12.1.3 works fine on 2013 DS3 but on C4 2011 initially connects both telephone and media but drops telephone connection after about 2 min and won’t stay connected.


So, same problem as everyone and useless hands free in the C4.


This issue has come and gone with different iOS versions but since iOS 12 this has been broken.

iOS 12 Bluetooth problems

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