iPhone 3GS Bluetooth audio issues

[scotty321]

Hi gang,

I'm having a strange iPhone 3GS Bluetooth audio problem that I haven't seen discussed on any other threads. Is anybody else having this same problem?

I have a 2010 Toyota Prius IV with Solar Roof Package... and it seems like the iPhone 3GS (iPhone OS 3.1) gets confused about where to send its audio to when paired with the Bluetooth connection in the Prius.

Here's the situation in a nutshell:

I've successfully paired my iPhone 3GS with the 2010 Prius via Bluetooth, and all incoming calls automatically ring through the Prius audio system. iPod songs automatically play through the Prius audio system. All of this is normal and it works just fine. It's perfect!

HOWEVER, until I receive that first incoming call or play that first song, ALL OTHER AUDIO on my iPhone 3GS is muted: incoming text messages, keyboard clicks, sent text messages, game noises, etc. All other audio on the phone is muted and I can't hear it at all.

Now I've actually discovered a workaround to this dilemma, which is to manually switch to the bluetooth tab (the "BT" tab) on my Prius' navigation screen -- which apparently "wakes up" the audio system within my iPhone or something. Once I do that, my iPhone starts playing audio normally again.

I normally have my audio system set to the "Aux" tab, so I am now getting in the habit of toggling my audio system back & forth between the "BT" tab and the "Aux" tab when I get in the car. A pain, but at least it fixes the audio problems.

Well, actually, I should say that it fixes MOST of the audio problems: the iPhone still gets confused occassionally, where sometimes the audio (keyboard clicks, incoming text messages, etc.) will play through the Prius audio system instead of the iPhone speaker, and then sometimes it will play through the iPhone speaker.

But incoming/outgoing phone calls are always okay, and iPod music is always okay -- they always go through the Prius audio system. It's the OTHER iPhone audio that is acting up.

This is very confusing to me... and the iPhone, apparently.

Any ideas as to what's going on? Or will I just need to keep toggling to that bluetooth tab every day?

Thanks!
Scott

[scotty321]

Oh okay, I figured out my problem. It seems like I was confused about the cause of the problem in my previous posting, but now I've figured it all out. This may not be the ideal solution for some people, but it works in my situation.

Turns out that there's actually 2 different ways to connect your iPhone to your Prius via Bluetooth:

#1. From the Setup>Audio screen, which configures your iPhone as a Bluetooth music player.
#2. From the Setup>Phone screen, which configures your iPhone as a Bluetooth cell phone.

I had BOTH of these configured, and it looks like when #1 is configured, the iPhone will *NOT* play any of its normal audio sounds (unlocking noise, keyboard clicks, incoming text message sounds, etc.) until you start playing some iPhone music via the "BT" tab on the navigation screen. Once you start playing some music over Bluetooth, then the iPhone starts playing all of its normal audio sounds again... BUT it only plays them through your Prius sound system speakers. However, once you pause the music, the iPhone takes over normal control of its own sound again, and plays its normal audio sounds through its own speaker again. So that's one way to fix the problem.

But, an even BETTER way to fix the problem -- if you own another iPod for your music -- is to DISCONNECT your iPhone as a Bluetooth music player altogether. I UN-CONFIGURED my iPhone as a Bluetooth music player, while still leaving it configured as a Bluetooth cell phone, and now the iPhone ALWAYS plays its own sound through its own iPhone speaker again. And for my music, I just have a normal iPod Classic plugged into the auxiliary jack.

So although this setup may not work for everybody, this totally fixes the problem for me. So I'm a happy camper again.

The only downside is that if I wanted to use use my iPhone as a Bluetooth music player again, I would have to go through the configuration process all over again... and I would have to deal with the minor sound problems as noted above.

Hope this helps somebody else out there in the future!

Future Boy, are you out there?

Thanks,
Scott

[Vincent]

Scott,

I had the same problem. I unconfigured the Bluetooth audio setup and still use my iPhone's iPod features through a wired connection. There's no need for a second iPod.

I use the Kensington Liquid 30 pin charger/audio jack unit with a ProClip USA custom mount and all works well.