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Gen III Bluetooth Audio Streaming problem with Android KitKat

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by nagrath, Jul 14, 2014.

  1. nagrath

    nagrath Member

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    Hi All,
    I've been searching for an answer to this on Android forums, but I thought it might be better to look at it from the other end. I have a 2013 Gen III prius with the base level audio system, and a Samsung Galaxy S3 phone from Verizon. Previously, audio streaming from the phone worked great - I just hit "source" and then "BT" (hopefully without crashing the car - the interface was designed terribly) and the default music player on the phone would start playing, even if the screen was locked, and the app was not opened. Now, after my phone updated it's android to 4.4.2 KitKat, if I do that I get (NoData) for the track name, and no music. It WILL work if I unlock my screen, manually start the music player, and leave it open, but if I didn't do that befoare I started driving, it's a sure way to crash my car. Does anyone else have this problem (Verizon just pushed the KitKat upgrade to my phone a week or so ago)? Does anyone have a solution? There are new settings in Android since the upgrade, and it seems some of them switched to defaults from what they were set to before, but I can't locate anything that might relate to this. Note that the telephone integration seems to work as before, and it pairs without a problem.

    John
     
  2. nagrath

    nagrath Member

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    Update - in using the bluetooth by starting the music player manually on the phone, I am noticing dropouts and skips to the next track without manual or voice-activated commands. This Kit-Kat update seems like nothing but trouble, and as far as I know, a downgrade is not possible. If anyone has any solutions, I woud love to hear them.
     
  3. Zephyr7

    Zephyr7 Member

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    well it may not be Android issue, Samsung does not use the stock Google Android BT Stack but Samsung develops their own BT Stack/Software in the Android SW.

    So it maybe a Samsung issue too.
     
  4. Jonathanb68

    Jonathanb68 New Member

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    Hi John, this is Jonathanb68. i have a question? were in the heck do you start form or chat?? been looking all over and clicking everything and nothing.
     
  5. Husam

    Husam New Member

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    I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 on Kitkat and works flawlessly. Sometimes i have to open the music app by myself tho.
     
  6. nagrath

    nagrath Member

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    Not sure what you are asking here, Jonathan! You obviously managed to post a reply!

    John[/QUOTE]
    Hi John, this is Jonathanb68. i have a question? were in the heck do you start form or chat?? been looking all over and clicking everything and nothing.[/QUOTE]
     
  7. nagrath

    nagrath Member

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    @Zephyr7, that is interesting. Between Android, Samsung, Verizon, and Toyota, I'll probably never get a fix for this! Darn! And it was working so well for so long. If I could downgrade my phone OS back to Jellybean I would, but Verizon doesn't offer any way to do that.
     
  8. Zephyr7

    Zephyr7 Member

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    lol this is where apple fan boys will come in and tell u get an apple..
     
  9. Husam

    Husam New Member

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    @nagrath You can downgrade if you want, but the easiest way would be to root the phone and try different firmwares that might work with Bluetooth. Not really that hard to root if you have a little computer knowledge.
     
  10. nagrath

    nagrath Member

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    Yeah, I was hoping not to have to root the phone. I've plenty of computer knowledge, though. Probably is the best way to go but I'd hate to brick it. Seems like plenty of people have the problem of skips and drops in the Bluetooth with KitKat though, and not only with the Prius.
     
  11. pmike

    pmike Member

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    The wife and I both have Nexus 4 with 4.4.2 and have no problems on the 2013 Prius Two. Both of us bring up the player first. It does stop automatically when turning the car off but it seems hit or miss if it restarts when the car is started backup. I don't really care for this feature so I never though of it as a problem.
     
  12. Husam

    Husam New Member

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    I've started rooting phones since they were released and i've never bricked anything. (I'm 17, started rooting when i was 12)

    The only way you could brick a Samsung device is if you upload a wrong firmware (a different device) to the phone.

    I guess factory resetting your device might fix the problem too.
     
  13. lumpy95

    lumpy95 Member

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    Same here with my AT&T Galaxy S4 on KitKat.
     
  14. MSA14

    MSA14 Junior Member

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    I have a Verizon sgs3 with kitkat and it works great on my 2014 Prius 2. I hit the source button on the steering wheel to switch to bluetooth, and once I hit play on the touchscreen monitor, the music automatically plays from my default Playlist.

    If I want to use Pandora etc, I have to open the app before it plays. It only automatically plays Pandora if I leave it loaded on the phone (paused) and get back in the car later and press play.
     
  15. Jaihawk

    Jaihawk Junior Member

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    I have some of your issues. I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 and a 2013 Prius IV. I noticed recently that my phone was continually connecting and disconnecting from the car when I was listening to regular radio or to satellite radio. I discovered after scouring the internet, that perhaps there's a bug in the link between the phone and the car when you allow it to access your messages. I unpaid the devices and repaired them, but this time when the phone asked if I would give it access to my messages, I said no. Since then, I haven't had any disconnecting issues.

    The issue that I do have is having to press play on my phone in order for music to start playing after I have selected Bluetooth. I never had to do that with my old HTC Evo 4G. It's a bit of an annoyance.
     
  16. nagrath

    nagrath Member

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    See, mine used to work like that before the Kitkat upgrade. I fear I may need to do a factory reset, another thing I was hoping to avoid. I guess perhaps it is not a KitKat/Galaxy/Prius thing, but just a My Prius/ My S3 thing. :(



     
  17. Dayl Kumpa

    Dayl Kumpa New Member

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    I am new to this chat and hope that my response will be posted to some other category. I actually don't have the same problem. I cannot seem to bring my contacts form my Galaxy s3 over to my 2013 Prius. Music is fine. It creates a contact list on the car that is incomplete and in a different format from the phone. Last name first instead of first name last. Many of the primary people that I call never came over. Spent four hours with T-Mobile on the phone issues with no success, even after a master reset. I had no problem with my iPhone. At the dealership, a sales help person paired their LG to my car with no problem. So what is up between androids and Toyota? Any suggestions. Sorry, John. This does not help you with your issue. If this doesn't go any further than to your email box, please let me know how I can get my issue out as you have done with yours. Thanks.

    Daylight
     
  18. astricklin

    astricklin New Member

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    This is the same thing that has been happening in the PC world for ages. If I make an application for Windows, I have to try to be compatible with all of the different hardware and software that runs under Windows. If I make an application for Mac, I have a much more limited range of hardware and operating system revisions to deal with.

    This is not necessarily a Toyota problem, this is a struggle that any manufacturer of Android or Android interfacing systems faces.
    Any time there is a change to the Android OS or other device firmware, any apps or third party systems that are interfacing with the device must be updated for compatibility.
    This is just a fact that has to be dealt with when there are different variations of hardware and software. With Apple, there are limited hardware and software variations, where with Android, there are numerous manufacturers with many different hardware types. On top of this the manufacturer can choose to make any changes that they like to the Android OS. This is why the UI on a Samsung is very different from an LG or HTC phone and all 3 will be different from a Nexus or Google Play edition device.
    Any time there are major changes to the Android OS, there will probably need to be an update issued for Entune.
    There is also a compatibility list that toyota provides with which functions they have tested on which phones. toyota.com/connect/
     
  19. CdotK

    CdotK Member

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    I have a problem kind of along the same line here.
    I had a S3 that worked great and displayed the track info, artist and what not from Slacker Radio. Now i have the LG G3 and all it says is NO DATA yet the music still plays. Wondering if there is some kind of setting in the phone i need to change or is it the way the data is received by the Head Unit and not working with the LG BT signal?

    Maybe someone here know a little more about BT and how data is received on the HU?
     
  20. DoubleDAZ

    DoubleDAZ Senior Member

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    You're not alone. Had a similar problem with my Droid Razr and ended up sitting in the car editing each contact manually. My problem was more limited to addresses that didn't sync properly. I don't know how many contacts you have, but I suspect you could have manually entered them all in the 4 hours you spent on the phone with T-Mobile. :(