Bluetooth Audio and auto-starting from iphone 4

James' MK6 TDI

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Anyone else have a similar situation? Basically I have an iphone 4 that I stream music/podcasts from through the bluetooth connection. I do it this way vs MDI because I also synch my phone so I can use the handsfree functionality which is pretty fantastic actually. I also have an ipod that I use as music storage through the MDI port.

So, I have BT-Audio Autoplay toggled OFF in the media settings, yet when starting the car, it still will automatically start playing from my iphone regardless if I am on ipod, sat radio, FM, CD, anything, it will always start playing after about 15-20 seconds of the car starting. This is extremely frustrating because when listening to podcasts I dont like missing out on any of the broadcast.

perhaps there is an update that i need to get from the dealership? something must be going on to fix this setting so it ACTUALLY works like its suppose to.

thanks for listening.

UPDATE:

after being a bit more thorough in the radio manual, i basically discovered that the autoplay feature means that the radio will switch to the Bluetooth device automatically if it finds something to play, but it still doesn't resolve the issue of it automatically starting whether I am on the media section or not.
 

Surrylic

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I've noticed mine doing this only once in a while, and it started kinda recently. Mine only happened when I was on a phone call and hung up though, if I'm remembering correctly. But humph. I don't think mine has done this since I erased all settings and installed the newest OS. I didn't restore my phone from a backup, just synced all my apps and contacts before hand...

May be a side effect from a random jailbreak app, is yours jailbroken? Mine was until I did the above. Or maybe it's a bug of an iOS prior to 4.3.5? (if that's the newest) I dunno, sorry to ramble and not be any help lols.
 

James' MK6 TDI

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Thanks for the good info. Its not Jailbroken and I'm on 4.3.5. I'll try the Wipe/Restore and see if that makes any difference. It seems more an issue with the Stereo then the iPhone, my kenwood DNX7160 never did this.
 

JaredC01

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Honestly sounds the opposite to me. The stereo is probably default to switch to bluetooth when something starts playing for convenience... Sounds to me the iPhone is automatically playing on BT connect.

I have no issues on connect with my phone (Evo 3D), though I'll test my theory after work and post the results.
 

James' MK6 TDI

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Sounds to me the iPhone is automatically playing on BT connect.
I'll need to find if there are any settings to change this, believe me I've looked everywhere on both systems to find where it decided to auto play whether or not I was using that particular device. Its been great :( when I'm listening to Sirius and an hour goes by and i realize my iphone has been playing my music for the last hour. its great on battery life too :mad:
 
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Surrylic

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Understandable. I've never seen any setting and it would be a ridiculous one really... It sounds like a bug to me. And if you do try wiping it completely and syncing your info back on (which prevents it from restoring from a backup with the bug) just be sure and back up all those contacts and whatnot!
 

James' MK6 TDI

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did a full wipe back to factory, going to give this a shot tonight :fingers crossed:\

EDIT: Tried it at lunch at still the same results, plays whatever is in "now playing" or will start something in my library on its own whether im on SAT, ipod, FM

even tried doing a "reset all settings" while i was at my car so i knew it was fresh and not a backed up version... same results.
 
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kirch78

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James is Your Ipod been hooked up by mdi the whole time? Are You sure it is not starting the ipod connection? I only ask because if I have my iphone hooked up to charge everytime I shut the car off and restart or plug the phone in intially it always goes to the mdi by default. something to consider
 

James' MK6 TDI

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James is Your Ipod been hooked up by mdi the whole time? Are You sure it is not starting the ipod connection? I only ask because if I have my iphone hooked up to charge everytime I shut the car off and restart or plug the phone in intially it always goes to the mdi by default. something to consider
Yes the iPod is hooked up, when the car first starts, it instantly plays what is on the ipod (which is fine) but after about 20 seconds when the bluetooth connection is established, it will then start playing from the iphone (even if the device doesn't switch over to BT-Audio)

ill go test that theory as well, having the MDI be disconnected.

EDIT: just removed the MDI cable, turned on the car, automatically went to SAT and about 20 seconds in my iphone connects bt and starts playing something random even though i never switched my "listening option" over to media -> BT-Audio
 
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jnmarshall

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I have a 3gs synced via BT to my '12 jetta. Same problem. When I start the car the phone connects and immediately starts up the ipod app and starts playing. I don't even have the radio turned on in the car. It's REAL annoying because it kills the iphone battery as it can't go idle and sleep.
 

JaredC01

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Anyone else with an iPhone? As I said above, I'm willing to bet it's the culprit... jnmarshall's post further confirms it.
 

jnmarshall

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There is a settng in the radio under Setup/Media labeled BT-audio Autoplay. Checked or unchecked makes no difference.
 

James' MK6 TDI

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There is a settng in the radio under Setup/Media labeled BT-audio Autoplay. Checked or unchecked makes no difference.
according to the manual having that autoplay feature on means that the radio will change to BT-Audio once its been connected, which is more convenient then it turning on on its own in the background, at least this way its front-facing so you can quickly toggle it off before listening to what you prefer.
 

James' MK6 TDI

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Update:

I had my 1k checkup today at the dealership i bought the car at. I mentioned and described the issue (and showed the owner) the issue with the BT synching and the music starting on its own. he said they did not have anything on file about it happening, but they are sending the details of the issue to VWoA so they can hopefully find some resolution or perhaps a firmware update resolving the issue. Hopefully an update to iOS in the coming weeks will also provide some resolution.
 

Griffin42

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I have an IPhone4 and have zero issue and basically the same set up as you James. I don't understand how it can automatically start playing on your BT if the phone itself is not playing anything. Simply having the phone in the car I go right over to media, select my IPod and play what I want. When a call comes in it switches over to the bluetooth. The Ipod does still play, so if your worried about missing a podcast that is playing, that is gonna happen. I don't know how you would get around this.
 

Surrylic

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After lots of searching Ive found numerous people have this issue, even with different phones and cars, but unfortunately no solutions yet :/ I would hate to thing swapping out a phone would be the only way... if the dealership could reinstall the cars stereo software (or update it?) The only other fix there could be is hardware related really, if new software on phone and car dont correct the bug. I dont recommend ever being dishonest but if Apple wont replace a phone because of the bluetooth issue then you could always say your home button isnt working. Mine was finicky and they replaced the whole thing no questions asked. Last ditch effort though really, sorry we couldnt find a answer!
 

vw2011

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almost same problem with my iphone 4 and ipod. Ipod have mind on his own restart AUX without reason in the middle of the song, BT audio sometimes hard to start no problem with hands free (2011 golf tdi, 2700 miles)If you find any solution let me know please
 

jnmarshall

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Hate to say this but it sounds like this is working as designed. This is based on the BT A2DP profile and subset functionality. If you start diving into the specifications this how it works. I have also confirmed this functionality in a Mercedes, Lexus and Kia. Also confirmed with 3rd party devices like Jabra and Parrot. And finally I have a few Google prototype phones and when the A2DP profile is activated it also starts the media player.

There is a solution for jailbroken iphones(note to mods, jailbreaking IS legal per the US courts as of 7/26/2011) that you can download a BT profile selector and disable the A2DP profile. I hope VW is able to use HFP (hand free profile) for BT phone calls. For non-iphone uses you will need to research how to disable to select profiles to NOT use A2DP.
 

James' MK6 TDI

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Hate to say this but it sounds like this is working as designed. This is based on the BT A2DP profile and subset functionality. If you start diving into the specifications this how it works. I have also confirmed this functionality in a Mercedes, Lexus and Kia. Also confirmed with 3rd party devices like Jabra and Parrot. And finally I have a few Google prototype phones and when the A2DP profile is activated it also starts the media player.

There is a solution for jailbroken iphones(note to mods, jailbreaking IS legal per the US courts as of 7/26/2011) that you can download a BT profile selector and disable the A2DP profile. I hope VW is able to use HFP (hand free profile) for BT phone calls. For non-iphone uses you will need to research how to disable to select profiles to NOT use A2DP.
sorry man but i disagree, if the "BT-Audio Autoplay" is enabled it changes to that device and starts playing, that's fine, it should do that as designed.

But with that toggled off and the phone still starts playing media in the background without my choosing...i don't think so. Does your DVD player start automatically and play a DVD when you are watching TV? Didn't think so. ;)

also, my aftermarket kenwood DNX-7160 had parrot BT and it didn't do anything until i hit play either the phone or the stereo
 
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jnmarshall

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sorry man but i disagree, if the "BT-Audio Autoplay" is enabled it changes to that device and starts playing, that's fine, it should do that as designed.

But with that toggled off and the phone still starts playing media in the background without my choosing...i don't think so. Does your DVD player start automatically and play a DVD when you are watching TV? Didn't think so. ;)
Actually it does. And my xbox starts playing the game when I load a game disk in the tray.

I do NOT know what that BT-Audio Autoplay option REALLY does. Checked or unchecked makes no difference for me. Someone in a prior post in this thread indicated when it's enabled it will switch the mode of the radio say from FM or SAT to I guess Media? I have not personally experienced this.

But as far as the BT profiles and protocols, it is as spec'd.
 
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James' MK6 TDI

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Actually it does. And my xbox starts playing the game when a load a game disk in the tray.

I do NOT know what that BT-Audio Autoplay option REALLY does. Checked or unchecked makes no difference for me. Someone in a prior post in this thread indicated when it's enabled, it will switch the mode of the radio say from FM or SAT to I guess Media? I have not personally experienced this.

But as far as the BT profiles and protocols, it is as spec'd.
the Autoplay does exactly that, it changes from current mode over to BT-Audio and start playing the current audio on the device.

yes, i agree that when you put in the disk it starts playing. my metaphor was more of the separate devices, you don't choose to watch cable for example, and the DVD plays in the background ya know?

well i hope that a firmware upgrade comes out that changes the BT protocol to not auto-play, which is what my dealership sent to VWoA about my concern.

to me, it doesn't do what I expect it to do, even if the protocol describes this is how it "should" work, I don't like it. :D
 

jnmarshall

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James' MK6 TDI

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Not sure this applies. In our cars I would suspect possibly some setting to module 2E (Media Player) or possibly module 77 (Telephone). I'll look at it this weekend. I'm a noob with VW programming, so I'm still playing around.
cool let me know what you find out :cool:
 

jnmarshall

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You can use Bluetooth Service Manager on your iphone available on Cydia. I installed it and turned off the A2DP profile and it works fine. The phone functions still work as does the cable in the glovebox.
 

James' MK6 TDI

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You can use Bluetooth Service Manager on your iphone available on Cydia. I installed it and turned off the A2DP profile and it works fine. The phone functions still work as does the cable in the glovebox.
awesome idea, however this is my work phone and I won't Jailbreak it... thanks for the good idea though for people that can. :eek:
 

jnmarshall

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Spent a couple of hours going over the phone and media settings in VCDS and didn't find anything useful related. Sorry.
 
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