Bluetooth Audio and auto-starting from iphone 4

hawleyrw said:

I've got an iphone 4 (on my hip, connects BT only), and an ipod in the glove box by MDI...system always starts playing the ipod (like it should). I've got music on my iphone, but i've never had the car start to play anything on it.

I'm running a '12 prem w/nav.

Click to expand...

I tried that today (iPhone connected via BT, iPod connected via MDI). You're correct, it played music from the iPod and didn't automatically switch over to the iPhone. However, it did start playing music on the iPhone (you just can't hear it), so it'll drain your iPhone battery unless you unlock it and pause the iPhone music.

Apparently the problem is on the Fender/VW end:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3464161?start=45&tstart=0

I can tell you it's not just Apple devices - our Android phones do the same thing. Annoying as hell - especially when you forget to stop it, then get out of the car with your hands full and music starts blaring from your pocket.

cvandegna said:

I can tell you it's not just Apple devices - our Android phones do the same thing. Annoying as hell - especially when you forget to stop it, then get out of the car with your hands full and music starts blaring from your pocket.

Click to expand...

iPhone plays silently when u leave the car, I'd REALLY be mad about this if it was playing out the phones speaker.

I have the same issue. 4s automatically starts playing music. iPod hooked up to mdi cable. I feel its an Apple software dilemma. The VW is doing as it is made to do. Apple needs to make bluetooth switchable for both phone & audio.

The more I read, the more I'm thinking VW is making some BT command that's causing this. Here's a guy with a Blackberry Torch having the same issue. http://forums.crackberry.com/bluetooth-central-f42/connect-vw-jetta-autostarts-media-player-635316/

And I found a bug report to Google for it across multiple Android devices since Froyo. http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=10684

Seems it's not just Android, and not just VW, but something deep in the bluetooth commands. That sucks - likely not to get a fix anytime soon then.

I agree. The issue appears to lie with Fender (the maker of the radio). Please write them a short email asking them to look into the issue.
consumerrelations@fender.com
If enough of us write them, then hopefully we can get a firmware update fix.

Me too....

I just bought a 12 Passat SE TDI...No Fender equipment (at least it doesn't have the Fender logo in the dash like the SEL Premium does). My wife and I both have LG "dumb phones" that are paired for BT and both of them have this same problem. As soon as you start the car and the BT connects to the phone, the music player on the phone starts. But (I guess) since I have BT audio auto-start function in the radio "unchecked", you don't hear it. You can make phone calls and listen to FM or SAT on the radio just fine. Fast forward to when you get out of the car: About the time you step out, the BT disconnects and whatever song happens to be playing on the phone at that time blares at whatever the phones volume is set at.......SOOOOOO annoying. The phone's battery life suffers as a result. Is it worth complaining about this at my first scheduled check-up? Are there any other solutions? Sounds to me like it is a VW issue, not a phone or BT issue. I say this because in 2.5 years and counting, I have never had this happen with the Sync system in my 2010 Ford Fusion. Very frustrating.

Also, I find that the microphone in the VW sucks for hands free phone calls. When my wife calls me from the Passat, there is so much static, it sounds like she has all the windows down and is going 100 mph down a road covered in dried leaves.......and she says she has all the windows up and has even turned off the A/C fan......Any help?

Thanks in advance from the newbie.

It's definitely the radio and not your phone. Email VW about it. The more people who speak up, the more likely we'll get a fix.

After playing with the radio /phone/media/BT settings a little more last night, I think the issue is that the BT media connects automatically at start-up. It appears that their are two things getting connected, phone and media player.
The way I see it, the coding needs to be changed:

Solution A: Start the media player connection ONLY after pressing the following buttons; Media, Source, BT Audio

Solution B: Provide a way to disable the Media Player start-up all together.

I'll send my comments to VW, but I'm just rambling here to document the issue and let the rest of the community see that they are not alone with this issue.

Thanks in advance for any further assistance,

Problem does not exist with BT ver. 4.0

OK...My HTC EVO 4G (BT ver. 3) had the same annoying issue as was documented here. The autoplay command sent by BT to the phone.

I just upgraded to a new phone last week and this problem is now completely GONE. The Samsung S3 is the bomb and it comes with BT version 4.

HTH

VW of America called me last week to discuss this issue and said they'd look into it. Two days later they called back and said "yes it appears to be on our end and we are working on a fix, should be done in a few weeks."

Guess we'll have to see in a few weeks

Subscribed. I've had the car less than a week, and this problem is irritating the hell out of me.

I don't seem to have this issue, but recently my iPhone4 battery has been needing to get charged everyday.

2012 Golf w/ Tech Package

When I start the car, the BT syncs up with the phone like it should, If the radio was on, it stays on the radio, if a CD was playing, it stays playing the CD. If my ipod (not phone) was plugged in and playing music, it continues to play the music where it left off. So no issues on that end.

I almost never plug my iPhone into the MDI, but when I do, and try to play music, I do have some small issues, that I can't remember at the moment. I'll see if duplicate today and report back. I also will try to play via BT as well.

I wish the MDI cable was a little longer though.

That's interesting that you're not experiencing the BT issues that everyone else is. Perhaps your Golf has a different radio than the Jettas? Regarding the cable, you can purchase extension cables for the iPhone/iPod dock connections (female-to-male). This has been very useful for me as the MDI port in the Jettas is annoyingly located in the glove box.

STRANGETDI said:

I don't seem to have this issue, but recently my iPhone4 battery has been needing to get charged everyday.

2012 Golf w/ Tech Package

When I start the car, the BT syncs up with the phone like it should, If the radio was on, it stays on the radio, if a CD was playing, it stays playing the CD. If my ipod (not phone) was plugged in and playing music, it continues to play the music where it left off. So no issues on that end.

I almost never plug my iPhone into the MDI, but when I do, and try to play music, I do have some small issues, that I can't remember at the moment. I'll see if duplicate today and report back. I also will try to play via BT as well.

I wish the MDI cable was a little longer though.

Click to expand...

are you sure your iPhone isn't playing music in the background? That's what mine does, and it was killing my battery.

Subscribed for a fix.

I listen to audiobooks quite a bit but like to switch over to some satellite radio occasionally during the drive.

This autoplay feature causes my audiobooks to keep playing and as a result I have to try and skip back and find the section where I stopped listening.

This can be a major pain.

I have a '12 Golf Base FWIW

Yamasaki said:

Subscribed for a fix.

I listen to audiobooks quite a bit but like to switch over to some satellite radio occasionally during the drive.

This autoplay feature causes my audiobooks to keep playing and as a result I have to try and skip back and find the section where I stopped listening.

This can be a major pain.

I have a '12 Golf Base FWIW

Click to expand...

Same story, different car (Passat TDI). Can't wait for a fix. MediaButtonRouter seemed to work well on my Android, but I switched to an iPhone and can't find any similar solution.

Bit disappointed between this and the left-channel-only streaming.

Volkswagen...playing half your audio, all of the time.

I have had my 2013 Jetta SW TDI with 6-spd manual, nav and sunroof for 5 weeks. Love it except for the radio and problems with Bluetooth connectivity and the voice recognition. I had a "freezing" after hanging up from a Bluetooth call 2 weeks ago and lost all voice recognition playback, commands, Bluetooth and media playback. Went to the dealer Monday and they did a "wipe" to reboot and re-set. This worked until I turned it off and when I re-started a few hours later, the same problem occurred. Latest fix from the "VW Tech Line" is to replace the radio. Is this probably a bad radio or something that I can anticipate to occur again in the future? Thanks for any help.

Yamasaki said:

Subscribed for a fix.

Click to expand...

This isn't going to help solve yours or any other poster's problem. Everyone that posted here needs to contact VW and OPEN a case! I have a case open (and closed) and seem to be the only one according to VW. There is no solution and it sounds like there is NOT going to be one as VW doesn't knows there is an issue as they do not have a large enough number of complaints to cause them to investigate. The current suggestion was to try a new phone or switch to a different manufacturer. And have closed my case with that solution!

Instead of wasting time and space here it would be more helpful to the community to contact VW and get a case opened. VW does NOT read these forums and does not even know this thread or problem exists.

I don't have the issue with my iPhone 4S, iOS6 and RNS-315...

Anyone with the problem willing to do a full restore on their phone to factory settings without restoring the backup to see if that resolves the issue? iPhone's can have problems over time with multiple upgrades and the only usual fix is to go back to a clean slate.

I'm having the opposite issue.

I just started using the Bluetooth connection for audio yesterday (been using it for the hands-free phone since I bought the car).

I have the iPhone 4s. I start the car, wait for the phone to connect then start music on the phone. Then select Bluetooth on the Media screen. It will play 2 or 3 songs then switch to playing off of my SD card (in the car).

kjake said:

I don't have the issue with my iPhone 4S, iOS6 and RNS-315...

Click to expand...

I don't seem to have an issue either.

I have the same issue. iOS 5 does not play well. iOS 6 is half as bad. It still auto plays the audio however it happens less. I discovered if I close out iTunes then when I get back in the car it will sync withOUT playing music. So this is halfway better.
If the iPhone is on iOS 4 there is no issue with the auto play. I have sat in the car with a tech and service manager and repeated the issue with several phones on different iOS and service providers
I have had my head unit replaced once by the dealer. I have the fender system
VWoA has told me an update was being worked on to fix the issue. Was to be released around oct. ( I was told 30 days or so at the end of aug)

iOS6??

Anyone with the new operating system notice this no longer happens all the time? Its now hit or miss if it starts up automatically or not. However, if it doesn't start on its own you no longer have access to change the song through the radio, nor can you see the title of the song or whatever you are listening to.

revchris01 said:

Anyone with the new operating system notice this no longer happens all the time? Its now hit or miss if it starts up automatically or not. However, if it doesn't start on its own you no longer have access to change the song through the radio, nor can you see the title of the song or whatever you are listening to.

Click to expand...

With ios6 it seems to stop when I turnoff the car, but still is automatically starting when Bluetooth connects

It will be awesome if we could stream Netflix via Bluetooth or the dongle inside the glove box.

VeeDubTDI said:

Technical Service Bulletin 2031136/1 <-- you must mention this number!
91-13-03 - Update Programming RCD-510 Radio (Premium 8)
Release date: Jan 11, 2013

This TSB covers all 2012 and 2013 models except Routan, Touareg, and Jetta Hybrid.

Old Software Part Number: 1K0.035.180.AE
New Software Part Number: 1K0.035.180.AF

Old software version number (2012): 0007, 0008, 0009, 0010, 0011, 0012, 0013, 0014, 0015, 0016
Old software version number (2013): 0007
New software version number (2012 & 2013): 0008

This update programming has been released to address the following customer complaints...

"Bluetooth audio runs in mono."
"Media player automatically starts when phone is connected to vehicle."
"Bluetooth audio level is too high."

Click to expand...

Having this update done at the VW dealer as we speak. This update is for ALL 2012 and 2013 RCD-510 (Premium 8) head units except Routan, Touareg, and Jetta Hybrid.

You must mention the TSB number, which is 2031136/1 ... the dealership may have trouble finding the update if you mention the reference number, which is 91-13-03.

Happy stereo Bluetoothing!

Hallelujah! Let me know if it fixed all the issues for you. I emailed VW last week to ask them what the status of the fix is and they said it would be available by the end of the month

Does the dealer do this or can we do it?

Thanks

Dealer does it. It takes 2 hours.