Database Develop

[Q] bluetooth with car stereo problems, you guessed it

Okay, so lots of people have problems with their bluetooth. I am too. I have a JVC KW-XR810 car stereo and the bluetooth keeps shutting down on one or the other. My questions are:
Does anyone else have this stereo and problem? If so, whats the situation?
Is there a ROM that works flawlessly (or close to) with the bluetooth?
Its odd though, that my headset works perfectly and I didn't have many problems with another stereo I've used. Makes me wonder if its the stereo or the phone. Still, many others have bluetooth problems with this phone...
Thanks for any responses.
Stock Froyo
Rooted
One click lag fix

My last 3 phones (including this one) have all worked flawlessly with my Sony MEX-BT3700 head unit. Phone calls, BT dialing, streaming music, all work perfectly.

Yep, same here - AT&T replaced my Captivate under warranty about 2 or 3 weeks ago due to the random shut-down issue. Took the new one home, installed Froyo, and rooted it. Everything works well, except lately I've been getting frequent bluetooth disconnects from my car stereo (Pioneer AVIC-X920BT).
The usual pattern seems to be it's good for about one call, and then shortly after ending that call, I notice that they are no longer connected. I usually turn off BT on the phone (seems to take a while to terminate) and then turn it back on, but it will usually only be good for a single call. It's been frustrating, and I'm leaning toward the problem being on the phone side, since that's where there have been recent changes.

Must be a problem with Stock Froyo. Glad I'm not using it.

I've had this issue with certain roms I was running. I have a Kenwood KDC-X993. So far on CM7 it stayed connected.
Sent from my SGH-I897

i have the same (or similar) problem with my OEM headunit on a VW Golf. BT randomly disconnects but my music (pandora) still plays through the BT stereo, unless I stop it. Then its completely disconnected and I'll have to reconnect the phone to the car.
annoying but I just deal with it.

I'm running Paragon 6 and have a Dual head unit. I haven't had any disconnect issues, my problem is the crappy Pandora app.

mdaudioguy said:
Yep, same here - AT&T replaced my Captivate under warranty about 2 or 3 weeks ago due to the random shut-down issue. Took the new one home, installed Froyo, and rooted it. Everything works well, except lately I've been getting frequent bluetooth disconnects from my car stereo (Pioneer AVIC-X920BT).
The usual pattern seems to be it's good for about one call, and then shortly after ending that call, I notice that they are no longer connected. I usually turn off BT on the phone (seems to take a while to terminate) and then turn it back on, but it will usually only be good for a single call. It's been frustrating, and I'm leaning toward the problem being on the phone side, since that's where there have been recent changes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, I have a Parrot mki system in my car, but I found a workaround that I hope works for you too:
Unpair with the device, and when you re-pair it, when it asks you to synchronize contacts, do not let it. It will bug you every time it connects, but just ignore the requests.
I haven't had a single disconnect since doing this weeks ago.

I've read about the contacts request from other users but it doesn't happen with mine. Another thing, when I lose the connection and I turn off bt one the phone out shuts off. Completely. Pushing the power button does nothing. Holding the volume up and power buttons together for a few seconds seems to restart it but theres no animation. Just the lock screen, media scanner, etc. Maybe its restarting on its own and the button pushing has nothing to do with it. Also, I listened to my bt headset for hours last night with no probs at alI. Idk. Is bt different for head units? I thought it all used the same protocals.
So it seems that its not my head unit, but the phone. Are there any good solutions for us?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

My head unit never asks to download contacts. Could it be that some do because they store that info in order to identify and announce incoming calls? That would mean there's more going on than just a simple BT connection.

Yeah. One post I read said something about it using a data connection the hu for contacts. I have no idea what he was talking about though.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

My head unit have the ability to sync contacts. When I first paired it, the phone asks me for permission and there's a check box to always allow.
Sent from my SGH-I897

nahrah said:
My head unit have the ability to sync contacts. When I first paired it, the phone asks me for permission and there's a check box to always allow.
Sent from my SGH-I897
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only purpose I can see for this is if the head unit has an integrated nav system. That would allow you to bring up a contact as a nav target independent of the phone.

Okay, gettinging back to my original questions. So far we've established that this is endemic to the captivate, mostly. There have been two replies saying that cm7 and paragon 6 have stable bt connections with head units. I read in another post that axura works as well. This is so frustrating that I'm just about willng to learn how to flash this thing.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

NvigR8 said:
Okay, gettinging back to my original questions. So far we've established that this is endemic to the captivate, mostly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We have? My first post says I have zero issues with this on my head unit with my phone on Eclair, Froyo and now Andromeda. If it is a phone issue mine is not suffering from it. Sounds more like it has something to do with head units that store contact data. Mine apparently doesn't.

Hmmm.
Yet in your second post you posited that it must be a Froyo issue.
Regardless of whether it is the phone or OS, a lot of Captivate owners seem to have bt issues of one kind or another with various devices. Maybe this is just a bt issue in general that everyone deals with (not just Captivate owners) and I'm just being sensitive because I haven't had much bt exposure.
Any help is appreciated here. I'm just looking for suggestions on what to do short of buying a new phone or head unit. It would be great if other users experiencing this problem would benefit from the discussion as well.
So far it appears that flashing a different ROM may be a solution but which one? Is there any way to change only the bt stack?

Sorry if that sounded short, but I'm REALLY frustrated with this.
My hu will store contacts as most do these days, but it doesn't ask for them. I don't think the problem is related to the contacts. I guess its just a random incompatibility thing.

I said it "might" be a problem with stock Froyo. I didn't see it the 3 days I was running it and my current ROM is Froyo-based and working without issue. The only other variable I can see is that others posting problems have reported having to deny access to contacts, something my head unit never asks for, in order to get it to work. That would appear to indicate the difference is in the head units and not the phones, but unless I could connect to one of these other head units to verify, I'm only guessing. Sorry.

i notice that if I toggle the bluetooth on my phone right before connecting it to my car, it works flawlessly

Installed a Kenwood X994 and had all kinds of issues with BT. Worked for awhile but would never auto connect. Only vehicle and area where I had BT issues. I realized it was due to the downloading of contacts at every connect. sometimes it would download than immediately disconnect. frustrating. Was on serendipity, Tried a native Cappy ROM, Cognition and now Phoenix..
The unit has the Parrot system in it so it should be ok. Finally decided to update the Firmware on the HU. So far so good. I like the contact download so I don't need to use the phone at all to make a call. Receiving calls is no problem.
Will test further tomorrow.
BTW I have a BT Garmin mounted in the truck and used it before getting the head unit. no problems connecting. The only issue with that was a delay between pressing the call button and the call being made. Hanging up was an issue as well.

[Q] Bluetooth audio streaming problems

I've had my Nexus S for a couple of weeks now and am really enjoying it.
However, bluetooth audio streaming is proving to be a royal pain.
I am using a Motorola T505 in my car.
The symptoms are pretty consistent.
If I reboot my phone then the audio will stream over bluetooth flawlessly.
If I try to stream without rebooting the phone then it will stutter and stop randomly.
My diagnosis is that there are processes running on the phone that interfere with the bluetooth or take up memory that is needed for the streaming to work smoothly.
I have read that wifi can be a culprit, but even with this switched off I have a problem.
I know that my drive home takes me through areas with varying degrees of reception. The phone does switch from 3G to edge to gprs and there are areas where the signal is quite weak. But if this was a problem then it would have an effect whether I had rebooted the phone first or not.
I have tried installing Advanced Task Manager and using this to kill programs that are running but this does not prevent the problem. Even if I am able to get free memory up to 120mb + I still get the stuttering.
I'm determined to get to the bottom of the problem as it is just about my only issue with the phone and it is a PITA to reboot before my commute.
I am aware that there are all sorts of processes running on the phone and using system resources but I don't know what is safe to kill and what isn't.
Should I use a different task manager?
Is there a particular app which might be causing a problem?
Any ideas on how I can troubleshoot this further would be gratefully received.
I am presuming that I am not the only one who has this issue?
Thanks

paulpenny said:
I've had my Nexus S for a couple of weeks now and am really enjoying it.
However, bluetooth audio streaming is proving to be a royal pain.
I am using a Motorola T505 in my car.
The symptoms are pretty consistent.
If I reboot my phone then the audio will stream over bluetooth flawlessly.
If I try to stream without rebooting the phone then it will stutter and stop randomly.
My diagnosis is that there are processes running on the phone that interfere with the bluetooth or take up memory that is needed for the streaming to work smoothly.
I have read that wifi can be a culprit, but even with this switched off I have a problem.
I know that my drive home takes me through areas with varying degrees of reception. The phone does switch from 3G to edge to gprs and there are areas where the signal is quite weak. But if this was a problem then it would have an effect whether I had rebooted the phone first or not.
I have tried installing Advanced Task Manager and using this to kill programs that are running but this does not prevent the problem. Even if I am able to get free memory up to 120mb + I still get the stuttering.
I'm determined to get to the bottom of the problem as it is just about my only issue with the phone and it is a PITA to reboot before my commute.
I am aware that there are all sorts of processes running on the phone and using system resources but I don't know what is safe to kill and what isn't.
Should I use a different task manager?
Is there a particular app which might be causing a problem?
Any ideas on how I can troubleshoot this further would be gratefully received.
I am presuming that I am not the only one who has this issue?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I stream via bt to my car stereo without any issues all the time. What is the audio bitrate you are streaming?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

I stream mainly podcasts. The bit rate will be whatever the default is.
Since I first posted I have had fewer problems with stuttering. I did uninstall poweramp. That may or may not have any bearing on things.
I now find that auto connection is a bit flaky. Sometimes it will connect, other times I have to do it manually.
Overall not the best experience but very nice when it works.

paulpenny said:
I stream mainly podcasts. The bit rate will be whatever the default is.
Since I first posted I have had fewer problems with stuttering. I did uninstall poweramp. That may or may not have any bearing on things.
I now find that auto connection is a bit flaky. Sometimes it will connect, other times I have to do it manually.
Overall not the best experience but very nice when it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no problems streaming audio from my Nexus S to my car's audio deck (Pioneer P7000BT) and I play anything from my music apps (pandora, slacker, etc..) to my songs in my mp3 library. If you aren't on a custom rom, perhaps trying CM7 and a good kernel could help you narrow down your problem.
My phone's setup is listed below in my sig.

I have streaming from my nexus s to kenwood kdc-x994 without any problems

paulpenny said:
I've had my Nexus S for a couple of weeks now and am really enjoying it.
However, bluetooth audio streaming is proving to be a royal pain.
I am using a Motorola T505 in my car.
The symptoms are pretty consistent.
If I reboot my phone then the audio will stream over bluetooth flawlessly.
If I try to stream without rebooting the phone then it will stutter and stop randomly.
My diagnosis is that there are processes running on the phone that interfere with the bluetooth or take up memory that is needed for the streaming to work smoothly.
I have read that wifi can be a culprit, but even with this switched off I have a problem.
I know that my drive home takes me through areas with varying degrees of reception. The phone does switch from 3G to edge to gprs and there are areas where the signal is quite weak. But if this was a problem then it would have an effect whether I had rebooted the phone first or not.
I have tried installing Advanced Task Manager and using this to kill programs that are running but this does not prevent the problem. Even if I am able to get free memory up to 120mb + I still get the stuttering.
I'm determined to get to the bottom of the problem as it is just about my only issue with the phone and it is a PITA to reboot before my commute.
I am aware that there are all sorts of processes running on the phone and using system resources but I don't know what is safe to kill and what isn't.
Should I use a different task manager?
Is there a particular app which might be causing a problem?
Any ideas on how I can troubleshoot this further would be gratefully received.
I am presuming that I am not the only one who has this issue?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bump!!!
Brand new Nexus S owner with the EXACT same problem, it's driving me nuts.
Unless I do a reboot on the phone or sometimes just a manual disable & re-enable on the bluetooth, it will keep having 1-2 second audio drops right in the middle of playback. I have a Kenwood KDC-BT838U deck. The bluetooth connection between the deck and phone never breaks. It never disconnects or disassociates in any form as far as I can tell. It's clearly a problem with my Nexus S only because I also have an iPhone 4 and it works flawlessly all the time (just not unlimited data on that phone!)
It's really annoying that others in this thread say they don't have the issue at all. I have streamed off Youtube HD and radio stations via TuneIn Radio.
It's super annoying considering I got the unlimited data package for exactly this reason.
It's only been 4 days of having the phone so maybe I'll go try and exchange tomorrow.
Just my luck

paulpenny said:
I've had my Nexus S for a couple of weeks now and am really enjoying it.
However, bluetooth audio streaming is proving to be a royal pain.
I am using a Motorola T505 in my car.
The symptoms are pretty consistent.
If I reboot my phone then the audio will stream over bluetooth flawlessly.
If I try to stream without rebooting the phone then it will stutter and stop randomly.
My diagnosis is that there are processes running on the phone that interfere with the bluetooth or take up memory that is needed for the streaming to work smoothly.
I have read that wifi can be a culprit, but even with this switched off I have a problem.
I know that my drive home takes me through areas with varying degrees of reception. The phone does switch from 3G to edge to gprs and there are areas where the signal is quite weak. But if this was a problem then it would have an effect whether I had rebooted the phone first or not.
I have tried installing Advanced Task Manager and using this to kill programs that are running but this does not prevent the problem. Even if I am able to get free memory up to 120mb + I still get the stuttering.
I'm determined to get to the bottom of the problem as it is just about my only issue with the phone and it is a PITA to reboot before my commute.
I am aware that there are all sorts of processes running on the phone and using system resources but I don't know what is safe to kill and what isn't.
Should I use a different task manager?
Is there a particular app which might be causing a problem?
Any ideas on how I can troubleshoot this further would be gratefully received.
I am presuming that I am not the only one who has this issue?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try disabling wifi while you streaming through bluetooth. Wifi radio can interfere with some headunits.

slvr00gt said:
Try disabling wifi while you streaming through bluetooth. Wifi radio can interfere with some headunits.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First thing I tried!
I've moved on to cm7.0.2 and it is still a bit flaky, although not as bad as it was.
There doesn't seem to be any pattern. Sometimes it's fine other times it's not.

Interesting, I have had a Kenwood KDC-BT945U for sometime now and have used it with many different phones. My Nexus One had a very flaky connection to it, my HTC G2 connected fine but would give me audio drop outs randomly every few minutes which was SO ANNOYING, Iphone work just fine and my Nexus S works without issue also. I had assumed it was just an issue with HTC phones. Are you currently running a custom ROM? The only time I was ever able to get my Nexus One working the way it should was to use a Sense Rom.

I upgraded to CM7 and it's as bad as ever, didn't seem to help at all.
I also went through a full exchange at the store, and the brand new one straight out of the plastic did the same thing. Must be the phone itself is all I can think of.
All I have left to try is a new kernel, I can't figure out which kernel to update to if I'm using the Mobilicity AWS Nexus S

If you are having problems with bluetooth streaming and have a task killer installed... Uninstall it...
Task killers are problem makers...
Android has a built in task killer
Good news: I just saved 500 hundred bucks on a new phone by switching to XxXViRuSXxX
(So easy, a noobie can do it)

There is still no solution to this problem. I'm assuming nobody else here is using their Nexus S for bluetooth audio streaming often?
It has persisted through 2 exchanges which leads me to believe theres a problem with the hardware itself or something.
Rooted, custom kernels, nothing fixes it.
This phone is such a piece of junk, I'm hating it more and more every day

duckdown said:
There is still no solution to this problem. I'm assuming nobody else here is using their Nexus S for bluetooth audio streaming often?
It has persisted through 2 exchanges which leads me to believe theres a problem with the hardware itself or something.
Rooted, custom kernels, nothing fixes it.
This phone is such a piece of junk, I'm hating it more and more every day
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use my Nexus S every day to stream music over BT/A2DP to my car stereo (Kenwood Excelon KDC-X994) and it works without any issues, and it always has since I got it. I've rooted it and am using a custom kernel and radio, but left the OS at stock 2.3.4. But it also worked fine with my head unit right out of the box before I made any changes to it.
I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions or solutions for you. In my own experiences it seems like certain BT chipsets just don't work well with certain pieces of BT hardware, so maybe there's just "bad blood" (so to speak) between the BT chipset in the Nexus S and your BT car hardware...?
Sorry I don't have any ideas to offer to try and help.

I also stream music over Bluetooth, the blackberry gateway device works perfectly for me, but it requires an AUX port
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App

What app are you using? I saw you mentioned podcasts and I have seen this problem on my EVO with google listen if i initiate play from the head unit to continue listening. I saw this on stock and CM7. However I have not been able to replicate it as of late. have you tried a differnt program or even just restarting BT? That is what fixed it for me back then.
Hope that helps

To the Gentlemen having problems with Bluetooth streaming. I hate asking but have you tried a different device as the bluetooth receiver if possible? A lot of the users replying are using pretty nice head units and in my experience with my Golf ive had no problems. well thats lie.. i have issues with the turn by turn navigation audio not working. It cuts the music (as it should) but the navigation audio is either non existent or extremely quiet (yes ive checked the navigation volume on the device).
But yeah long story short just wondering what other bluetooth receivers you have tried. Good luck.

Kurupt1 said:
I also stream music over Bluetooth, the blackberry gateway device works perfectly for me, but it requires an AUX port
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the blackberry little gateway as well. When it connects it's great (no stuttering etc), but my phone won't always connect to it when I get in my car. Sometimes turning BT on/off will then get it to connect, but it's random. The sure-fire way to get it to connect is rebooting the phone. Not sure why that is, but very annoying. Does your NS connect to your blackberry gateway every time without fail?

mapin0518 said:
I have the blackberry little gateway as well. When it connects it's great (no stuttering etc), but my phone won't always connect to it when I get in my car. Sometimes turning BT on/off will then get it to connect, but it's random. The sure-fire way to get it to connect is rebooting the phone. Not sure why that is, but very annoying. Does your NS connect to your blackberry gateway every time without fail?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I have the same problem. Only downside to it.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App

Kurupt1 said:
No I have the same problem. Only downside to it.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah that's a relief to hear actually ! I wonder if it's specific to the blackberry gateway, and some other brand A2DP receiver would not have the problem...

Do you know of any others like it? I would be willing to try, gets pretty annoying.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App

[Q] Post 5.1 Bluetooth Issues/bugs

5.1 did not fix the bluetooth issues I had...it actually added another bug.
New with 5.1:
-When playing music with Google Play Music, whenever I switch tracks, the screen turns on. Why?
Still a problem after 5.1:
-Sometimes Bluetooth plays but without sound - it takes some weird opening/closing/pausing/starting maneuvering to hopefully get it working
-Pause during notifications does not work properly - I've tried this with Google Maps and a few different podcast apps. With Google Maps Navigation on and a podcast playing...when Google Maps wants to talk, it pauses the podcast (as the setting says) but the Google Maps notification is muted. It's just silence until it is done and then the podcast resumes.
Is anyone else having these sort of issues?
Nexus 6, 5.1D, stock, rooted ,twrp, with my 2013 Cadillac ATS

Yes it is happening to others myself included. why? I have no idea. But you are certainly not alone.
Sent from my Google N6 on VZ

I just posted this in the General section ....
OTA'd the 5.1 update on 3/26/15.
Since then, contact addresses fail to appear on vehicle displays over Bluetooth.
Rebooted phone / Forgot and paired phone to vehicle, no fix.
Phone is paired to 2 vehicles with the same results.
Can anyone confirm this?

Having the same issue. If you disable ambient display, the screen will stay off when selecting tracks with Bluetooth. My issue with Bluetooth is that every few days I have to reboot the phone to get the BT to work. I can't even toggle Bluetooth. When I do, it says Bluetooth turning off, it toggles back on by itself. Tried force closing all running apps but dosent help.

Bluetooth...
jeffreii said:
5.1 did not fix the bluetooth issues I had...it actually added another bug.
New with 5.1:
-When playing music with Google Play Music, whenever I switch tracks, the screen turns on. Why?
Still a problem after 5.1:
-Sometimes Bluetooth plays but without sound - it takes some weird opening/closing/pausing/starting maneuvering to hopefully get it working
-Pause during notifications does not work properly - I've tried this with Google Maps and a few different podcast apps. With Google Maps Navigation on and a podcast playing...when Google Maps wants to talk, it pauses the podcast (as the setting says) but the Google Maps notification is muted. It's just silence until it is done and then the podcast resumes.
Is anyone else having these sort of issues?
Nexus 6, 5.1D, stock, rooted ,twrp, with my 2013 Cadillac ATS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When it comes to bluetooth problems, especially with cars and this phone you will find very few helpful answers. Sad but true, not many Nexus 6 people seem to use hands free automobile applications on their device. I had to buy a new head unit for my car along with all the other bullcrap to make it look nice in my car to get some of these puzzling problems to disappear. Android Auto works great if you have the supporting gear in your car and follow the instructions about how to pair phone with car and use the right USB port and wire in your Nexus. After that, everything works as expected. Unfortunately you do have to spend some cash and time to do this but it is the future and if you plan and use your phone in car more than anywhere else, it is worth the investment and will improve with time. The only good take away from all this is, so far only nexus devices running lollipop work with Android Auto supporting head units.

vvveith said:
When it comes to bluetooth problems, especially with cars and this phone you will find very few helpful answers. Sad but true, not many Nexus 6 people seem to use hands free automobile applications on their device. I had to buy a new head unit for my car along with all the other bullcrap to make it look nice in my car to get some of these puzzling problems to disappear. Android Auto works great if you have the supporting gear in your car and follow the instructions about how to pair phone with car and use the right USB port and wire in your Nexus. After that, everything works as expected. Unfortunately you do have to spend some cash and time to do this but it is the future and if you plan and use your phone in car more than anywhere else, it is worth the investment and will improve with time. The only good take away from all this is, so far only nexus devices running lollipop work with Android Auto supporting head units.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wasn't perfect, but my Bluetooth was just fine pre 5.1...I can deal with the quirks and avoid spending $$ on Android Auto (for now at least)...but these major bugs need to be fixed ASAP.

Do we know if this is fixed?
Is this fixed in 5.1.1? Is there an issue logged with google? Anyone?

I have my nexus 6 rooted with 5.1.1 stock and the bluetooth doesn't work. I cannot see any device but the other devices can see it.
I have tried to fix it clearing cache and data (only bluetooth) but the problem is still there.
Do you have any idea guys?

This morning I remembered my experiments with my old gt-9100 and I have decided to do wipe cache and wipe dalvik-cache.
And now... bluetooth is alive!!!
[emoji39]

Android Auto and the Nexus 6.

I thought it may be interesting to have a thread where Nexus 6 users with the supporting hardware systems could post: Tips, How to's, experience, etc. about the Android Auto APK and Nexus 6 devices. Please feel free to enlighten all who enter. :good:

Android auto is just a remote display and sound, isn't it? I don't find it particularly interesting since it *depends* on the phone for the "android" aspect. It is a much better option to install an Android HU in the car, then it isn't functionally dependent on the phone.

Not sure if you're asking or telling.
doitright said:
Android auto is just a remote display and sound, isn't it? I don't find it particularly interesting since it *depends* on the phone for the "android" aspect. It is a much better option to install an Android HU in the car, then it isn't functionally dependent on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is a mobile application for using your phone in a car. It displays on the cars touch screen and is controlled by voice commands. It only uses the bluetooth stack for phone calls, all other sound and video comes from the phones usb port. This equates to better audio and clear, crisp video. By the way, it only works on the latest Android HU.

i've been using it with my Pioneer 4100-NEX, it works quite well. i wish you could swipe away cards and have more notifications push though (ie, sms and hangouts come through, but not facebook messenger)
all in all i'm pretty happy with it, it's fast, simple, pretty and i've been pleasantly surprised with how responsive the resistive screen on the HU is.

vvveith said:
It is a mobile application
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Its an interface.
for using your phone in a car. It displays on the cars touch screen and is controlled by voice commands. It only uses the bluetooth stack for phone calls, all other sound and video comes from the phones usb port. This equates to better audio and clear, crisp video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Translate to what I said.
By the way, it only works on the latest Android HU.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HU does *not* require android to work with android auto.

If you want to try out Android Auto you can sign up for the beta of the app called AutoMate. First you'll need to join the beta group in Google+. Next you'll have to agree to be a beta tester with google play. Then you'll finally be able to download the app. I have been using the app for a couple of days now and I personally think that it is great. Its just like Android Auto, at least from what i've seen in all of the android auto demos. I have a pretty good car mount that can fit the nexus 6 so when I took a 4 hour trip this weekend everything worked flawlessly. The best part is that you've already got a giant 6 inch capacitive screen, why not use it instead of paying at least $800 for the cheap resistive screen version of the pioneer head units.

I have a pretty interesting issue where my Android Wear watch (Moto 360) is being CONSTANTLY pinged by my Nexus 6 while plugged into Android Auto. For the life of me, I can't figure out why. Maps is the only app I use regularly in Android Auto and I have it muted on Android Wear...yet, it's draining my Moto 360 battery QUICKLY every time I plug in. It's the strangest thing. I've had to start putting my 360 into Airplane mode to avoid problems while driving. As soon as I unplug the Nexus from my Android Auto HU, I then have to reconnect my 360 in the Android Wear app...or else it won't reconnect and continues to drain battery.
Seriously the weirdest thing.

yeah I have the pioneer 4100nex and originally was using a Moto G and it works great and then I preorderd the ATT galaxy S6 Edge and received it on tuesday, well the S6 edge doesn't work with the Android Auto, so I returned it and just bought google play edition Nexus 6 64gb, and works perfect, I really like the google navigation, reads texts and you can voice reply to the texts,you can play your google music, I`m very happy with it.:good:

That is not the purpose of this thread.
blakedunc235 said:
If you want to try out Android Auto you can sign up for the beta of the app called AutoMate. First you'll need to join the beta group in Google+. Next you'll have to agree to be a beta tester with google play. Then you'll finally be able to download the app. I have been using the app for a couple of days now and I personally think that it is great. Its just like Android Auto, at least from what i've seen in all of the android auto demos. I have a pretty good car mount that can fit the nexus 6 so when I took a 4 hour trip this weekend everything worked flawlessly. The best part is that you've already got a giant 6 inch capacitive screen, why not use it instead of paying at least $800 for the cheap resistive screen version of the pioneer head units.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like to believe we all know how to use our phones hands free in a car and need no special app to do that. That's the way most of us have been doing it for the past six years or so since the smartphones came out. A simple bluetooth radio used to give you all you needed paired with your phones screen. But now it's much easier to get into your car, plug your device into your hidden USB port and let it charge with screen off and have a heads up display on your radios big screen while the audio is streamed through USB and the only thing using the bluetooth stack is the phone part of the phone. Sound quality is vastly improved and everything runs so much smoother. Plus the steering wheel controls for answering calls, activating OK google and other voice related options allows you to keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel.

vvveith said:
I like to believe we all know how to use our phones hands free in a car and need no special app to do that. That's the way most of us have been doing it for the past six years or so since the smartphones came out. A simple bluetooth radio used to give you all you needed paired with your phones screen. But now it's much easier to get into your car, plug your device into your hidden USB port and let it charge with screen off and have a heads up display on your radios big screen while the audio is streamed through USB and the only thing using the bluetooth stack is the phone part of the phone. Sound quality is vastly improved and everything runs so much smoother. Plus the steering wheel controls for answering calls, activating OK google and other voice related options allows you to keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First if your car already has Bluetooth like mine then you still have all of the same controls as the actual android auto head units. Also just like on my phone it's not like you can just say OK Google with the music playing but if the music isn't at least I can just say OK Google even with the screen off as well and will get a response. More that likely a person will still end up looking at the device or take their hands off of the wheel when giving a command. I mean come on, Google now works but everyone knows that it's still not perfect yet. Even on my phone I still have to type out what I'm saying even if I'm annunciating perfectly just FYI... Bluetooth audio has also vastly improved over the years. I would argue that the average person would not even notice the difference between Bluetooth audio and being playing directly over USB. Also don't say that it runs 'so much smoother' because most of us have seen the videos and they are still laggy and still not as responsive as our phone themselves. I was simply giving an option to people who wanted to try out android auto without having to buy a crappy resistive screen head unit unless you wanted to shell out over $1000 for one. Also is not a heads up display... A heads up display would be something out in the area of where the driver will be looking out of the windshield as to not having to take their eyes off of the road ahead.

Please.
blakedunc235 said:
First if your car already has Bluetooth like mine then you still have all of the same controls as the actual android auto head units. Also just like on my phone it's not like you can just say OK Google with the music playing but if the music isn't at least I can just say OK Google even with the screen off as well and will get a response. More that likely a person will still end up looking at the device or take their hands off of the wheel when giving a command. I mean come on, Google now works but everyone knows that it's still not perfect yet. Even on my phone I still have to type out what I'm saying even if I'm annunciating perfectly just FYI... Bluetooth audio has also vastly improved over the years. I would argue that the average person would not even notice the difference between Bluetooth audio and being playing directly over USB. Also don't say that it runs 'so much smoother' because most of us have seen the videos and they are still laggy and still not as responsive as our phone themselves. I was simply giving an option to people who wanted to try out android auto without having to buy a crappy resistive screen head unit unless you wanted to shell out over $1000 for one. Also is not a heads up display... A heads up display would be something out in the area of where the driver will be looking out of the windshield as to not having to take their eyes off of the road ahead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please try and understand what I started this thread for. It is for those of us who are using Android Auto with a supporting head unit. Just like back a few months ago, I was using the sync system in my car. I have never had any issues with my voice to text, every once in a while a word would be incorrect, but the more you use it in a quite environment the better your results get. My text messaging reads back my response before it sends and I can either allow it to send or say the message again. I have not had to touch my phone in a car for five years and don't plan on doing anything like that today even with the radios display. The idea of hands free is exactly that, Hands Free. If you don't have the tech to support and help contribute to developing apps that help alleviate the use of hands in the car, this is not the forum thread for you. I don't know what music application you prefer, but the ones I use I pay a premium for because they offer me higher bandwidth and truer sound. And you can immediately here the difference between bluetooth and wired. It's been rumored already that Bluetooth is soon to become extinct and it seems that is the way mobile tech is rolling. BTW, HU the way I was using it my Head Unit not heads up.

The good part is.....
doitright said:
Android auto is just a remote display and sound, isn't it? I don't find it particularly interesting since it *depends* on the phone for the "android" aspect. It is a much better option to install an Android HU in the car, then it isn't functionally dependent on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be the ideal, but very few cars come with a built in cellular connection, I know they are available but this is the inexpensive way to go. What I like the most about it is the ability to put the phone in my center compartment where the USB outlet is hidden, shut the compartment while the phone is charging and still have access to all of my phones functionality straight from the steering wheel. It's wonderful not to have to look at a screen, and if I do glance at the screen to see a turn that might be coming up or what song is playing on a stream, it is big and clear and takes not even a second to see. Luckily, the Navigation in google maps is pretty trustworthy and gives voice commands with plenty of time to spare so it's rare to even have to look at the Map when moving. My next car will have built in cellular service, it was just still to expensive four years ago when I bought my car and my service provider did not have a system in place for plugging in their tech. They do now but I won't be in the market for another car for at least another year. The thing that got me into having a Android Auto supporting HU is my text messaging application and the sync system, would not play nice together anymore because of changes in Lollipop from kit kat. Sync kept crashing the bluetooth sharing feature anytime I received a text. And since I was using that tech for the past four years, there was no way I was going back to having to touch a screen or try and type a text in the car. The developers I work with tried many fixes to see if we could alleviate the problem, but every thing we tried failed. The problem was immediately remedied with the new HU. Now I'm trying to find others that use the same tech, so we can share our experiences and any other useful features we find or help each other with certain problems one might experience. That is what this thread is about. If you have a Android Auto compatible HU and a Nexus device, this is a place to share.

Volsmart PX5 HU for $269.99 us shipping!

Volsmart Fire006 Android 6.0 Double Din Car Stereo GPS with 8 Cores 2GB RAM 32GB ROM support 4G SIM Card https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MR6XLLD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ydqAzbABWYYG2
This looks like a very good price. US one day shipping from Amazon Prime. I ordered it and an external mic for ~$8 just in case. Hoping it's good. What do you guys think about it?

Well I pulled the trigger and purchased. I did not get the external mic. Had to hack up my dash trim and some of the actual dash. This is a 2004 Ford Focus. The iso harness connected with no modification as I previously had a Blaupunkt radio. I am having audio popping on my end when placing a bluetooth call. Music sounds great on bluetooth and is very loud and sounds full range. Hoping for some help with bluetooth call audio issue.

I saw you got it rooted successfully. Anymore updates? Did you get your calls to work any better?

pics? review?

scottc5 said:
I saw you got it rooted successfully. Anymore updates? Did you get your calls to work any better?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Xposed works. Youtube background play and ad block work. Calls still not sounding good. The seller had me reflash ROM. Still not sounding good. Seller suggested I try external mic. It should be arriving today.

CadillacMike said:
pics? review?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good: Very fast, great sound, good wifi reception, good bluetooth reception, radio reception acceptable, volume nob works great.
Bad: Tight fit(had to cut dash and trim), bluetooth calls issue, google maps crash sometimes, google app crash sometimes, google voice search can't dial contacts, no option to voice dial contacts, second incoming call no notification or option to switch calls, some electical sound leakage in speakers when touching the screen(not bad I just noticed with my ear near speaker).
Overall: pretty good for the price.

that interface looks good

Its an MTCD. They're largely all the same, with variations in number of USB, SDCARD, amp chip, tuner module. The unit most fully kitted out is the GS MTCD board.
Notice HCT in the android version - they produce the PX5 SOM with the resellers specifying software options (launcher etc.)
Having owned a JY and compared it to a GS board I have - obtained as a spare part for hardware hacking - the GS is the one to go for.

marchnz said:
Its an MTCD. They're largely all the same, with variations in number of USB, SDCARD, amp chip, tuner module. The unit most fully kitted out is the GS MTCD board.
Notice HCT in the android version - they produce the PX5 SOM with the resellers specifying software options (launcher etc.)
Having owned a JY and compared it to a GS board I have - obtained as a spare part for hardware hacking - the GS is the one to go for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good info to know thanks.

kevev said:
Good: Very fast, great sound, good wifi reception, good bluetooth reception, radio reception acceptable, volume nob works great.
Bad: Tight fit(had to cut dash and trim), bluetooth calls issue, google maps crash sometimes, google app crash sometimes, google voice search can't dial contacts, no option to voice dial contacts, second incoming call no notification or option to switch calls, some electical sound leakage in speakers when touching the screen(not bad I just noticed with my ear near speaker).
Overall: pretty good for the price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did the external mic help? I saw that amazon froze this volsmart product too which is making me uneasy since I am in the process of installing mine.

scottc5 said:
Did the external mic help? I saw that amazon froze this volsmart product too which is making me uneasy since I am in the process of installing mine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The mic did not help. Volsmart says they have sent me a new bluetooth module. I am still waiting for it. The old module will need to be de-soldered for removal. I am OK with this as I know electronics. They are not responding to support requests because of China blocking VPN access. If I don't get the new module before end of 30 days I will get refund.

When using Google Maps does the audio kind of stutter and cut in and out on yours? Mine does this but only in Google maps. Google now Assistant sounds fine

scottc5 said:
When using Google Maps does the audio kind of stutter and cut in and out on yours? Mine does this but only in Google maps. Google now Assistant sounds fine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Press the reset button on front with a paper clip. It happens after playing youtube and I shut off the vehicle.

kevev said:
Press the reset button on front with a paper clip. It happens after playing youtube and I shut off the vehicle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm mine seems to do it all the time tried reset, updating maps, uninstalling and reinstalling maps, clearing maps cache, taking out sd card. But nothing has fixed it so far... But all my other audio seems fine.

scottc5 said:
Hmm mine seems to do it all the time tried reset, updating maps, uninstalling and reinstalling maps, clearing maps cache, taking out sd card. But nothing has fixed it so far... But all my other audio seems fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you updated google maps?

kevev said:
Have you updated google maps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep I updated it, tried downgrading to the stock version, and reinstalling it altogether.

scottc5 said:
Yep I updated it, tried downgrading to the stock version, and reinstalling it altogether.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have the same model as me I can send you the ROM for a reload.

kevev said:
If you have the same model as me I can send you the ROM for a reload.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure that would be great.

scottc5 said:
Sure that would be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is the reflash info that I received from the seller:
Please try to update your system with the newest firmware 20170502 following:
Update.img as below:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx2hoMIW0VUuUnk0QlVwV1Jybkk
instructions video show:
https://youtu.be/3ZY4BXi9QW8
【During the updating,please do not do any operation!It will all automatically upgrate.Otherwise,the unit will damage！】

kevev said:
Here is the reflash info that I received from the seller:
Please try to update your system with the newest firmware 20170502 following:
Update.img as below:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx2hoMIW0VUuUnk0QlVwV1Jybkk
instructions video show:
https://youtu.be/3ZY4BXi9QW8
【During the updating,please do not do any operation!It will all automatically upgrate.Otherwise,the unit will damage！】
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks that fixed my issue! It also seems to work better than before in general!