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hks_kansei · 10-10-2015, 02:45 PM

So I recently bought a new car (new to me anyway)

And it has a Clarion head unit with bluetooth phone handsfree stuff, so I figured i'd read the manual and pair my phone to it so if I get a call I can answer without having to pull over, or pick up the phone and cop a $400 fine.

Anyway, I read the manual, paired the phone, and then found that whenever i'd select bluetooth it would start playing every audio file on the phone.
I unpaired it and tried again this morning, radio said it paired, phone said it paired, the audio playing thing stopped for some reason (I didnt change anything?)
But it wouldn't let me dial anything from the car... yet when I dialed with the phone it would come through the car.

I then turned off bluetooth, and turned it back on to see if it would re-pair, phone said paired and then nothing, no calls through the radio, no dialling, nothing.

Why on earth is bluetooth so difficult to use? every single time i've tried it, with ANY device, it's always been so horribly user unfriendly.
How did it become so popular despite being so enraging to work out?

Rupert · 10-10-2015, 03:09 PM

Get some help. Just this week I had my computer guru come over and connect Mrs Rupert's new computer to her wireless printer in another room. I looked at the instructions, was lost and just spent a few dollars to avoid a big headache by letting him do it. Took him a few minutes.

He did mention that he is not a fan of Bluetooth and is hoping for something better in the near future. Dependability is not the best and troubles like you are having are common.

OTOH...my 25 year old grandson has Bluetooth for everything and has no problems. I guess it depends on a lot of factors?
Regards!

Murfy · 10-10-2015, 04:02 PM

we have it for the car and use my phone and my kindle. Well I first used an old phone, so it had no music, and then used the kindle which has no phone. I haven't paired my iphone yet since my old phone died, but with my old stuff I had to push a phone button on the steering wheel to get the phone to work, however if I started dialing on my phone, it would pick up, even if I didn't hit the call button.

So maybe there is a button somewhere to initiate the call without using the phone? For music, I have to change the radio setting to bluetooth

dstar · 10-10-2015, 04:19 PM

IPhone 6 with LG Bluetooth headphone work as magic
Just power on and connected
Same in my Ford Edge sync work no problem

**jpzk** · 10-10-2015, 07:18 PM

Originally posted by hks_kansei

So I recently bought a new car (new to me anyway)

And it has a Clarion head unit with bluetooth phone handsfree stuff, so I figured i'd read the manual and pair my phone to it so if I get a call I can answer without having to pull over, or pick up the phone and cop a $400 fine.

Anyway, I read the manual, paired the phone, and then found that whenever i'd select bluetooth it would start playing every audio file on the phone.
I unpaired it and tried again this morning, radio said it paired, phone said it paired, the audio playing thing stopped for some reason (I didnt change anything?)
But it wouldn't let me dial anything from the car... yet when I dialed with the phone it would come through the car.

I then turned off bluetooth, and turned it back on to see if it would re-pair, phone said paired and then nothing, no calls through the radio, no dialling, nothing.

Why on earth is bluetooth so difficult to use? every single time i've tried it, with ANY device, it's always been so horribly user unfriendly.
How did it become so popular despite being so enraging to work out?

I had a similar problem pairing a new Samsung Galaxy S5 to my Subaru Legacy 2013. The weird thing was that the previous phone, a Galaxy S2, would BT pair automatically when the phone was in reach.
Not so for the new phone ! (same car) .... I found that I had to pair that phone with "Voice Commands" and not from the console buttons.
Go figure!

So, the short of the story is: BT is not all that dependable nor consistent ... yet?

Tom S. · 10-11-2015, 10:30 AM

When you look at all the possible combinations of pairing devices, it's amazing that BT works half of the time. My experience though has been the complete opposite, from pairing stereo headsets to my phone, to pairing my phone to the computer, to pairing it with my tablet and pairing it to my truck, everything has been seamless and works as advertised.

Is the radio upgradable? Perhaps there's a newer BT driver out that will work better. Same thing for the phone.

**Kerrowdown** · 10-11-2015, 02:13 PM

Originally posted by hks_kansei

Bluetooth, why is it so difficult?

It's like in the old days... if you saw the words "Microsoft Compatible" on anything, you just knew it wasn't going to work.

Rodney9 · 10-11-2015, 02:32 PM

I had constant pairing problems with my 2013 Android phone and my 2015 Suzuki, I got a iPhone 5c and it works flawlessly.

hks_kansei · 10-11-2015, 10:51 PM

Originally posted by Rupert

Get some help. Just this week I had my computer guru come over and connect Mrs Rupert's new computer to her wireless printer in another room. I looked at the instructions, was lost and just spent a few dollars to avoid a big headache by letting him do it. Took him a few minutes.

He did mention that he is not a fan of Bluetooth and is hoping for something better in the near future. Dependability is not the best and troubles like you are having are common.

OTOH...my 25 year old grandson has Bluetooth for everything and has no problems. I guess it depends on a lot of factors?
Regards!

I'll probably ask some friends to do it for me, since I can't work the damn thing out.

I don't have any young people to work out my tech stuff, since i'm only 28, i'm supposed to be the age to know it myself :P

---------- Post added 12-10-15 at 04:56 PM ----------

Originally posted by Tom S.

When you look at all the possible combinations of pairing devices, it's amazing that BT works half of the time. My experience though has been the complete opposite, from pairing stereo headsets to my phone, to pairing my phone to the computer, to pairing it with my tablet and pairing it to my truck, everything has been seamless and works as advertised.

Is the radio upgradable? Perhaps there's a newer BT driver out that will work better. Same thing for the phone.

Not sure on the upgrade part, it's a fairly recent radio (the car is a 2002, but the radio I think is lucky if it's 2 year old. My phone is a HTC that's maybe 12months old?)

I've not really had to use bluetooth on much, once ages ago trying to send a file from my phone to a friend's, in the end it took so long to work out we just plugged it into a PC and dragged and dropped the file in maybe 30seconds.

The next was pairing Mum's old phone to her then new car, and while it seemed to work it was fairly hit and miss, and generally awkward to use (I put that down to bluetooth being fairly new at that stage)

And yeah, with my phone and current car stereo, I just assumed that in the many years since those attempts they would have ironed out the creases! especially since it's such a popular thing!

Why can't it just be as simple as pressing a button on the stereo to say "pair to me" and then pressing one on the phone to say "sure thing"

---------- Post added 12-10-15 at 04:57 PM ----------

Originally posted by Murfy

So maybe there is a button somewhere to initiate the call without using the phone? For music, I have to change the radio setting to bluetooth

there is on the front of the radio, and it worked once, but I can't seem to get it to work again.

and yeah, the music part seemed to work the first time, but I didn't actually want to pair for music since there's no music on my phone anyway.

10-10-2015, 02:45 PM	#1
hks_kansei Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 834	Bluetooth, why is it so difficult? So I recently bought a new car (new to me anyway) And it has a Clarion head unit with bluetooth phone handsfree stuff, so I figured i'd read the manual and pair my phone to it so if I get a call I can answer without having to pull over, or pick up the phone and cop a $400 fine. Anyway, I read the manual, paired the phone, and then found that whenever i'd select bluetooth it would start playing every audio file on the phone. I unpaired it and tried again this morning, radio said it paired, phone said it paired, the audio playing thing stopped for some reason (I didnt change anything?) But it wouldn't let me dial anything from the car... yet when I dialed with the phone it would come through the car. I then turned off bluetooth, and turned it back on to see if it would re-pair, phone said paired and then nothing, no calls through the radio, no dialling, nothing. Why on earth is bluetooth so difficult to use? every single time i've tried it, with ANY device, it's always been so horribly user unfriendly. How did it become so popular despite being so enraging to work out?

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10-10-2015, 03:09 PM	#2
Rupert Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Texas Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 25,123	Get some help. Just this week I had my computer guru come over and connect Mrs Rupert's new computer to her wireless printer in another room. I looked at the instructions, was lost and just spent a few dollars to avoid a big headache by letting him do it. Took him a few minutes. He did mention that he is not a fan of Bluetooth and is hoping for something better in the near future. Dependability is not the best and troubles like you are having are common. OTOH...my 25 year old grandson has Bluetooth for everything and has no problems. I guess it depends on a lot of factors? Regards!

10-10-2015, 04:02 PM	#3
Murfy Veteran Member Join Date: May 2014 Photos: Gallery Posts: 803	we have it for the car and use my phone and my kindle. Well I first used an old phone, so it had no music, and then used the kindle which has no phone. I haven't paired my iphone yet since my old phone died, but with my old stuff I had to push a phone button on the steering wheel to get the phone to work, however if I started dialing on my phone, it would pick up, even if I didn't hit the call button. So maybe there is a button somewhere to initiate the call without using the phone? For music, I have to change the radio setting to bluetooth

10-10-2015, 04:19 PM	#4
dstar Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Albuquerque NM Photos: Albums Posts: 475	IPhone 6 with LG Bluetooth headphone work as magic Just power on and connected Same in my Ford Edge sync work no problem

10-10-2015, 07:18 PM	#5
jpzk Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Québec Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 8,251	Originally posted by hks_kansei So I recently bought a new car (new to me anyway) And it has a Clarion head unit with bluetooth phone handsfree stuff, so I figured i'd read the manual and pair my phone to it so if I get a call I can answer without having to pull over, or pick up the phone and cop a $400 fine. Anyway, I read the manual, paired the phone, and then found that whenever i'd select bluetooth it would start playing every audio file on the phone. I unpaired it and tried again this morning, radio said it paired, phone said it paired, the audio playing thing stopped for some reason (I didnt change anything?) But it wouldn't let me dial anything from the car... yet when I dialed with the phone it would come through the car. I then turned off bluetooth, and turned it back on to see if it would re-pair, phone said paired and then nothing, no calls through the radio, no dialling, nothing. Why on earth is bluetooth so difficult to use? every single time i've tried it, with ANY device, it's always been so horribly user unfriendly. How did it become so popular despite being so enraging to work out? I had a similar problem pairing a new Samsung Galaxy S5 to my Subaru Legacy 2013. The weird thing was that the previous phone, a Galaxy S2, would BT pair automatically when the phone was in reach. Not so for the new phone ! (same car) .... I found that I had to pair that phone with "Voice Commands" and not from the console buttons. Go figure! So, the short of the story is: BT is not all that dependable nor consistent ... yet?

10-11-2015, 10:30 AM	#6
Tom S. Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Michigan Photos: Albums Posts: 4,317	When you look at all the possible combinations of pairing devices, it's amazing that BT works half of the time. My experience though has been the complete opposite, from pairing stereo headsets to my phone, to pairing my phone to the computer, to pairing it with my tablet and pairing it to my truck, everything has been seamless and works as advertised. Is the radio upgradable? Perhaps there's a newer BT driver out that will work better. Same thing for the phone.

10-11-2015, 02:13 PM	#7
Kerrowdown PEG Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Highlands of Scotland... "Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand" - William Blake Photos: Gallery Posts: 57,863	Originally posted by hks_kansei Bluetooth, why is it so difficult? It's like in the old days... if you saw the words "Microsoft Compatible" on anything, you just knew it wasn't going to work.

10-11-2015, 02:32 PM	#8
Rodney9 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 135	I had constant pairing problems with my 2013 Android phone and my 2015 Suzuki, I got a iPhone 5c and it works flawlessly.

10-11-2015, 10:51 PM	#9
hks_kansei Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 834 Original Poster	Originally posted by Rupert Get some help. Just this week I had my computer guru come over and connect Mrs Rupert's new computer to her wireless printer in another room. I looked at the instructions, was lost and just spent a few dollars to avoid a big headache by letting him do it. Took him a few minutes. He did mention that he is not a fan of Bluetooth and is hoping for something better in the near future. Dependability is not the best and troubles like you are having are common. OTOH...my 25 year old grandson has Bluetooth for everything and has no problems. I guess it depends on a lot of factors? Regards! I'll probably ask some friends to do it for me, since I can't work the damn thing out. I don't have any young people to work out my tech stuff, since i'm only 28, i'm supposed to be the age to know it myself :P ---------- Post added 12-10-15 at 04:56 PM ---------- Originally posted by Tom S. When you look at all the possible combinations of pairing devices, it's amazing that BT works half of the time. My experience though has been the complete opposite, from pairing stereo headsets to my phone, to pairing my phone to the computer, to pairing it with my tablet and pairing it to my truck, everything has been seamless and works as advertised. Is the radio upgradable? Perhaps there's a newer BT driver out that will work better. Same thing for the phone. Not sure on the upgrade part, it's a fairly recent radio (the car is a 2002, but the radio I think is lucky if it's 2 year old. My phone is a HTC that's maybe 12months old?) I've not really had to use bluetooth on much, once ages ago trying to send a file from my phone to a friend's, in the end it took so long to work out we just plugged it into a PC and dragged and dropped the file in maybe 30seconds. The next was pairing Mum's old phone to her then new car, and while it seemed to work it was fairly hit and miss, and generally awkward to use (I put that down to bluetooth being fairly new at that stage) And yeah, with my phone and current car stereo, I just assumed that in the many years since those attempts they would have ironed out the creases! especially since it's such a popular thing! Why can't it just be as simple as pressing a button on the stereo to say "pair to me" and then pressing one on the phone to say "sure thing" ---------- Post added 12-10-15 at 04:57 PM ---------- Originally posted by Murfy So maybe there is a button somewhere to initiate the call without using the phone? For music, I have to change the radio setting to bluetooth there is on the front of the radio, and it worked once, but I can't seem to get it to work again. and yeah, the music part seemed to work the first time, but I didn't actually want to pair for music since there's no music on my phone anyway.