I hate "Bluetooth Audio"
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 42
Likes: 2
I hate "Bluetooth Audio"
Please, for the love of God, tell me there is a way for Microsoft Sync to just automatically sync to Blue Tooth Audio without me having to say the command every time I turn off my car.
There must be a hack for this horrible decision by Ford and/or Microsoft.
It is a little sad that my old 1999 Toyota Land Cruiser with a $60 adapter automatically connected every time I started the car, but a $25000 F-150 cannot.
There must be a hack for this horrible decision by Ford and/or Microsoft.
It is a little sad that my old 1999 Toyota Land Cruiser with a $60 adapter automatically connected every time I started the car, but a $25000 F-150 cannot.
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 1,813
Likes: 489
From: Louisiana
I don't know if this helps, but I have a 2014 FX4 w/ the SYNC MyFordTouch (8" touch screen) ... and I have my phone (Android, Samsung Galaxy S6) paired with my truck. Not 100% sure here, but I'm assuming that the newest version of SYNC that's in the 2016's and up is SYNC 3 (RIM/Blackberry version) ... and my truck has SYNC 2 (Microsoft version).
On my truck, I have all bluetooth options on except for text message integration ... and I also have adjusted the settings on my phone to allow phone audio, media audio and contact sharing with the truck, but NOT text messages.
That said, I never REALLY had an issue with the bluetooth pairing for phone or media audio. But, before the most recent update, whenever I would change my audio source to bluetooth from some other source, the SYNC voice would tell me that no bluetooth audio devices were connected, and it was looking for available devices ... and then, all by itself, it would "connect" and I could play the audio (songs) from my phone through my truck. Keep in mind, I didn't have to re-pair, re-connect, etc... it was just annoying as it would always talk to me to tell me that it had to find my phone again before it could play the songs from my phone.
Now, with the most current update to my SYNC, I rarely have an issue with the pairing and connection - be it for phone or for media audio. (NOTE: The reason I say rarely is because sometimes - for NO reason at all - my phone just disconnects from my truck while I'm driving around, and then almost immediately reconnects. I have NO clue why it does this ... it's like I turned bluetooth off on my truck and then back on very quickly after.)
So, back on point ... now, when I just change sources to bluetooth audio, it's paired, no SYNC lady telling me she's looking for my phone, etc. I'm instantly ready to play music from my phone.
That being said, it sounds to me like you either need to update your phone's operating system, and/or make sure your SYNC is up to the most current version/build. I'm guessing that will fix this for you - provided your phone and SYNC can work together properly. I say that, only because I know there are little subtle differences in how iPhones vs. Samsung phones vs. other android phones work with SYNC, and what they can/can't do. I THINK one of those subtle things is that an iPhone allows you to have your truck use ringtones from your phone, where my android phone does not. I have to use one of the pre-installed ringers on the truck, and can't have it use my phone's ringtone.
OK ... onto another subject having to do with bluetooth audio and SYNC ... for anyone who may know: When I am playing bluetooth audio, it will NOT show me any album cover art - even though I have the downloaded album art (album covers) on my phone, AND I have the Gracenote feature enabled which is supposed to provide album art for you if your phone (or media device) doesn't have it on there already. Instead, there's just a big bluetooth ikon and blue background in the middle of the audio screen, with the song title and artist showing.
I don't know if this is just not possible on my phone, or with bluetooth audio. Perhaps the album art only shows up when you have a direct USB connection to the truck for your media device. I tried that, however, and it still did not work. In fact, when I plug in directly - and set my phone to MTP protocol (media transfer protocol), I still can't get the radio to play the songs. Its funny ... it actually starts auto-playing my ringtones, and I can't figure out how to get it to pull from my "music" folder on my phone.
I was hoping that by directly connecting it would then pull in the album art ... but after trying quite a bit, I gave up because I couldn't get it to work. It's a bit discouraging since I find myself being pretty savvy with technology. I may have to go to my dealer and find whoever is their SYNC guru and find out if they have the answers I'm looking for. That is, if someone following this thread doesn't already know the answer, and is willing to share with me (and whoever else is reading this).
On my truck, I have all bluetooth options on except for text message integration ... and I also have adjusted the settings on my phone to allow phone audio, media audio and contact sharing with the truck, but NOT text messages.
That said, I never REALLY had an issue with the bluetooth pairing for phone or media audio. But, before the most recent update, whenever I would change my audio source to bluetooth from some other source, the SYNC voice would tell me that no bluetooth audio devices were connected, and it was looking for available devices ... and then, all by itself, it would "connect" and I could play the audio (songs) from my phone through my truck. Keep in mind, I didn't have to re-pair, re-connect, etc... it was just annoying as it would always talk to me to tell me that it had to find my phone again before it could play the songs from my phone.
Now, with the most current update to my SYNC, I rarely have an issue with the pairing and connection - be it for phone or for media audio. (NOTE: The reason I say rarely is because sometimes - for NO reason at all - my phone just disconnects from my truck while I'm driving around, and then almost immediately reconnects. I have NO clue why it does this ... it's like I turned bluetooth off on my truck and then back on very quickly after.)
So, back on point ... now, when I just change sources to bluetooth audio, it's paired, no SYNC lady telling me she's looking for my phone, etc. I'm instantly ready to play music from my phone.
That being said, it sounds to me like you either need to update your phone's operating system, and/or make sure your SYNC is up to the most current version/build. I'm guessing that will fix this for you - provided your phone and SYNC can work together properly. I say that, only because I know there are little subtle differences in how iPhones vs. Samsung phones vs. other android phones work with SYNC, and what they can/can't do. I THINK one of those subtle things is that an iPhone allows you to have your truck use ringtones from your phone, where my android phone does not. I have to use one of the pre-installed ringers on the truck, and can't have it use my phone's ringtone.
OK ... onto another subject having to do with bluetooth audio and SYNC ... for anyone who may know: When I am playing bluetooth audio, it will NOT show me any album cover art - even though I have the downloaded album art (album covers) on my phone, AND I have the Gracenote feature enabled which is supposed to provide album art for you if your phone (or media device) doesn't have it on there already. Instead, there's just a big bluetooth ikon and blue background in the middle of the audio screen, with the song title and artist showing.
I don't know if this is just not possible on my phone, or with bluetooth audio. Perhaps the album art only shows up when you have a direct USB connection to the truck for your media device. I tried that, however, and it still did not work. In fact, when I plug in directly - and set my phone to MTP protocol (media transfer protocol), I still can't get the radio to play the songs. Its funny ... it actually starts auto-playing my ringtones, and I can't figure out how to get it to pull from my "music" folder on my phone.
I was hoping that by directly connecting it would then pull in the album art ... but after trying quite a bit, I gave up because I couldn't get it to work. It's a bit discouraging since I find myself being pretty savvy with technology. I may have to go to my dealer and find whoever is their SYNC guru and find out if they have the answers I'm looking for. That is, if someone following this thread doesn't already know the answer, and is willing to share with me (and whoever else is reading this).
Trending Topics
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 42
Likes: 2
I don't know if this helps, but I have a 2014 FX4 w/ the SYNC MyFordTouch (8" touch screen) ... and I have my phone (Android, Samsung Galaxy S6) paired with my truck. Not 100% sure here, but I'm assuming that the newest version of SYNC that's in the 2016's and up is SYNC 3 (RIM/Blackberry version) ... and my truck has SYNC 2 (Microsoft version).
On my truck, I have all bluetooth options on except for text message integration ... and I also have adjusted the settings on my phone to allow phone audio, media audio and contact sharing with the truck, but NOT text messages.
That said, I never REALLY had an issue with the bluetooth pairing for phone or media audio. But, before the most recent update, whenever I would change my audio source to bluetooth from some other source, the SYNC voice would tell me that no bluetooth audio devices were connected, and it was looking for available devices ... and then, all by itself, it would "connect" and I could play the audio (songs) from my phone through my truck. Keep in mind, I didn't have to re-pair, re-connect, etc... it was just annoying as it would always talk to me to tell me that it had to find my phone again before it could play the songs from my phone.
Now, with the most current update to my SYNC, I rarely have an issue with the pairing and connection - be it for phone or for media audio. (NOTE: The reason I say rarely is because sometimes - for NO reason at all - my phone just disconnects from my truck while I'm driving around, and then almost immediately reconnects. I have NO clue why it does this ... it's like I turned bluetooth off on my truck and then back on very quickly after.)
So, back on point ... now, when I just change sources to bluetooth audio, it's paired, no SYNC lady telling me she's looking for my phone, etc. I'm instantly ready to play music from my phone.
That being said, it sounds to me like you either need to update your phone's operating system, and/or make sure your SYNC is up to the most current version/build. I'm guessing that will fix this for you - provided your phone and SYNC can work together properly. I say that, only because I know there are little subtle differences in how iPhones vs. Samsung phones vs. other android phones work with SYNC, and what they can/can't do. I THINK one of those subtle things is that an iPhone allows you to have your truck use ringtones from your phone, where my android phone does not. I have to use one of the pre-installed ringers on the truck, and can't have it use my phone's ringtone.
OK ... onto another subject having to do with bluetooth audio and SYNC ... for anyone who may know: When I am playing bluetooth audio, it will NOT show me any album cover art - even though I have the downloaded album art (album covers) on my phone, AND I have the Gracenote feature enabled which is supposed to provide album art for you if your phone (or media device) doesn't have it on there already. Instead, there's just a big bluetooth ikon and blue background in the middle of the audio screen, with the song title and artist showing.
I don't know if this is just not possible on my phone, or with bluetooth audio. Perhaps the album art only shows up when you have a direct USB connection to the truck for your media device. I tried that, however, and it still did not work. In fact, when I plug in directly - and set my phone to MTP protocol (media transfer protocol), I still can't get the radio to play the songs. Its funny ... it actually starts auto-playing my ringtones, and I can't figure out how to get it to pull from my "music" folder on my phone.
I was hoping that by directly connecting it would then pull in the album art ... but after trying quite a bit, I gave up because I couldn't get it to work. It's a bit discouraging since I find myself being pretty savvy with technology. I may have to go to my dealer and find whoever is their SYNC guru and find out if they have the answers I'm looking for. That is, if someone following this thread doesn't already know the answer, and is willing to share with me (and whoever else is reading this).
On my truck, I have all bluetooth options on except for text message integration ... and I also have adjusted the settings on my phone to allow phone audio, media audio and contact sharing with the truck, but NOT text messages.
That said, I never REALLY had an issue with the bluetooth pairing for phone or media audio. But, before the most recent update, whenever I would change my audio source to bluetooth from some other source, the SYNC voice would tell me that no bluetooth audio devices were connected, and it was looking for available devices ... and then, all by itself, it would "connect" and I could play the audio (songs) from my phone through my truck. Keep in mind, I didn't have to re-pair, re-connect, etc... it was just annoying as it would always talk to me to tell me that it had to find my phone again before it could play the songs from my phone.
Now, with the most current update to my SYNC, I rarely have an issue with the pairing and connection - be it for phone or for media audio. (NOTE: The reason I say rarely is because sometimes - for NO reason at all - my phone just disconnects from my truck while I'm driving around, and then almost immediately reconnects. I have NO clue why it does this ... it's like I turned bluetooth off on my truck and then back on very quickly after.)
So, back on point ... now, when I just change sources to bluetooth audio, it's paired, no SYNC lady telling me she's looking for my phone, etc. I'm instantly ready to play music from my phone.
That being said, it sounds to me like you either need to update your phone's operating system, and/or make sure your SYNC is up to the most current version/build. I'm guessing that will fix this for you - provided your phone and SYNC can work together properly. I say that, only because I know there are little subtle differences in how iPhones vs. Samsung phones vs. other android phones work with SYNC, and what they can/can't do. I THINK one of those subtle things is that an iPhone allows you to have your truck use ringtones from your phone, where my android phone does not. I have to use one of the pre-installed ringers on the truck, and can't have it use my phone's ringtone.
OK ... onto another subject having to do with bluetooth audio and SYNC ... for anyone who may know: When I am playing bluetooth audio, it will NOT show me any album cover art - even though I have the downloaded album art (album covers) on my phone, AND I have the Gracenote feature enabled which is supposed to provide album art for you if your phone (or media device) doesn't have it on there already. Instead, there's just a big bluetooth ikon and blue background in the middle of the audio screen, with the song title and artist showing.
I don't know if this is just not possible on my phone, or with bluetooth audio. Perhaps the album art only shows up when you have a direct USB connection to the truck for your media device. I tried that, however, and it still did not work. In fact, when I plug in directly - and set my phone to MTP protocol (media transfer protocol), I still can't get the radio to play the songs. Its funny ... it actually starts auto-playing my ringtones, and I can't figure out how to get it to pull from my "music" folder on my phone.
I was hoping that by directly connecting it would then pull in the album art ... but after trying quite a bit, I gave up because I couldn't get it to work. It's a bit discouraging since I find myself being pretty savvy with technology. I may have to go to my dealer and find whoever is their SYNC guru and find out if they have the answers I'm looking for. That is, if someone following this thread doesn't already know the answer, and is willing to share with me (and whoever else is reading this).
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 1,813
Likes: 489
From: Louisiana
When I do the voice command to change to bluetooth, I have NO idea if SYNC is (very quickly) looking for my phone and connecting to it silently ... but I do know that it doesn't "talk" back to me telling me that it's looking for bluetooth audio devices - like it used to prior to my most recent SYNC update.
Not 100% sure if that's what you were asking or not ... but I'm more than willing to keep chatting about it if I didn't answer your question.
EDIT TO ADD: What I wish I could do is just start playing music on my phone, and SYNC would know to automatically change my audio source to bluetooth, without me having to either A) press the button on the screen to select the bluetooth audio source, or B) hit the button on my steering wheel and then say "bluetooth audio".