Phone audio no longer routing over Bluetooth in car for anything other than phone calls.

[Digsy]

Huawei P20 user here on Android 10.

I used to be able to access all the Google Assistant features on my phone by pressing the "voice" button on my car's steering wheel. This would mute the stereo and route all phone audio over the car's speakers. So I was able to read and dictate text messages, create new calendar entries, etc, etc. Basically anything I could do hands free on my phone I could also do via my car's hands free speakers / microphone.

However since about two months ago this has stopped working. Or rather, it now only works for calls. Pressing the voice button still works, but for anything other than calls the phone audio now only plays over the phone's speakers and the car does not mute the radio / media, so I cannot hear the phone which renders it useless (unless I manually mute the stereo).

At the moment I don't know it this has been caused by a phone software update, or a car software update, or what ever. Its also not easy to pin down when the problem started as even though it is useful and I miss it now it is gone, I never used to use this feature much. I discovered it by accident a few weeks before Christmas when someone sent me a text message while I was driving and I could not get it read to me over the car's speakers. All I know for certain is that it used to work but does not now.

Anyone else noticed anything similar? 

[hrym]

Oh joy, Bluetooth in cars!   It's not just one, but several cans of worms.   Car manufacturers tend not to update their systems at the same rate as phone manufacturers and inconsistencies/incompatibilities can easily crop up.

The first question is: when did this happen in relation to, say, a system update on either unit?
Next: have you tried unpairing the phone and then re-pairing it?
And the big one: is there a system update for your car?   These tend not to be automatic, need to be installed by a dealer and can be expensive.
Finally, have you tried Android Auto - if you aren't already using it and your car supports it?

This isn't a VW or Audi, is it?   There have been huge issues with them in the past, solvable by an update to the car in some cases.

[Digsy]

Hi, thanks for your reply:

Q: The first question is: when did this happen in relation to, say, a system update on either unit?

A: Actually impossible to say with any certainty when it happened full stop (as mentioned in my post). However my car had a routine service in September. The media system can be updated over the air, though but I think this is just limited to navigation map updates.

Q: Have you tried unpairing the phone and then re-pairing it?

A: Yes I have. What I have not tried is completely deleting my phone form my car's memory.

Q: And the big one: is there a system update for your car?   These tend not to be automatic, need to be installed by a dealer and can be expensive.

A: No idea, but I have a parallel line of questioning going on with my car dealer so I can ask. The car was new last year so it should be covered under warranty.

Q: Finally, have you tried Android Auto - if you aren't already using it and your car supports it?

A: It is an optional extra which I did not specify,

Q: This isn't a VW or Audi, is it?   There have been huge issues with them in the past, solvable by an update to the car in some cases.

A: It is a Mercedes C-class on a 69 plate.

I also e-mailed the Mercedes dealership yesterday and they replied in a similar vein, except asking when my phone was last updated. Again, this is kind of hard to determine, unless you know of a change log somewhere online or in the phone that I can access? I can tell what level software I have installed, but not when it was applied.

[Mark]

Is it just the one phone that's only connecting for calls @Digsy? Have you tried pairing another phone and checking if this experiences the same issues?

[Digsy]

Hi Mark,

Unfortunately that is the only phone I have access to, really.

[hrym]

Right, that's helpful.   I'd certainly try getting the car to forget the phone.   With regard to phone updates, I'm specifically thinking of system ones and you'd know because you'd get a notification and need to do a restart to complete the process.   There are periodic security updates and, although I can't say these would definitely affect Bluetooth, they probably won't to the extent of the problem you're having.   That would be more likely to come with a full platform update (eg Android 9 to 10, say).

It may be that your dealer would be prepared to do a system update for the car (if there is one) under warranty, but I wouldn't bank on it.   Also, if the issue results from one, going back may be difficult or impossible.

I drive Renaults and haven't had any problems, though the system functionality tends to be more limited - contacts list integration could best be described as a joke, though voice search works well.   And, yes, OTA updates do normally apply to the navigation element.   The current one has Android Auto, which I tried for all of about five minutes, mainly because it replaces the main system rather than augmenting it and isn't, imho, as good.

I'd say it's pretty much a racing certainty that one or other system has had an update that changes the way the two interact.  The more integration there is, the more this is likely.   It's possible that a reset of the connection will sort it, and we can only hope it will.   Loss of phone audio over BT is pretty fundamental, though and the thing I'd expect to lose last.

As a matter of interest, can you still play music from the phone over the car system?

[Digsy]

Hi Hrym,

I have now tried deleting the phone and repairing. No difference.

Just to re-iterate, I have not lost phone audio over BT. Calls still work exactly as expected, as does (to answer your other question) music over BT.  Contact syncing also works fine, as do notifications for text messages.

What I have lost is the intelligent way that the car and phone used to interact when doing anything other than calls or music.

Old behaviour:

1) Press "voice" button on steering wheel.

2) Car mutes radio / USB / whatever media is playing and listens on microphone.

3) Phone receives my spoken instruction and un-mutes media while it "thinks".

4) Phone re-mutes media and speaks reply over car speakers.

New behaviour:

1) Press "voice" button on steering wheel.

2) Car mutes radio / USB / whatever media is playing and listens on microphone.

3) Phone receives my spoken instruction and un-mutes media while it "thinks".

4) Phone speaks reply over its own speakers without muting media.

The closest I can get to the old behaviour is to allow my phone to connect for calls and then also manually connect it as a media device, and then select it as the active media source via the head unit. This routes ALL phone audio over BT to the car, but of course it also kills any other media sources such as radio / USB so it is not really a solution.

With regards to a phone system upgrade, how can I check when my phone was updated to Android 10? 

[hrym]

Ah, I hadn't quite gathered that it's as specific as that.   I'm not sure what to suggest other than talking to your dealer, who may not know.   Although BT is fundamental to the way phones operate, it's peripheral to cars and often a bit of an afterthought.   You may need to look for manufacturer-oriented forums.   A query direct to the manucturer might produce a reponse, though equally, that might be "we don't know how our systems will interact with every model of phone".

As regards the Android version, I did a bit of digging:
Go to Settings and About Phone

Tap where is says:
Android version
10

All the information will be there

[Digsy]

Hi,

Regarding: 

Tap where is says:
Android version
10

All the information will be there

It doesn't reveal anything on my phone (Huawei P20) when I tap there.

[Digsy]

I need to determine the exact date that my phone received its upgrade to Android 10.

Huawei P20

How can I find this out?