iphone G3 & Prius Bluetooth

Also working with my Gen 1 iPhone 2.0.

 

Nobody can understand me on mine on the Bluetooth. My old phone worked fantastically. Now I'm told it sounds like I'm talking into a shoe.

 

I'll be getting my iphone later this week, glad to hear it pairs with the prius without any problems.

It'll be my first bluetooth device. Is the pairing a no-brainer? Do you have to 'pair" it each time you get in the car or does it just "see" the iphone?

Will contact transfer into the MFD?

 

does the phone ring over the cars speakers?
does the prius show battery level and signal strength?
does the prius show the persons number that is calling?

 

It's a "do two things" procedure to pair a phone with the Prius. First, you get the phone entered into the Prius' list of phones it can use.
Once that is done, then you tell the Prius to use that phone and set your phone to pair with the Prius (this is a time limited procedure, but it's not difficult).

Be sure your phone is on and bluetooth is on when you get into the car. The car will automatically connect to the phone and tell you it was successful (or not) on the MFD when you turn the car on.
The calls ring on the phone and in the cars speakers (on mine they are different rings).
I haven't watched to see if battery level or signal strength are shown, but it wouldn't be on the "Consumption screen", which is where I usually leave the MFD. If it was shown, it would be on the bluetooth phone screen. Ditto for the caller ID.

 

- one note, with the iPhone you don't have to turn the phone on, just like you don't have to have the phone on to receive calls. The bluetooth feature will register your phone automatically when you get in and it'll tell you if connected successfully.

 

Yes, Yes, and Yes.

BTW: AFAIK, there is no way to transfer contacts from an iPhone; the BT protocols in the iPhone don't support that. I've kept my old phone around as a workaround for that problem, should I ever need to re-upload my contacts.

I mostly love the iPhone (I have a 1st gen one, not upgrading yet for a while), but the omission of transfer of contacts (and files!) with BT is a sore point, and I wish Apple would get on the stick and repair that omission, just after they add cut and paste...

 

Hmm, I'm having issues where I can hear fine, but the outgoing voice cuts in and out. That, and there seems to be an echo (2007 Prius).

Does anyone else have similar issues? I'm a little worried about this, especially if it's only happening to me.

 

Well, the "good" news is that I'm not the only one apparently.

There seems to be a widespread problem with BMW's, the 2008 Tundra and several other cars.

One other Toyota driver with OEM Bluetooth has the exact same problems I have:

iPhone 3G OEM Car Bluetooth Problem - Mac Forums

Apple - Support - Discussions - iPhone 3G bluetooth echo? ...

 

I realize it doesn't help, but I had use of a 3G iPhone for a couple of days, and it paired and functioned as well as my 2G iPhone had done - including very clear voice quality both ways.

I suspect you (and others with similar issues) have BT connectivity issues, likely entirely iPhone caused - either the result of low signal due to faulty antenna, or the iPhone trying to feed reduced power.

It would be interesting to see if switching 3G off helped with BT call quality since 3G causes much higher power consumption.

 

The iPhone's ringer will ring normally and the car will ring with a standard tone.

The iPhone's battery and signal strength are both shown at the top of the Bluetooth screen.

The Prius shows the number calling if you are travelling below 5 mph; if the person is in your Prius phone book, it will show the name regardless of speed.

 

Hello Chief? This is Maxwell Smart!

 

I just wish I could transfer my address book to my Prius through BT. Apple just sometimes make simple things hard.

 

Forgive me if I'm posting this incorrectly. I'm new to this forum.

I recently bought a 2008 Prius and a new iPhone 3G. They pair up fine and all the functions work except for volume.

When I make or receive a call, the volume is very faint for the first few seconds, then starts increasing to normal volume.
When I'm making a call this means the ringing sound starts faint and increases. By the time the person answers the volume is almost normal.
However, when I receive a call, I have to say 'Hello' several times before the caller hears me and then the callers voice is faint for a few seconds. Eventually the volume is fine.

I used my wife's LG Vu with the Prius and had no problem. Volume was strong right away. We both have AT&T as our carrier. The version on my iPhone is 2.51.

Does anyone have any ideas.

 

What have you tried? Have you tried boulder bum's method? Get in the Prius, make sure the iPhone is connected via Bluetooth. Initiate a call with your iPhone then by using the volume button on the leftside of the iPhone turn the volume all the way up on the iPhone. Look at the iPhone volume indicator not the Prius MFD. Then retry your call and see if that improves the call.

You might want to check to see if there are any automatic volume controls turned on, either in the Prius or the iPhone.

If it ain't that take the iPhone back and/or take it into the dealership and pair it with a Prii there to see if the problem repeats itself.

Good luck.


Wildkow

 

BTW folks the Bluetooth on the iPhone (AFAIK) is "crippled" and is not capable of trasmitting data. Thus there is no way to transfer contact information via Bluetooth to the phonebook on the Prius.

Wildkow

 

Wildkow,
Thanks for the tip. Your solution to use the iPhone volume control during hte call had not occurred to me since I normally have the phone in holster when making and receiving calls in my car.

I did not see this solution posted by boulder bum. I got to this thread by way of a Google search. It probabably brought me in to the wrond thread for my problem. But I like the site and plan to return.

Again, thanks for your help.

 

:yo: Anytime :yo:​

Wildkow

 

I'm a little late here, but I blogged about the Prius/Bluetooth solution and just wanted to plug it here.