iPhone :: Prius thread

Yall (and everyone using bluetooth) should consider changing your default bluetooth beam code 1111 or 1212 to a unique number. Otherwise you're leaving yourself wide open to be bluesniffed! That includes an outside connection activating your speaker and listening in, making calls to who knows where with your phone/without your permission, and accessing your data plan features, etc.
It's like stealing your neighbors wifi except it's your bluetooth and phone.
Just like you set(or change from default) your wifi passcode(you do set/change this, right?), you should also set your bluetooth code to a unique number.
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Sadly, I've not forced myself to work on this very much. I've tinkered a little, but very little. I've not given up though. I was kind of hoping that one of the thousands of other developers who downloaded the SDK would beat me to it and save me the trouble. Nothing yet though.

It auto-pairs and makes calls just fine (both the original and the 3G). The only thing it doesn't do is transfer your phonebook...

 

Hi folks,

Both my partner and I have an iphone and a prius each. Kate got my old iPhone when I upgraded last week

In bluetooth equipped Prius the bluetooth worked just fine for me, although I'd be interested in this software - sign me up as a Beta too!

I've got an SLi2 installed in my 04, which doesn't have bluetooh. I use the apple Bluetooth headset as it's easy for me to put it in my ear when a call comes through. The iPhone automatically stops music so it's quite seamless.

The Sli2 is actually installed behind the central plastic trim panel underneath the radio unit (Where the gearbox would be on more conventional cars)

I've run the cables back underneath the glovebox and made a tiny hole next to the 12V socket to feed my iPod adaptor cable through. The iPhone sits in the glove box on the little soft coin tray when it's being used. It has the advantage of keeping the phone safe and out of the way so it's not a disctraction. I rarely make calls, only take them, so it's not important to see the phone display. Plus, I can leave the car looking completely stock with no third-party brakets or cables visible to lure the opportunist car-theif.

Unfortunately the Sli2 currently will not charge the iPhone 3G, although it will charge the original iPhone just fine. Both models play seemlessly through the audio system.

I will try and get some photographs and post here. My camera battery is currently dead so no chance of putting any up until it's charged!

Nikki.

 

I'm having a bit of a problem and I hope someone in this thread can help.

I have a 2005 Prius, which I have loved since I brought it home brand new. I've paired it with a variety of phones, never with any problem at all.

Last weekend I joined the mad rush for an iPhone 3G.

The phone paired with the car OK. But, when I attempt to make a call via the one-touch screen on the Prius, I hear a loud noise similar to modem squelch before the phone and car connect. This happens primarily if I have a weaker signal. In areas of strong signal, it seems OK. When I say "weaker signal," I mean 3 bars. If it's down to 1 it won't connect at all. Lower than 3 bars I not only get the loud noise, but strange garbled sounds instead of a ring.

I experimented today with calling home and leaving myself messages. At times when I heard the loud noise, the sound quality of the message I left was not good.

I suspect that something in the phone is interfering with the bluetooth signal. I've tried turning off 3G, but it didn't help.

Any suggestions?

Please help because I love both my car and my new phone and I"d really like them to be friends!

 

Interesting.

I'll try my 3G iPhone with our 06 when Kate gets home tonight (She left about half an hour ago so I don't have Daphne on the driveway right now).

I know that I'm experiencing the odd squelching sound with the 3G iPhone and my bluetooth headset.

Just a few quick questions:

Where do you put the phone when you're driving?
What is your audio system?

If you turn off the 3G does the problem go away? There's some reports that the 3G iPhones won't switch quickly between 3G and 2G reception. It could be that your phone is dropping out of range and not switching quickly enough. Turn off the 3G and see if that fixes it.

 

I've tried: In my pocket (standard with my last phone), in my purse, in the little cubby under the stereo, in one of the cup holders, in the glove box. Same results in each place.

I have the JBL system with nav. I have an iPod aux connector, but I am not using it with the iPhone.

Been there, done that. I turned off absolutely everything except 2G and bluetooth. Same result.

From the discussions on the Apple forums (which appear to be down right now) I am not alone. I'll probably try to get in to see an Apple Genius in the next couple of days. Some people have had better luck after returning the original phone and swapping it out for a new one. The Apple Store where I bought the phone is out of stock now, but it can't be that long before they get more (I hope).

I'm also having terrible luck with the battery. Even with everything turned off, it won't make it through a normal work day without being recharged. I'm used to a phone that will go days without a charge, so that's really disappointing. It also may mean I have a bad battery.

 

Apple Discussions is back up and running reasonably well this morning (no promises as to how long THAT will last though)!

With 3G left on, battery discharge rates are rather higher than with it disabled. In 2G mode, the 3G iPhone ought to run longer per charge than the original iPhone, so that may be a useful test for you. Discharge the 3G iPhone completely until it powers off, then fully recharge in a single session. Switch 3G off, and also switch the 'Push' option in 'Fetch New Data' setting to off also. That will put your 3G iPhone into as near-equal battery use condition as your original iPhone, and let you broadly compare battery life to get an idea whether your new one needs replacing.

Ooops, on edit: sorry I can't help with the BT issue, but there is no doubt that Apple have significantly messed with BT in firmware 2.0 (which exists by default in the 3G device), and which may be the cause of the problem. It could be that restoring your iPhone via iTunes will help since there were some models released with a slightly buggy version of the software, and which restoring resolves.

That said, my original iPhone had BT issues with my Prius on the first received call, where it connected the call but not audio. Subsequently it seems better, but audio doesn't start via the car for a couple of seconds. Additionally, caller ID, which did work, no longer appears to do so. This is certainly the result of something tweaked in the BT module of iPhone MacOS v2.0

 

My iPhone 3G is on order (for now), but I'm having issues using the AUX port and playing music from my iPhone. I purchased the Belkin adapter that was recommended, but it was not iPhone compatible

The issue I have is with feedback while playing through the Aux port. All of my songs (including low and high quality) have to be played at 30+ volume and it results in alot of feedback. When there is a pause inbetween songs its really annoying. I've noticed it with other devices, but I thought it may be the iPhone creating interference (In my home I cannot have my iPhone within 6 feet of my cordless phone or both parties end up with bleeding ear drums.), but I can't find any product that would try to minimize this.

Has anyone else had a similar problem?

 

Here's what I've found out since I first posted:

On the battery issue, I could literally sit and watch the battery drain, even with 3G, BT and wireless turned off. It was way, way too fast. Sitting on my desk doing nothing, the battery drained down to red in about 3 hours.

Yesterday I saw mention on the Apple forums that some people were having problems with something not "letting go" even though it was turned off. The symptom is that standby time and usage time are virtually the same. I checked in settings on my phone, and sure enough they were. The suggested fix was to reset the settings on the phone. I did so, and today I have received and sent calls and messages and received voice mails. I have played around with some of the apps, too. Usage was about 2 hours and standby time was around 10 hours. I arrived home with the battery 3/4 green. Most of the day I had wireless, BT and 3G turned off because I wasn't using them, and I'm sure that helped a lot. -- edited to add: I'm happy with this sort of battery life. If I can make it through a day, I don't mind plugging it in at night.

Regarding BT pairing with the Prius, you are correct that Apple messed with the firmware. I made an appointment to day to talk to an Apple "genius." He told me that it is a known issue. Currently the iPhone 3G will pair successfully only with the BT headset and not with any other BT device. It is not working correctly in any car. The "genius" said that "the Apple engineers have escalated this problem and are working on it with all of the car manufacturer, especially GM and Ford." But the only suggestion he could offer me was to write to Apple and ask about an ETA.

I'm not a fan of headsets, so I guess I'm stuck with no hands free until Apple fixes whatever it is they broke. I'm very unimpressed and not too happy.

 

My iPhone 3G pairs with my 2005 Prius without any problems. In fact bluetooth-to-Prius works better with the 3G for me than with the 2G (I work in the industry so I have both phones). With the 2G. on making a call over BT, there was always a noticeable delay between the time the recipient picked up the call and when the car speaker carried the conversation. As a result, call recipients usually have to say "hello" twice when answering. With the 3G, while the delay is not altogether gone, it is shorter and less annoying.

 

I have no problems paring my 3G iphone to my 06 prius either.

 

That's been a long standing issue with iPhones since the original was launched, with most, sooner or later, exhibiting the problem which is easy to spot by a casing that is warm to the touch even after a prolonged period of sleep, and the standby and use times being the same. It's happened to mine (a year old today) twice. Each time a reset (hold sleep and home buttons simultaneously until you see the Apple logo, then release) resolved the problem and caused the iPhone to return to normal behavior. This reset procedure doesn't cause any data loss (though it does blank the standby and use figures for that charge cycle), but it does resolve a multitude of iPhone misbehaviors!

In the broader issue of battery life, my original iPhone has marginally better battery performance after the firmware 2.0 update. That's with 'push' switched off but wifi and BT permanently on.

This is a great example of why, sadly, it's not always possible to trust what individual 'experts' tell you. When I tested a 3G iPod, it paired and performed perfectly well with my 07 Prius. More accurately, it paired and performed as perfectly well as my 2G iPhone had done in that it would pair, and make and take calls as usual, but not transfer contacts of course.

What Apple do seem to have done with the 2.0 firmware is disable the ability of the iPhone to communicate with all the formerly compatible headsets when in visual voicemail. That appears to be deliberate, though of course Apple don't say so. Oddly, some BT headsets still work in this regard (though not many), and a wide number of headsets still pair and work otherwise. In all other respects, BT remains as hobbled on the 3G iPhone as it was before, but not apparently more so.

Thus, for your iPhone 3G to fail to pair with your Prius suggests a problem with the specific iPhone. I would delete any pairing in both Prius and iPhone, and try again, because it should certainly work.

That isn't to say Apple are not looking at BT issues and other fixes for firmware 2.0, so the 'genius' was right in that regard. Being Apple however, there is no indication exactly what they are working on and when any updates might be expected.

 

I'm having trouble with the iPhone 3G and a 2007 Prius with OEM Bluetooth. I hear an echo of my voice, and callers say I'm breaking up all the time.

It looks like I'm not the only one, fortunately or unfortunately:

iPhone 3G OEM Car Bluetooth Problem - Mac Forums

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

I hope Apple can fix this.

 

I commented on your call quality issue in the other thread, currently in the main forum, but one thing that strikes me as relevant in terms of resolving the problem is that not only did the 3G iPhone I tried work well, including as clear call quality as my 2G iPhone, but that for the sheer number of 3G iPhones already sold, there's actually not much in the same way of complaints.

Clearly that doesn't mean there is no problem, and it may be that only a handful of the 3G iPhones out there are used with BT car modules - but I think it is more likely to point to faulty iPhones - or potentially faulty 3G service/signal in some locations.

I would try switching 3G off to both conserve power and test whether that brings call quality back to normal. If it doesn't, and the Prius has worked perfectly well in the past, it would then point to a faulty iPhone and it should be taken back for a swapout. If 2G works fine, then it could either be a problem with the 3G service in the iPhone pulling power down (in which case a replacement iPhone is still the right solution) or the 3G service in your area. Not having 3G where I am, I had no way to test that!

 

I'm having trouble with my hands free "answering" my new iPhone 3G without my having done anything. My speakers mute, I hear a ring, I try to see who is calling me on the display (the caller ID is blank on the MFD about half the time) and the it says "talking" and I find someone on the other end who has been waiting a few seconds for me to say "Hello." Anybody else have this problem? It happened occasionally with my old iPhone, but it seems to happen with every call since I got my new phone on Friday.

 

Thanks for trying to help!

I tried going up to my parked Prius, trying 3G to see if I had the problem (I did, though I had 3 bars). I then tried switching 3G off and STILL had the problem (with full 2G bars).

I've had 4 other phones work perfectly well with the Prius (two of which are/were on the AT&T network). The iPhone 3G is the first to have such problems.

I'll call Apple to see if they think swapping the phone out would do any good.

 

So after an hour and a half on the phone waiting for Apple tech support, they eventually acknowledged the widespread nature of the problem but said that they could schedule an appointment with a "Mac Genius" at the Apple store (half an hour drive away) who could certainly help me test if it was my phone or all iPhones 3G's that were the problem, saying if it came down to it, they could just send me out the door with a new one.

Well, I got there tonight and they were completely out-of-stock of iPhones and didn't have a floor model to test contrary to what the product specialist told me over the phone. They jerked me around and wasted my time (and gas).

Let's just say I was tickled over the treatment.

Goodness gracious, Apple can make nice interfaces but with the server problems on D-Day, the continuing problems with MobileMe (which just doesn't work) and the apparent incompetance and inconsideration of their support team, both in the store and on the phone, Apple really leaves me unimpressed with their business and integration skills.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that the "iPhone car charger" I bought after discovering that my old iPod charger didn't work with the iPhone 3G ALSO has problems (the audio sounds staticy when both the charger and audio jack are plugged in at the same time), though I specifically asked whether it would or not.

Maybe Apple will make an iCar one day that actually integrates well with their other devices, because they sure don't do well at interacting with any device or system they don't manufacture.

 

Well... here's what I've found out in the last couple of days.

The Apple Genius at the first store I went in refused to swap the phone out so I could try a different one.

The next day I called Apple Customer Care and talked to a very nice person who listened to my sad tale of woe (air horn blasts and fax noises when attempting to make a call in my 2005 Prius), and then put me on hold while he did some research and talked to a few people. When he came back on he said that he was unable to find anyone else having the same problem - the only forum post he found was my own. He also suggested deleting the paring from both phone and car and trying again. Failing that he said he was convinced it was a hardware error in my phone and I should try an appointment with an Apple Genius at a different store (happily I have 2 very close to me).

I deleted every phone from the car and deleted the pairing from the phone and started over. No joy. It was just the same.

So yesterday I went to see a Genius at store #2. He wanted to try my phone with the BT headset to see if that worked, but their headset battery was out of juice and the recharging looked like it was going to take quite awhile. In the end, he swapped the phone on my story and because it had a dead pixel. (Genius at store #1 had said 1 dead pixel was not enough to swap. Genius #2 said that was incorrect - it's not enough on a Mac but it is enough on an iPhone.)

Phone #2 paired flawlessly with the Prius. But I still get air-horn blasts sometimes - not always and not as long or annoying as it was with phone #1. I have made and received calls successfully, so I guess I'll hang with this one until Apple gets this fixed. At least it's not echoing.

 

Hi...I have read through most of this, but can't seem to find the answers that I need. I have the 3G iphone. It pairs fine with my car and I have no problems making or receiving calls via bluetooth. My problem is transferring my address book from the iphone to the car. I have new, updated contacts that I would like to be in the car.

I have followed the directions, pushed the overwrite button to get rid of the old phone book and every thing seems ok...the screen says transferring data, but underneath says something about, Please transfer contact data from mobile phone. I'm not quite sure what to do at this point. I thought it was transferring data, but I left it for 45 mins and nothing changed. Is there something that I have to do with the phone in order to transfer my contacts???

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

 

Did you ever get this done? I'd like to get my contacts from my iPhone to the Prius but don't think it can be done.