Permanently disable one Bluetooth device from re-connecting

[Viridel48]

I have an extremely specific use-case. I work for a rideshare company, and I have Buick Intellilink for on-dash nav capability (which is awesome). I just have to plug the phone in. BT automatically pairs when the phone is directly connected. The problem is that because the car is turned off & on so frequently, every ~5th connection to intellilink essentially freezes the BT audio, meaning when a call comes in, the car recognizes it, but can't initialize the audio. The 'rebooting' process is time consuming since the car has to be turned off long enough to sever the connection completely, and the phone needs to be rebooted - meaning I lose the ability to take a call, costing me a fare.

I purchased a BT speaker with 2-way communication, and it works wonderfully......... but only when the phone isn't plugged in to Intellilink, which overrides the external connection.

What I would like to do is permanently block BT to Intellilink so that it *can't even try* to connect, thereby leaving my external speaker as the only valid BT connection. It doesn't appear this is an option in any version of android, but is there an app or other option that would allow me to system-level block a BT connection to a certain address?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Do you still need to connect to Intellilink via Bluetooth, just not for audio? If so, go to Settings>Bluetooth, tap the gear icon next to Intellilink, and turn off the audio toggles there.

 

[Viridel48]

Welcome to Android Central! Do you still need to connect to Intellilink via Bluetooth, just not for audio? If so, go to Settings>Bluetooth, tap the gear icon next to Intellilink, and turn off the audio toggles there.

Unfortunately, you didn't quite read the scenario in enough detail. Intellilink connects via direct USB cable connection and self-initializes the BT connection, which cannot be severed via Intellilink at all; and when tried in the phone, it only disconnects for a few seconds before automatically re-connecting.

 

[B. Diddy]

Sorry for being off-base -- I actually read it a few times before replying and was still trying to wrap my brain around it.

Before we even think of completely preventing Bluetooth access by Intellilink, do you know if it will still function properly without the Bluetooth connection?

What you're describing sure sounds like a poor design choice by the Intellilink engineers. Have you spoken to your Buick dealer/mechanic about this to see if there's some kind of workaround? Is Intellilink fully up to date? https://www.nstec.com/how-to-update-buick-intellilink-software/

 

[mustang7757]

You should get a menu on the phone for USB options to choose what to do and toggle only charge phone when USB connected
In your pull down notification panel

 

[mustang7757]

Should look like this menu

 

[Viridel48]

I can agree with you that the intellilink system is inherently flawed in this regard... It is completely up to date - I have it sync daily when I enter my home network range.

I ended up picking up a surprisingly mint condition Samsung A01 for $100CAD (~$75USD). Since it has Android10, AAuto is pre-installed in the OS, and I've hot-spotted it to my main phone. Because that phone is plugged in and not my main phone, the car only acknowledges that device in bluetooth (even though it has no sim card), meaning I still have to use my portable phone-capable speaker, which is unfortunate, but the only seemingly reliable solution at the moment.

Basically it's the dumbest solution possible, but still the one that seemingly works best. Now I just need an app that will 'ping' the BT every ~10 mins to keep that connection active and prevent the speaker from turning off. Any ideas there? I searched the play store for 'Bluetooth ping' and only got signal strength meters, and a google search wasn't any help.

 

[Viridel48]

Doing that would disable the intellilink system for navigation, which is the whole purpose for having it plugged in in the first place. The issue has been 'solved'-ish, as per the post above.

 

[mustang7757]

Yeah a unique situation like yours would have to be trial by error on your end

 

[mustang7757]

Another thing doesn't make sense if you connected with cable to Intellilink why is it using Bluetooth? Turn Bluetooth pairing off in that unit

 

[Viridel48]

It uses BT for the phone connection, likely because that's so standardized across all phones, that it wouldn't require any additional programming (and compatibility) in Android Auto.

And I've actually tried that via a BT on/off widget. It self-reactivates in a second or two.

 

[mustang7757]

On my mustang I have a Android version 9 head unit I use adapter Motorola m1 for wirelessly AA because it only has cable options and works great but gets connected with BT and does so automatically so I have to turn when USB plug in to not auto start AA over BT wirelessly only when I go in the app to use my BT ear buds or BT through cars radio system . Looks like you found a workaround .

 

[mustang7757]

I know the factory version head units are limited and don't give lot user function with those types of settings like aftermarket Android version