Bluetooth though the Car FM Radio

[Clif001]

When driving down the road listening to the car radio, if I get a call it will come through the Bluetooth to the phone for hands free operation.

Why can't GPS directions and alerts also come through the car radio?

I have about an hour commute. I like listening to the local FM stations on my car radio. I also have the GPS going as it will alert me to traffic conditions along my route. Unfortunately, if I'm listening to the radio, the messages and alerts don't come through. I have to either change the input to "Bluetooth/phone" or turn the volume up on the phone so it's louder than the radio.

If I get a call, however, it will come through muting the radio while the call is active.

Can't this be "fixed" by either Samsung or Android (Google)? It would seem to me that running "Android Auto" should automatically enable both phone *and* GPS (and other) alerts to come through Bluetooth to the radio.

 

[anon(238680)]

I think that functionality is more the car than either the phone or AA. There is only so much compatibility that can be built in and not all functions are going to work in all instances. I would look more toward a firmware update for your vehicle. Nougat has outdated lots of cars judging by questions on the forums.

 

[J Dubbs]

It's really a miracle if the majority of things work together on different devices anymore, it's very frustrating that there's no standardization in the industry.

It's like the Wild West, anybody can do anything they want to their device, then blame everybody else when things don't work right together :-[

And guess who loses? We do as usual :-(

I'm speaking with my wallet, by skipping all the tech I don't need that's just a pain to use together anyway, and getting what suits me at good prices and keeping it forever.

I'm the customer they hate lol

 

[cnjvh]

I will chime in on this thread as I have the exact same issue (so hopefully not a hijack).

If I have Bluetooth enabled but I don't have my head unit set to the Bluetooth input, I will only hear calls through the car stereo (since the stereo is smart enough to recognize a call and route the audio). The media sounds (music or any app that talks such as OK Google) are not heard unless I switch to the Bluetooth input.

Coming from Windows phone this is a frustration. Cortana had an option to make all non-call voice audio (such as reading texts or using Hey Cortana) to simulate a phone call to work around this problem. I wish Android had a way to do this as well. If there is a way I haven't found it.

 

[GhostITMG]

I have a similar, but not identical situation. I use my phone for listening to audio via Bluetooth in my car daily. Like cnjvh, I just came over from Windows Mobile myself and find the Bluetooth audio routing odd. If I'm listening to anything on my phone vie Bluetooth, music or an audiobook for example, notification sounds will still play over the phone speaker and I frequently don't hear them. Is there a way to just get all of the sounds to play over Bluetooth?

 

[Trigati]

I don't have this problem. When I have music playing, notifications and navigation plays over the car speakers. One thing to check is that the music player you're using 'respects the audio focus'. That means it will let notifications and anything else (like navigation) override the music. Some players have a setting for this in the options.

 

[GhostITMG]

I'm using Audible for the most part. And it has a setting called Audio Interruptions which is set to "Pause and then resume playback". Notifications still only come through the phone speaker for some reason.

 

[Trigati]

I've not had a problem using Pandora, Amazon Music, or Play Music. As far as third party music players, both DoubleTwist and Poweramp have never given me problems. I've yet to try Audible, but I mostly stream music now.

 

[GhostITMG]

I did try last night with Play Music and same thing. Notification sounds still played through the phone speaker and not the Bluetooth speaker. There must be a setting somewhere that controls this. I just can't figure out where it is :-

 

[Trigati]

What phones?

 

[GhostITMG]

Galaxy S8+

 

[Trigati]

I wonder if it has something to do with Samsung. Neither my Nexus 6P or OnePlus 5 have had any problems with audio focus. I haven't tried a Samsung device in a long time.

 

[GhostITMG]

Yeah, it could be.

 

[J Dubbs]

Waaay too many settings buried waaay too deep in the system.

Most people don't want to spend huge amounts of their time trying to figure out Android..... they just want it to work. That's why iPhones are so popular.
Until Google figures that out they'll always be the "cheaper" phone choice and Apple will be the premium. There's a very good reason the iPhone is more locked down.

People will pay more for less specs if something works without all the hassles. Apple figured that out ages ago and have been getting stupid rich ever since.

Watch and learn Google ;-)

 

[Trigati]

Waaay too many settings buried waaay too deep in the system.

Most people don't want to spend huge amounts of their time trying to figure out Android..... they just want it to work. That's why iPhones are so popular.
Until Google figures that out they'll always be the "cheaper" phone choice and Apple will be the premium. There's a very good reason the iPhone is more locked down.

People will pay more for less specs if something works without all the hassles. Apple figured that out ages ago and have been getting stupid rich ever since.

Watch and learn Google ;-)

iOS settings are a complete train wreck as well. At least Android has a search function and are constantly trying to improve the categories and ease of finding things with every major release.