Asus Zenfone 8 mini - audio doesnt work if Bluetooth is connected

[Alice Ospovat]

I have an Asus Zenfone 8 mini (not flip) running the latest version of Android, whatever that is. Service through Google Fi. Here's my issue -

If I'm connected to my car or other audio system with Bluetooth, even if the car audio is on radio, my phone audio doesn't work - it's like it's trying to send the audio to the car speakers even though the car isn't set to Bluetooth. I have to turn off Bluetooth entirely on my phone to get it to just play audio from my phone. This is a giant pain if I need driving directions from Google Maps.

It must be something to do with my phone or settings, because my husband doesn't have the same issue even in the same vehicle. Can anyone tell me if there's a solution?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! This is normal. If your phone is connected to the car stereo via Bluetooth, then it'll always try to play Phone and Media audio through Bluetooth. In order to hear the media, you have to make sure the car stereo's audio input is set to Bluetooth. If the phone isn't connected via Android Auto, it can't tell what audio input the stereo is set to, nor can it change the input.

If you want to hear Google Maps navigation voice directions, through the car stereo, you need to keep the car stereo's input to Bluetooth. If you want to keep the phone connected to the stereo via Bluetooth but hear the directions from the phone, go to the Google Maps settings, then Navigation Settings, and turn off "Play voice over Bluetooth."

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

 

[Alice Ospovat]

If you want to keep the phone connected to the stereo via Bluetooth but hear the directions from the phone, go to the Google Maps settings, then Navigation Settings, and turn off "Play voice over Bluetooth"

Hi, thanks for answering! I'm the OP.

This is what I want, and this is how it's already set, but it doesn't work - the directions are silent if Bluetooth is turned on. As soon as I turn Bluetooth off on my phone, I start hearing the audio directions, so it's definitely the Bluetooth connection making the difference.

 

[Alice Ospovat]

P.S. The only time I ever want any phone audio to go through speakers is if I'm listening to music. I hate hearing phone calls, map directions etc through the speakers and I never connect for calls, only for media. If there's anything else I should set to make sure that's working correctly, please let me know! Thanks.

 

[B. Diddy]

Hi, thanks for answering! I'm the OP.

This is what I want, and this is how it's already set, but it doesn't work - the directions are silent if Bluetooth is turned on. As soon as I turn Bluetooth off on my phone, I start hearing the audio directions, so it's definitely the Bluetooth connection making the difference.

OK, and just to be sure -- when the phone is connected via Bluetooth, and Google Maps is set to play voice over Bluetooth, your stereo is set to Bluetooth input, correct? Sorry for the repetition, but this can be a little convoluted, so I want to make sure everything is set properly on both sides.

I made you the owner of the original guest post to make it easier for you to find.

 

[Alice Ospovat]

OK, and just to be sure -- when the phone is connected via Bluetooth, and Google Maps is set to play voice over Bluetooth, your stereo is set to Bluetooth input, correct? Sorry for the repetition, but this can be a little convoluted, so I want to make sure everything is set properly on both sides.

I made you the owner of the original guest post to make it easier for you to find.

No, the scenario is -

Phone has Bluetooth turned on and has paired with the car in the past, and is set to auto connect to car Bluetooth for media only (I listen to Spotify sometimes).

Google maps has "Play voice over Bluetooth" turned off.

Car audio is set to FM radio.

I want the Google Maps navigation to come from the phone itself, not the car speakers, but it doesn't - it is silent anytime the phone is auto-connected to the car Bluetooth.

Again, the car audio is not set to Bluetooth input and I don't want it to receive the Bluetooth input. I just want my phone to correctly play Google maps navigation cues without having to either unpair it or manually turn off Bluetooth on my phone every time I need to navigate.

 

[B. Diddy]

Hmm, and all of the volume sliders on the phone are turned up?

 

[Alice Ospovat]

Yep, volume is all set normally and if I adjust the volume while it's navigating it shows the media slider for the Bluetooth connection.

 

[B. Diddy]

When you're navigating, look at the Maps UI for the speaker icon (which is for the navigation voice). That's not set to Mute, right?

 

[Alice Ospovat]

When you're navigating, look at the Maps UI for the speaker icon (which is for the navigation voice). That's not set to Mute, right?

Sorry, missed this response. Correct, it is not set to mute. If I turn off Bluetooth I immediately start getting navigation cues from my phone's speakers, the way I want it to work.

 

[B. Diddy]

Try clearing the app cache/data for Google Maps in Settings>Apps, then force stop it, and then open it again.

Also, just to be sure, the phone isn't connected to any other Bluetooth devices (like earbuds), right?

 

[Alice Ospovat]

Try clearing the app cache/data for Google Maps in Settings>Apps, then force stop it, and then open it again.

Also, just to be sure, the phone isn't connected to any other Bluetooth devices (like earbuds), right?

Correct, no other Bluetooth devices, and the phone has been restarted & cache cleared many times and it's behaved like this consistently ever since I got the phone over a year ago.

PS It's not just Google Maps - it's anything on my phone that plays sound through the speakers,except for phone calls. If my phone is paired to the car Bluetooth, even though the car is on FM radio, all "media" sound output like game sound effects & music are trying to go to the car speakers instead of the phone speakers.

 

[B. Diddy]

Correct, no other Bluetooth devices, and the phone has been restarted & cache cleared many times and it's behaved like this consistently ever since I got the phone over a year ago.

PS It's not just Google Maps - it's anything on my phone that plays sound through the speakers,except for phone calls. If my phone is paired to the car Bluetooth, even though the car is on FM radio, all "media" sound output like game sound effects & music are trying to go to the car speakers instead of the phone speakers.

The fact that all sounds try to play through the car stereo is not surprising, if the phone is connected via Bluetooth. You could turn that off by going to Settings>Bluetooth, tapping the gear icon next to the car stereo, then turning of Media Audio, but then you wouldn't be able to stream music through the car stereo either.

You said "the phone has been restarted and cache cleared many times" -- are you talking about wiping the phone's system cache partition (i.e., in the Recovery menu), or the app cache and data for the Google Maps app (in the Settings>Apps​ menu)?

 

[Alice Ospovat]

The fact that all sounds try to play through the car stereo is not surprising, if the phone is connected via Bluetooth. You could turn that off by going to Settings>Bluetooth, tapping the gear icon next to the car stereo, then turning of Media Audio, but then you wouldn't be able to stream music through the car stereo either.

You said "the phone has been restarted and cache cleared many times" -- are you talking about wiping the phone's system cache partition (i.e., in the Recovery menu), or the app cache and data for the Google Maps app (in the Settings>Apps​ menu)?

The app cache - have had to do that a few times for various issues. But I really don't think it's a Google maps issue as it seems to be a general issue with the audio output.

But what do you mean it's not surprising that all sounds are trying to play through the car stereo? The car is set to FM radio - it is not receiving media output from my phone. So why can't my phone recognize that and play media through its own speakers?

I am getting a little frustrated here because all this info was in my initial post and you keep going off on tangents about Google maps. This isn't about one app. It's about the fact that my phone is pairing to the car and sending media output to the car *even though the car is set to radio and is not receiving the Bluetooth output*.

 

[B. Diddy]

The app cache - have had to do that a few times for various issues. But I really don't think it's a Google maps issue as it seems to be a general issue with the audio output.

But what do you mean it's not surprising that all sounds are trying to play through the car stereo? The car is set to FM radio - it is not receiving media output from my phone. So why can't my phone recognize that and play media through its own speakers?

I am getting a little frustrated here because all this info was in my initial post and you keep going off on tangents about Google maps. This isn't about one app. It's about the fact that my phone is pairing to the car and sending media output to the car *even though the car is set to radio and is not receiving the Bluetooth output*.

Sorry if I'm frustrating you, but you said in your original post that "This is a giant pain if I need driving directions from Google Maps", so that's why I'm addressing that as well.

It doesn't matter if the car is set to something besides Bluetooth input -- the phone's Bluetooth connection isn't intelligent enough to figure that out. If the phone is connected to the car via Bluetooth, it will output sound to the car via Bluetooth, regardless of whether your car stereo is actually set to the Bluetooth input source or not. The only adjustments you can make are to go to the Bluetooth options for the car stereo in the phone's system settings and toggle off Media Sound (i.e., music, video sounds, game sounds, etc.) or Phone Sound (i.e., phone calls).

 

[Alice Ospovat]

Sorry if I'm frustrating you, but you said in your original post that "This is a giant pain if I need driving directions from Google Maps", so that's why I'm addressing that as well.

It doesn't matter if the car is set to something besides Bluetooth input -- the phone's Bluetooth connection isn't intelligent enough to figure that out. If the phone is connected to the car via Bluetooth, it will output sound to the car via Bluetooth, regardless of whether your car stereo is actually set to the Bluetooth input source or not. The only adjustments you can make are to go to the Bluetooth options for the car stereo in the phone's system settings and toggle off Media Sound (i.e., music, video sounds, game sounds, etc.) or Phone Sound (i.e., phone calls).

So ... You could have just answered my initial question with "that's how it's designed to work."

 

[B. Diddy]

So ... You could have just answered my initial question with "that's how it's designed to work."

I did explain that in my very first response: "This is normal. If your phone is connected to the car stereo via Bluetooth, then it'll always try to play Phone and Media audio through Bluetooth. In order to hear the media, you have to make sure the car stereo's audio input is set to Bluetooth"

If you're going to take that attitude, I'll take my leave then. Good luck.

 

[Golfdriver97]

No, the scenario is -

Phone has Bluetooth turned on and has paired with the car in the past, and is set to auto connect to car Bluetooth for media only (I listen to Spotify sometimes).

Google maps has "Play voice over Bluetooth" turned off.

Car audio is set to FM radio.

I want the Google Maps navigation to come from the phone itself, not the car speakers, but it doesn't - it is silent anytime the phone is auto-connected to the car Bluetooth.

Again, the car audio is not set to Bluetooth input and I don't want it to receive the Bluetooth input. I just want my phone to correctly play Google maps navigation cues without having to either unpair it or manually turn off Bluetooth on my phone every time I need to navigate.

Welcome to the forums.

In this scenario, I'm looking at this piece of info: Car audio is set to FM radio.

The tuner on the car is set to route incoming transmissions (trying to use a blanket phrase to cover anything from radio/satellite/Bluetooth) on whatever specified method; in this case FM. There would need to be a way for the car to tell if there is something desired happening via the phone to shift to Bluetooth, execute desired action, then flip back to FM (as following this example).

We could look at this from the other way around: turn off the car Bluetooth, severing the connection and the phone itself should play the turn by turn navigation from the phone speakers. Would that work? Sure, you'd have to turn BT back on through the car head unit for Spotify, but it sounds like BT isn't a common way for you to listen?

 

[Alice Ospovat]

Welcome to the forums.

In this scenario, I'm looking at this piece of info: Car audio is set to FM radio.

The tuner on the car is set to route incoming transmissions (trying to use a blanket phrase to cover anything from radio/satellite/Bluetooth) on whatever specified method; in this case FM. There would need to be a way for the car to tell if there is something desired happening via the phone to shift to Bluetooth, execute desired action, then flip back to FM (as following this example).

We could look at this from the other way around: turn off the car Bluetooth, severing the connection and the phone itself should play the turn by turn navigation from the phone speakers. Would that work? Sure, you'd have to turn BT back on through the car head unit for Spotify, but it sounds like BT isn't a common way for you to listen?

This is the part I don't understand - why, when the car is set to radio, would it be even trying to pair to my phone via Bluetooth? Why doesn't switching the car to radio mode automatically turn off Bluetooth? This is what I would have expected.

I do often listen to Spotify through car speakers, but just as often I listen to the radio instead. The part I think is super weird is that apparently there's no way to force my phone to play Google Maps navigation *always through phone speakers no matter what* which would be a fine solution.

 

[Alice Ospovat]

PS I think you're misreading somewhere - I don't want the car radio to turn off and flip automatically to Bluetooth. I just want the car radio to continue playing the radio while my phone speakers play the navigation, without having to go in and manually toggle Bluetooth off on my phone every time.