Jelly Bean Bluetooth Voice Dialing is totally useless

[vicw926a4]

Glad to hear that all is well. Good idea to spread the word. There will be tons of folks affected as JB distribution ramps up, although I don't know how non-Nexus versions will behave, and maybe some of the other versions will have fixes built-in. Actually, I hope they don't, only because it will raise the heat on Google to fix this thing.

I'm amazed that this problem hasn't surfaced on any of the media, or even the Android venues, such as Android Central. I think it's at least as serious as antenna-gate was on the iPhone, with a considerable potential safety impact, if smartphones are actually being used for hands-free operation while driving.

While you are spreading the word about TB use, I recommend that you include mention of the alternative use of Disabling the Google Search app, for the majority of users who don't have their phones rooted.

 

[ncguy]

I haven't had a chance yet to try this in the below link personally but it looks like work is being done on a workaround. This looks promising.

Should also mention that android 4.2 will be revealed Monday on the new nexus 4. There's always hope that it will contain a permanent solution.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1883895
Found a way to choose my Bluetooth button app with Google now installed

 

[vicw926a4]

I haven't had a chance yet to try this in the below link personally but it looks like work is being done on a workaround. This looks promising.

Should also mention that android 4.2 will be revealed Monday on the new nexus 4. There's always hope that it will contain a permanent solution.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1883895
Found a way to choose my Bluetooth button app with Google now installed

I hope 4.2 will fix it. I tried the method in that link, but didn't have any success. I didn't see any option in TB, as the thread had indicated, to make the Google Search app a User rather than system app. I will need to go back and try again.

UPDATE: I went back and carefully tried the workaround from the XDA link, but it doesn't work on my GN. The Convert to User App option doesn't appear as an option in TB Special Features for the Google Search app.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2

 

[ncguy]

Good news for some. If you are content using a third party voice dialer like cyberon then the latest play store update to google voice enables the use once again of third party dialers as the default voice dialer. This is a huge development for me and many others and will allow me to now start playing with stock JB once again!

If you like using the stock voice dialer then it also was improved in that it now provides confirmation prior to dialing. Sadly it was still so inaccurate that I found once again unusable. I read somewhere that you could train the voice but I'm not familiar with how to do that. If anyone knows how please chime in.

Thank you google!

 

[ncguy]

Good news for some. If you are content using a third party voice dialer like cyberon then the latest play store update to google search enables the use once again of third party dialers as the default voice dialer. This is a huge development for me and many others and will allow me to now start playing with stock JB once again!

If you like using the stock voice dialer then it also was improved in that it now provides confirmation prior to dialing. Sadly it was still so inaccurate that I found once again unusable. I read somewhere that you could train the voice but I'm not familiar with how to do that. If anyone knows how please chime in.

Thank you google!

 

[vicw926a4]

Good news for some. If you are content using a third party voice dialer like cyberon then the latest play store update to google voice enables the use once again of third party dialers as the default voice dialer. This is a huge development for me and many others and will allow me to now start playing with stock JB once again!

If you like using the stock voice dialer then it also was improved in that it now provides confirmation prior to dialing. Sadly it was still so inaccurate that I found once again unusable. I read somewhere that you could train the voice but I'm not familiar with how to do that. If anyone knows how please chime in.

Thank you google!

Yes, it's all working great for me. I'm now able to use Eva 3rd party dialer on Bluetooth, without needing an alternate speech recognizer app, no longer need to disable Google Search, and regained use of Google Now and the Google Search bar. Life is good.

Sorry I was starting to have ugly thoughts about you, Google. You have redeemed yourself.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[ncguy]

Yes, it's all working great for me. I'm now able to use Eva 3rd party dialer on Bluetooth, without needing an alternate speech recognizer app, no longer need to disable Google Search, and regained use of Google Now and the Google Search bar. Life is good.

Sorry I was starting to have ugly thoughts about you, Google. You have redeemed yourself.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

I have noticed that when I'm listening to audio, like a doggcatcher podcast, and take a call that after the call the podcast will automatically resume but the volume has been reduced to zero. Its a bit annoying and causes you to miss a bit of the audio until you remember to check the volume. Have you had this issue yet?

 

[vicw926a4]

I have noticed that when I'm listening to audio, like a doggcatcher podcast, and take a call that after the call the podcast will automatically resume but the volume has been reduced to zero. Its a bit annoying and causes you to miss a bit of the audio until you remember to check the volume. Have you had this issue yet?

Just tried the phone call received while listening to doggcatcher. The volume did drop off on the podcast to almost nothing after the call, but the phone volume settings hadn't changed at all - just the volume within doggcatcher, until I paused and restarted the podcast. Looks to me to be more an issue within doggcatcher. I also noted that if I paused a podcast in doggcatcher, the next incoming call didn't even ring the phone. I didn't see any of that behavior listening on Amazon MP3 player.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2

 

[ncguy]

Just tried the phone call received while listening to doggcatcher. The volume did drop off on the podcast to almost nothing after the call, but the phone volume settings hadn't changed at all - just the volume within doggcatcher, until I paused and restarted the podcast. Looks to me to be more an issue within doggcatcher. I also noted that if I paused a podcast in doggcatcher, the next incoming call didn't even ring the phone. I didn't see any of that behavior listening on Amazon MP3 player.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2

I was wondering about doggcatcher being the problem but I didn't have this issue prior to jb when it worked with ICS. BTW, thanks for testing it.

I'm also having issues now with the cyberon volume level. It is very low, much lower than before, and no apparent way to raise it. If there is background noise you really can't hear the voice.

 

[GUHoya94]

NCGuy, Yes, I'm now going to try this. Do you recommend the Cyberon Voice Commander or the Cyberon Voice Speed Dial? Thanks for all your help on this one.

 

[vicw926a4]

FYI - I am experiencing, and some others are reporting, that while the recent Google Search update resolved the problem of no 3rd party dialer app access using Bluetooth, there is still a problem. After a reboot, the previous 'always' selection of the 3rd party app is lost, and has to be reestablished.

 

[ncguy]

Deleted

 

[ncguy]

NCGuy, Yes, I'm now going to try this. Do you recommend the Cyberon Voice Commander or the Cyberon Voice Speed Dial? Thanks for all your help on this one.

The voice commander. If you have access to the international english version via a market outside the us vs. the us English version in the play store then you pick up the digit-dialing feature. That feature is disabled in the play store due to patent issues.

 

[ncguy]

FYI - I am experiencing, and some others are reporting, that while the recent Google Search update resolved the problem of no 3rd party dialer app access using Bluetooth, there is still a problem. After a reboot, the previous 'always' selection of the 3rd party app is lost, and has to be reestablished.

We need to figure out why this is affecting some but apparently not all. I am one that is not having this problem. Lets compare configs to see if there is a pattern:

Galaxy Nexus gsm

stock 4.1.2 takju version JZ054K

Rooted

Google search 2.1.12.516912

 

[vicw926a4]

NCGuy, Yes, I'm now going to try this. Do you recommend the Cyberon Voice Commander or the Cyberon Voice Speed Dial? Thanks for all your help on this one.

I know you didn't ask my opinion, and I agree that Cyberon VC is pretty reliable, but is quite limited, feature-wise. If you are interested in a very much larger array of features, with excellent support, you might also consider trying out the free 30 day trial version of Eva, the Eva Intern app. That app has a bit higher learning curve, because of the array of features, and options available, but the dev has created a host of helpful videos, and is highly responsive to user issues. I purchased Cyberon, and then tried Eva, and after a couple of weeks of using it, I purchased the Eva version. The settings from the trial app are automatically picked up with the paid version.

 

[vicw926a4]

We need to figure out why this is affecting some but apparently not all. I am one that is not having this problem. Lets compare configs to see if there is a pattern:

Galaxy Nexus gsm

stock 4.1.2 takju version JZ054K

Rooted

Google search 2.1.12.516912

Good Point.

My GN is CDMA on VZW
stock, 4.1.1 Build JR003O
Rooted
Google Search 2.1.12.516912

- - - Updated - - -

We need to figure out why this is affecting some but apparently not all. I am one that is not having this problem. Lets compare configs to see if there is a pattern:

Galaxy Nexus gsm

stock 4.1.2 takju version JZ054K

Rooted

Google search 2.1.12.516912

Good Point. Mine has the problem.

My GN is CDMA on VZW
stock, 4.1.1 Build JR003O
Rooted
Google Search 2.1.12.516912

 

[GUHoya94]

vicw926a4 -- What especially do you find so useful about Eva?

 

[ncguy]

Good Point.

My GN is CDMA on VZW
stock, 4.1.1 Build JR003O
Rooted
Google Search 2.1.12.516912

- - - Updated - - -



Good Point. Mine has the problem.

My GN is CDMA on VZW
stock, 4.1.1 Build JR003O
Rooted
Google Search 2.1.12.516912

Could someone on stock either having the problem or not having the problem tell us if you are on 4.1.1 or 4.1.2. That may be the difference.

 

[vicw926a4]

vicw926a4 -- What especially do you find so useful about Eva?

There are too many for me to try to convey here, but there a number of features that I'm finding especially helpful:
Confirmation on outbound calls
The ability to create groups that will constitute the calling list, so that I can streamline the app searching, and improve accuracy.
The creation and use of nicknames, such as "my daughter Mary", "my Wife", etc, to facilitate quick and reliable matches on calls, so that I can just say "Call my wife", or "Navigate to my daughter Mary's house"
App awareness of location, so that I can command it to "Navigate to Walmart", and it will start the navigation to the nearest one, or I can command it to "navigate to Walmart in Abereen" as an alternative.
Dial numbers directly by voice
Integration with Tasker, so that I was able to create Tasks that will respond to verbal requests within Eva for Battery Level, Signal Strength
Use of Google Voice for verbal text generation
Reading of texts and/or emails that can be enabled or disabled verbally at any time
Voice generation of emails, with the capability to create and specify groups such as "Kids", and good capability to verbally review the content sentence by sentence before sending.
Word replacement capability, so that in the case where the Voice Recognizer can't properly decode a word, it will substitute the correct word for the incorrect one.
Profile selection, either via the screen, or inputted verbally, such as "Car Mode", "Default", "Home",etc.
Ability to verbally Send a copy of the app Log to mail, Evernote, file, etc.
A wide array of options to fine tune the app behavior.
Excellent Help info in the app, and a complete set of instructions on the dev website.
A wide array of videos from the developer, and some other good ones by reviewers, which are very helpful in demonstrating app capabilities and usage.

Without really taking some time to go through all of the features, I'm sure I could name a dozen more, but this quicky list probably has most of my top hitters. If you are interested, consider that you have a full month's free use of the app before you have to make a decision, and using it is the best way to discover what it can do.

It's probably needless to say that I'm more than impressed with this set of apps. Actually there are four versions:
1. Eva Intern (the free one month full capability trial version)
2. Eva (the paid app with a female face)
3. Evan (same, but with a male face)
4. AVX (this is the more businesslike looking version)

In fact, all four are functionally identical, as far as I can tell. I think I already mentioned it, but if you switchover from the free version to one of the paid versions, all of your settings automatically incorporate into the new version. You just delete the free app and install the paid one.

 

[GUHoya94]

Thanks for the recommendation, vicw926a4 . You've convinced me to give Eva a try. I'm always impressed with apps that people can rattle off a list of reasons they like them. It definitely encourages one to try.