Pixel 4XL: No text alerts on Bluetooth

[Fisher99]

Just got a Pixel 4XL. Connected it to my car's Bluetooth (not Android-Auto) and all seemed fine. Phone calls, address book, etc work perfectly. However, if I'm listening to the car's radio and a text message comes in the phone does not give an alert. It's like when I connect to the car's bluetooth the phone puts alerts into silent mode. I have 3 cars and it does the same thing in all 3 cars so I'm pretty sure it isn't the car's Bluetooth. Is this an Android "Feature"? Will it not alert in this situation? That would seem pretty crazy since I do need to be notified of arriving texts.

EDIT: I should have noted that I am running Android 10.

 

[dmxjago]

Just got a Pixel 4XL. Connected it to my car's Bluetooth (not Android-Auto) and all seemed fine. Phone calls, address book, etc work perfectly. However, if I'm listening to the car's radio and a text message comes in the phone does not give an alert. It's like when I connect to the car's bluetooth the phone puts alerts into silent mode. I have 3 cars and it does the same thing in all 3 cars so I'm pretty sure it isn't the car's Bluetooth. Is this an Android "Feature"? Will it not alert in this situation? That would seem pretty crazy since I do need to be notified of arriving texts.

I don't think it's just your cars Bluetooth bc when I'm using the pixel Buds 2nd gen I run into the same issue. I'm on android 11 beta 3. It it started doing it on Beta 2 prior to me receiving the update earlier today. Doesn't always seem to do it but once it starts I think the only way to fix it was restarting the phone and didn't always help. This just started happening recently. I still get the alert just no sound notification.

 

[anon(40376)]

I connect to a GM bluetooth system (via the onstar module). When I get a text it dings and the bottom half of the head unit (NAV) screen displays a message asking me to listen, disregard or answer the text. (Answering being a pre-set choice of about three replies). Did it yesterday while driving around. I'm still on android 10; not willing to test 11.

If I am on a regular bluetooth headset; LG stereo or Moto, I get a beep telling me I have a text or an email, but no offer to read. However, both headsets I use are over two years old.

 

[dmxjago]

I'm thinking maybe could be intentional so it doesn't disrupt your Audio since I still get a silent notification pop up or a bug.

 

[dmxjago]

Just checked the phone settings and sounds is turned off on android auto by default that must be your issue. I bet one of the latest updates. See attached screenshot.

 

[Fisher99]

As I mentioned in my original post, I do not have Android Auto in any of my vehicles, so I don't think that this would apply to my situation?

 

[dmxjago]

Sorry forgot you mentioned that. I don't know but I started running into this issue too but it's not consistent. For example as I type this I'm out for a walk while listening to a podcast and I received the alert sound for your reply just fine. I suspect a bug. Are you in android beta? I am..

 

[Fisher99]

I should also note that when my phone is connected to my vehicle's Bluetooth system, not only don't the text alerts sound on the phone, they don't sound over the vehicle's speakers either. For instance, if I am listening to the radio in the car and a text comes in I don't get the alert on either the phone or on the car's speaker system. But phone calls come over the car's speaker system just fine. And if I play music from the phone, it comes over the car's speaker system just fine. Again, this happens exactly the same in all 3 of my cars and their Bluetooth systems. It's just text alerts that don't come over either device.

 

[thunderup]

I should also note that when my phone is connected to my vehicle's Bluetooth system, not only don't the text alerts sound on the phone, they don't sound over the vehicle's speakers either. For instance, if I am listening to the radio in the car and a text comes in I don't get the alert on either the phone or on the car's speaker system. But phone calls come over the car's speaker system just fine. And if I play music from the phone, it comes over the car's speaker system just fine. Again, this happens exactly the same in all 3 of my cars and their Bluetooth systems. It's just text alerts that don't come over either device.

Do you get notification sounds from others apps? I drive a Ford and I found on mine that if I have Media Audio enable that I don't get any notification sounds unless I'm connected to the car's Bluetooth input. Since I rarely stream music from my phone to my car, I disabled Media Audio in my phone's Bluetooth settings and all notification sounds come through my phone. I also turned off Text Messages in Bluetooth settings because I didn't like the way my Ford system handles texts. If I want to stream music from my phone I just go and enable Media Audio but again, that's rare for me. Not sure if this would be a solution for you or not.

 

[kmf1]

Do you get notification sounds from others apps? I drive a Ford and I found on mine that if I have Media Audio enable that I don't get any notification sounds unless I'm connected to the car's Bluetooth input. Since I rarely stream music from my phone to my car, I disabled Media Audio in my phone's Bluetooth settings and all notification sounds come through my phone. I also turned off Text Messages in Bluetooth settings because I didn't like the way my Ford system handles texts. If I want to stream music from my phone I just go and enable Media Audio but again, that's rare for me. Not sure if this would be a solution for you or not.

View attachment 323507

With my 2013 Ford F150, I have all 4 categories enabled by default. If I turn on Bluetooth Media in the truck, to stream music, I get all text message notifications, as well as, voice guidance from Waze, Google Maps, etc. If the Bluetooth Media on the truck is not enabled, I don't get any of that. I don't use Android Auto at all.

 

[Fisher99]

Hmmm... Not sure what happened but I posted yesterday afternoon that I had found the solution but I don't see the post here. Must have been a screwup on my part... In any case, I discovered exactly what THUNDERUP is saying. If I turn off "Media" then my phone alerts on text messages. Not a terrific solution but since I only rarely stream music or a podcast, it's a workable solution. Just have to remember to turn it on when I want to stream and off when I don't.

Still, it seems that Android could and should give you the option of where you want alerts to come when you are connected to Bluetooth.