14 DAY TRIAL // Apple seems to have forgotten to patch a Bluetooth bug plaguing car owners since the release of iOS 7 in September, with numerous customers taking to the company’s forums to complain.
A thread titled “iOS 7 Bluetooth problems” on Apple Support Communities has received 80,000 hits (at the time of this writing), and hundreds of replies, confirming the issue as widespread.
Most users affected by the problem are car owners who, after making the jump to iOS 7, could no longer pair their device to the car’s Bluetooth system for controlling music, navigation, and other functions.
“I'm having the same issue with my Toyota (2012 Prius). Updated to iOS7 and now the controls on the steering wheel and center console are dead,” writes one user.
“Same here with a 2013 528. My radio would go silent while the system showed the phone making a call, yet I didn't call anyone,” says another.
One customer brought the issue to Apple’s attention by visiting the Genius bar at his local retail store.
“I went to Genius bar, they told me to remove the car from the phone and remove the phone from the car. Turn the phone off, then on again. Then re-pair and re-connect through blutetooth. I did and it worked ok on the way home. We'll see how long it lasts,” this person wrote.
This hasn’t worked for everyone, though. In fact, even the winning solution provided by one of the forum posters (which has been labeled “This solved my question”) only works for a handful of users.
For information purposes, we’re posting the solution here as well.
“Clear all linkages from all devices. The phone and the Bluetooth receivers and start from fresh,” wrote a user identified as Sammytx.
If this works for you, be sure to give Sammytx a thumbs up in Apple’s forums, and let us know how it went for you in the comments section below.
If the issue persists, Apple will most likely have to address it with a patch in its upcoming iOS 7.0.4 / iOS 7.1 release.