This is the absolute definition of a First World Problem but it's been irritating me since I bought my Octavia and wondered if any of you boffins might have some tips.

 

I've had a variety of phones (all android) since owning the car. I like to stream music from the phone via bluetooth using spotify/google play music (I've tried both and they do the same thing, and that thing is what I'll now begin describing in the sort of forensic detail reserved only for matters which have developed into a full-on obsession).

 

So. Sometimes I'll get in the car, turn the ignition on and after the phone auto-connects (by which time I'm usually driving), it starts playing whatever banging choon I was listening to previously, picking up from where it left off (in the same way as you'd expect when you turn the ignition on if you'd been playing a CD the last time you were driving).

 

However, roughly half the time it doesn't do it. It connects fine and you can make phonecalls and whatever, but if you want to listen to your music then you need to get the phone out of your pocket, open whatever app it is you've been listening from and then press play. Being an old-fashioned sort of cove, I tend not to like killing people nor incurring the wrath of the feds when I'm out and about and as such arsing about with my phone while crossing the central reservation simply isn't an option. It doesn't seem to matter whether the phone's been switched off and on inbetweentimes, whether the music player in question is already open, etc. It's just bloody random as to whether it works or not. It's pretty much the only thing that annoys me about the car.

 

I've tried a couple of apps from the play store that are supposed to remedy this ('bluetooth connect and play' being one) and no matter how I tweak the settings it still insists on periodically not working. The head unit is an MIB 1 Amundsen. Any advice appreciated.

I have a Samsung S6 and use the inbuilt Samsung music app and I don't have any of the issue that you have,although mine is the MIB 2 Amundsen so that might be your issue rather than the phone and it's app.

My iPhone carries on playing unless I close the app in between drives. If I get in after closing the app it won't play

Ref Spotify, I'm sure the service that 'runs' times out after while when paused, which manifests in the 'sometimes you have to fire the app up again' but I've never had it not play straight away if I've been using it in the last 20 mins (like I've been listening to it at work or in the gym). I'd hazard a guess that's a Android service killing it to save memory and battery.  Is it definitely inconsistent with this behavior?

Edited 19 April, 201610 yr by Mallettsmallett

I have a Samsung S7 and previously other Samsung and android phones. I found its best to just re open spotify before you get into the car as I've had the same issues as you. 

Although I think its a Spotify thing where it gets either put to sleep by android or its shutting down connection after so long as mentioned above.

I have exactly the same issue and it doesn't seem to be limited to Śkoda. I have an S7 edge and prior to that a Note 3 & 2, all of these behaved as the OP described in my Škoda and now my 2016 Mondeo. As much as it is a first world problem it's bloody annoying!

I came to the conclusion it was some sort of power/RAM saving thing too. The issue occurs less if I leave the spotify app running in the background i.e. Open the app then press the home button rather than the back up button.

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On my z2 I can select apps to launch when it connects to the cars BT.

Check if your samsung has any similar possibilities.

Thanks all. The thing that made me think there must be a way round it (and also to answer Mallettsmallet's query on this point) was the fact that the thing will sometimes kick in randomly after literally days of not having used the Spotify/GPM apps on the phone, and even after a reboot. I've actually made a point of testing it as proof to myself. As such in my mind I'd considered and discounted the possibility of the cessation of the app service being the problem. However, that's not to say that there might not be something else which triggers the thing to 'come alive' again (maybe the app in question auto-updating?) and thus for the music to start playing when a connection is made shortly thereafter.

 

Hmmm. I'll have a bit more of a play with the settings on a couple of the third-party BT auto connect apps (as @Gromle suggests) and see if I can find a setting that works consistently. Unfortunately on stock android there's no native means that I can see of forcing an app to start and resume playback when a bluetooth connection is detected.

 

If I have any luck I'll post back as clearly there are others who are at least mildly annoyed by this!

I think you may be correct with the PlayStore app auto-update.

I often lose launcher icons or the icon image is missing etc after updates.

 

I think this unfortunately is one of the big flaws in the Android concept...

There was a time where if something you'd bought needed an update you would concider this to be badly designed & complain.

Google seem to have somehow convinced everyone weekly updates are great.

It doesn't matter that the update fixes bugs which stopped you using the app completely & problably introduced many new bugs to be fixed for next week.

 

 

On my LG G4 I have a LG-SmartApps function which lets you choose what to do when "connecting to a Bluetooth device".

When I select "Play Music" using the LG music player app (not even a 3rd party app) it does nothing when connecting to my Bluetooth speaker or Octavia.

On my z2 I can select apps to launch when it connects to the cars BT.

Check if your samsung has any similar possibilities.

Where would I find this option if it was available to me? It would be good, however my Bluetooth is always on.

I considered installing Tasker or using an NFC tag in the car.

Where would I find this option if it was available to me? It would be good, however my Bluetooth is always on.

I considered installing Tasker or using an NFC tag in the car.

On my z2 its an app called smart connect. It lets me launch apps, mute ringtones, etc when the phone is connected to chargers, docks, BT and such.

But I think smart connect is Sony exclusive.

It will probably be 3rd party apps who'll do the same.

Edited 21 April, 201610 yr by Gromle

Where would I find this option if it was available to me? It would be good, however my Bluetooth is always on.

I considered installing Tasker or using an NFC tag in the car.

Jonro, have you tried this app called Bluetooth Connect and Play that I mention above? It's by a a one-man-band developer and available from the play store. It purports to do exactly what we're looking for - i.e. it runs in the background waiting for a connection to a specified bluetooth device (my BT is on all the time as well) and when that connection is made, it opens the app you specify (Spotify etc) and issues a play command to it.

 

The only trouble is that I've found it to be a bit hit and miss - for example it sometimes starts playing the music too early and so it comes through the phone's speaker. To mitigate that there's a 'pause for X seconds before play' option but I still found that occasionally it wouldn't do it. However, there are a load of settings you can tweak and I'm convinced that there must be a way to get it to do what we want consistently. I just haven't found it yet!

 

It doesn't help, it must be said, that the MIB1 amundsen is a flaky bugger and (like various people on here) I've experienced problems with the screen not turning on after ignition, the thing freezing from time to time and so on. Perhaps then the best case scenario is to have it working most of the time rather than all the time. One of the things I'm most looking forward to when I jack this car in for another one next year is the MIB 2 unit with its la-di-daaaa hi-res graphics and supposed ability to respond to commands within a lunar year of the button being pressed.

Thanks Gromie and CainDingle, I will have a look at the app you suggest and let you know how I get on.

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Update. I reckon I might have sorted this, but I'm going to test for a couple more days then post back.

Would be interested in this too as having same issue. Not sure what you fix might be but I am going to look into trusted BT connections to unlock phone or try to get the phone not to close or suspend app. Samsung s7 with an amundsen.

Edited 26 April, 201610 yr by forestfire

Unfortunately that app didn't work for me so if you have another solution I'm in!

I have the s7 edge and I haven't been able to stop the app from closing, is there a way to do this?

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Update. I reckon I might have sorted this, but I'm going to test for a couple more days then post back.

 

Nope. Sod it.