Bluetooth (BT) Music Streaming

[zom414]

We've had our 66 plate Fabia Monte Carlo for a few weeks now and I've finally got round to delving into the ICE.  I've got my Nexus 5X paired so I can use it for calls etc and also got the Android Auto app set up so I can use google maps. 

 

I know I can put music on an SD card but I've been trying to figure out how to play music via BT as another option.  The phone shows up in BT but none of the music on my phone shows on the screen which is what I thought would happen, is this normal?  If I go into my phone and play a track though it comes through the speakers, although this is not ideal as I don't want to be messing with my phone whilst driving!

 

I'm fairly certain that the answer is going to be to just use the SD card though but I also may not be using BT properly.

 

 

[Wet Kipper]

I got mine to work okay in our new Fabia.

I turned on the bluetooth in my phone, then found it as a "source" in the audio,choosing that instead of the SD card.

started spotify, and it came through on the car.

 

I haven't tried it with the generic "music" app on my phone

 

Actually found it works/displays easiest when the phone is USB connected and using the Android auto, but then you're limited to the apps which work with AA, like google play or spotify. It won't use the "music" player in the phone.

 

sometimes when i connect it up to BT, it starts whatever app (spotify etc) was running before, even if I don't want it to.

[TDIum]

That's pretty much how it works when you stream music over Bluetooth. It's just a wireless audio stream with no control or signalling, so you have to control it from the phone end. 

 

I have everything on an big SD card and normally play from that. Decent 64GByte SD card is cheap as chips these days. 

[langers2k]

That's pretty much how it works when you stream music over Bluetooth. It's just a wireless audio stream with no control or signalling, so you have to control it from the phone end. 

 

That's not strictly true as Bluetooth has many different profiles to allow different functionality.

 

Audio streaming tends to use A2DP and many automotive BT devices support AVRCP which is used for to play/pause/skip and also send track information back to the headunit.

 

The Nexus 5X definitely supports both A2DP and AVRCP as I use both in my MK2 FL Octavia to show track info and rewind/fast forward/skip tracks.

 

The current online manuals for the Swing, Bolero, Amundsen and Columbus mention A2DP and AVRCP support:

Bluetooth® settings

› Press the Setup button, then tap the function surface Bluetooth.

■ BT audio (A2DP/AVRCP) - switch on/off the connection options for external audio

devices

 

I would also try deleting the phone from the car, car from the phone and repairing, taking care to allow any BT requests on both ends to see if that helps.

[TDIum]

Thanks I will give that a try myself.

[TDIum]

Re-paired the phone and the unit says it supports A2DP/AVRCP, but all this allows me is to pause/play and skip forwards/back. No selection by folder/artist/album and no artwork displayed. This is true with the built-in Android music player and my usual music app (JetAudio).

 

It's still handy for certain things like playing my downloaded podcasts and audio recordings but I'll stick with the big SD for my music library. 

Edited 18 October, 2016 by TDIum

[Leeboy22001]

If you want to browse music on mobile I just use the USB port, and navigate. Shame this profile isn't supported in bluetooth :-(

[Phil-E]

Yes unfortunately that is a limitation with Bluetooth that you can't browse your music folders etc just play/pause and skip/rewind.

Probably easier to plug the phone in as above. Sound quality will be better, more control on stereo and charges the phone at the same time.

[Jasontech]

I think you should create a new playlist when the phone is connected, would you like to have a try?  :clap:

[Wet Kipper]

 

 

sometimes when i connect it up to BT, it starts whatever app (spotify etc) was running before, even if I don't want it to.

 

I've been keeping an eye on this

every time I connect it up to BT as a media source, it immediately wants to play whatever it was last listening to on Spotify, even if since then 

(a ) I've listened to something else completely different on Spotify (when not in the car)

(b ) on the last journey I fired up my "music" app and listened to something else

 

for the past 4 journeys, it has come up with a track I last deliberately listened to in the car about 3 weeks ago

[vc-10]

The headunits can certainly handle more than just track information over Bluetooth. My friend paired his iPhone when we were on a road trip and it all came up, with folders for artists etc. My old Nokia Lumia 930 worked the same with a rental Polo I had in Spain. The Lumia didn't work the same with the Bluetooth in a 63 plate Octavia my mum had as a rental when her Superb was in the garage, but that car had the MIB1 system not the updated MIB2 systems that are in the Fabia 3, Superb 3 or the more recent Octavia 3s (MY16 onwards? Not sure). 

 

I'd love to find an Android app that works the same way, although Spotify through Android Auto is reasonable. Just a shame that it's not so reliable!