A2DP, AVRCP - when, oh, when

Macgirl10

So... I am all bluetooth'd up. I've got the bluetooth headphone, headset, car audio - life is becoming wire-free. Only small problem is functionality of all that bluetooth power! When, oh, when will iPhone release an update that fully supports bluetooth so that I can do more than play/pause. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to skip tracks.

Anyone with any inside information?

HowEver

What bluetooth device do you want to skip tracks with?

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Lars

That's a beef I have, too. I wasn't sure if it was an iPhone limitation or Mazda limitation, in my case. I sync my iPhone via Bluetooth with my Mazda3 to stream music directly from the iPhone to the car's audio system, to avoid using audio CD's I have to burn. Unfortunately, with the hands-free law in effect, the idea is rendered useless because I can't control the iPhone in any capacity from the car's controls, except as mentioned, the Play/Pause functionality and volume. Skipping between songs isn't possible from my car's audio controls. Makes the whole concept a little dumb...

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Macgirl10

I use the following: Motorokr S9 HD headphones, Lansing Altec Backbeat 903 and Kensington Liquidaux Bluetooth.

All three do not have the skip track functionality. Well, they do, but they don't work with iPhone. Apple 'claims' that the A2DP works but..."with select bluetooth" -- problem is, I still have yet to discover what one bluetooth device Apple could possibly mean!?!?

chas_m

"with select bluetooth" probably means "our own (now discontinued) bluetooth headset, or perhaps ones we sell at the Apple Store. But nothing else."

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Macgirl10

My thoughts exactly. Thanks again, Apple.

hatchfan

My company, Eventual Innovations, just released an app today called "Bluetooth Helper" that works around the issue where the iPhone doesn't let you skip tracks.

If you have a Bluetooth control device (headset, etc.) that can Play and Pause tracks on your iPhone / iPod Touch, Bluetooth Helper will now let you skip tracks or seek within a track.

It's very simple to use. Tap Play/Pause twice to skip to the next track; tap it three times to skip to the previous track.

Bluetooth Helper is $0.99 on the app store. Take a look. The next version (which has already been submitted to Apple), will let you create and select playlists from inside the app, just to make things easier.

Hope you enjoy it and I'd love to hear any feedback you may have!

viper_2_4@hotmail.com

Just looked your app up, pretty cool!!

Question though, when you say you have to leave the app open, does that mean you can't let the screen go off?...or is it ok to leave the app going and have the screen go off?..

Macgirl10

Thanks, just bought it. Can't wait to try it out! Too bad you have to keep it open though. I listen to tunes through Simplify Media (so I can stream my home music library) and you have to keep that app open to run. So, this will only work with iPod app.
But great app nonetheless! Thanks!

hatchfan

@viper_2_4

You can let the screen go off -- It will still work just fine while the iPhone is locked.

@Macgirl10

Yes, unfortunately Bluetooth Helper only works with the standard iPod player. However, I believe that some third party music apps actually feed their music content through the iPod's player. I'm not sure if Simplify falls into this category, but I suspect that it does if you're normally able to Play and Pause Simplify with your Bluetooth headset. The problem, of course, is that with a standard, locked iPhone, you can only run one third party app at a time.

Now, I'm not saying I condone this, but for those of you have "Jailbroken" your iPhones and installed the Backgrounder app... If you are using the iPod player (or a third party music player that uses the iPod's player), you can run Bluetooth Helper in the background and it will still work.