Bad Bluetooth sound quality iOS 12

[Mixpower]

Plan

Premium

Device

iPhone Xs Max

Operating System

iOS 12

My Question or Issue

Received my Xs Max today and when I use Spotify to playback in my BMW i3 via bluetooth the quality is really bad, I guess it is a IOS12 issue.

It sounds like the music is very clear and then muffled and then clear again, and the quality sounds like a 128kbps track very noisy and not clear and bright like normal!

I have tried offline tracks and streaming but it doesn't change anything, also changing the settings to low and back to high does not fix the problem.

Hope you can resolve this issue in a soon to release update!

EDIT: With the Music app I have the same problem, also tested it with a iPhone SE and 6S with iOS 12 and that works fine. So the issue is with the Xs Max itself!

[runexnilsen]

Ok you could try to access without the url query:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/34004895

[Danjonesuk]

Thanks Rune,

I have posted on the apple link you provided.

[Danjonesuk]

Hi Everyone,

After reading the Apple forums here:

https://discussions.apple.com/message/34017348?ac_cid=tw123456#34017348

I decided to run some tests and have figured out why this only happens in my car and how to stop this happneing via a short term fix.

I found that turning off the WIFI (via the settings menu option) that the issue stops. 

During the test, I switched off the WIFI on my phone (via the settings menu) and went for a spin in my car.

Hey presto, the issue has now gone :-).

This explains a lot, as when sat on my drive listening to music (with my WIFI switched on and still connected to my home WIFI) all was good, when the I started to drive the car the issue started to happen, so maybe this is linked to the WIFI connectivity status or when the phone is searching for a WIFI connection?

This also explains why this only happened in my car and not on my Bluetooth headsets, as I always use them at home or in flight mode.

Hopefully with all of this information, Apple should be able to diagnose the issue.

I already have a ticket open with Apple and will update them on these findings.

I would suggest everyone still reports to this Apple as this may add some weight behind a long term fix turnaround.

Kind Regrds

Dan

[Jainlight]

If anyone else finds that Dan's solution fixes the problem, could he/she post here? Thanks.

[lostnote]

Can confirm! Thank goodness I saw this, it was driving me nuts. 

[rossmilner]

Did not fix for me, tried switching the wi-fi off, and it was exactly the same.

[Danjonesuk]

Hi,

did you switch off WiFi via the settings menu and not via any of the drag up/down menus?

you need to switch off WiFi via the settings menu.

[Jainlight]

We should stipulate so there's no confusion that there are two issues both concerning Bluetooth and iOS 12 that may otherwise be separate: One has to do with connectivity; and the other has to do with distorted playback. Everyone might want to be clear in these postings which they're talking about. Thanks.

[DanteOne]

Nope it’s one issue. Disabling WiFi in the settings (not in pull down menu) fixes the distortion when streaming music over BT with my iPhone X iOS 12 to my A-Class

[Jainlight]

Many thanks. As I may have mentioned elsewhere, I "resolved" my problem by downgrading back to 11.4, but I'm not sure I'll that that option again if I plunge back into 12 (or, now, 12.0.1) and still have the distortion. So I'd like to be as sure as possible before I make the upgrade again -- which both my iPhone (7+) and laptop are eager to do. 

[rossmilner]

Tested last night and no luck for me. Disabling Wi-Fi using both methods does nothing and the bad quality of music and popping bass noises are still there exactly the same.

[runexnilsen]

Make sure to disable it in Settings and not just in the drop-down control center

[rossmilner]

Yeah like I said I have disabled Wi-Fi using BOTH methods and it didn't work at all

[DanteOne]

Popping Bass and low quality is not my problem. My highs/treble cycle through normal sound /muffled sound. Quality stays the same.

Bass & Mids are not affected. 

[rossmilner]

I think at this point it's fair to say that any type of audio quality loss is classed as a bug and needs to be fixed, regardless of how it presents itself. It wasn't there in iOS11 and is all of a sudden present in iOS12 so it's clearly a software issue. All the music I'm trying to play has been purchased directly from the iTunes Music Store and I'm listening to it offline directly from the local storage on iPhone via bluetooth in my car. These issues should not be happening, it was present in the beta, and it's present now on the final release after what Apple call 'extensive testing'.

[cscottrun]

I'm so glad I found this thread.  I'm a bit of an audiophile, and I noticed a few weeks ago that treble, in particular cymbols (for whatever reason), click in and out randomly. I have been going crazy trying to figure out what the problem was. First I thought it was Spotify, but I was able to replicate the issue on youtube and Napster (using a family member's account).  Then I thought it was my phone (iPhone X), but again was able to replicate the issue using a different device (iPhone XS). 

I noticed just yesterday that plugging my iPhone into the USB port on my Jeep,  connecting to carplay and playing music through carplay fixes (or circumvents?) this issue.  

For a few weeks I thought it was possible that one of my speakers had blown, or that the UConnect system in my Jeep was having issues.  My problem is not easily detectible since it's mainly background treble and I suspect a good amount of people would not notice it so it is comforting finding this thread.  

[Jainlight]

Many thanks for the above. It once again confirms that the problem is an interaction between iOS 12 and Bluetooth, since a number of people have found that the problem goes away with use of an auxillary-type cable.  As related above, my problem as well coincided with occasional high-treble sounds to such an extent that I suspected a defective speaker and even tried setting the EQ at Treble Reducer (Settings>Music>Playback). Clearly this is something that Apple has to fix, but on the multiple occasions I've contacted them, they're either clueless or insist that the new 12.0.1 update addresses the problem, which by virtually all accounts it does not. Until then I'm sticking with 11.4 as long as possible.

[cscottrun]

Actually, I thought I was having the issue when I played music through the USB cable with car play disabled (I don't love carplay so on my old phone I used to keep it disabled).

Just yesterday, however, on my new iPhone (I have yet to disable carplay on it), I was able to circumvent the problem by playing music through the USB cable BUT carplay was active. 

Tomorrow I will test whether it is playing over USB that stops the issue (even with carplay disabled), or if it is playing over USB with carplay enabled that stops the problem. 

So really, my question is whether carplay needs to be connected to stop the problem. 

[Jainlight]

Got it.  I don't know if it clarifies anything or adds to the conversation, but my own car (that had the problem we're talking about) doesn't have the capacity to use CarPlay.

[cscottrun]

Also, FYI, Apple stopped signing 11.1.4, so if you upgrade back to ios 12, it is my understanding that you will not be able to downgrade again.