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!

[user-removed]

In response to the previous message: I have contacted Apple directly and was told one or another update would resolve the problem. As far as I understand, this hasn't been the case so far. I've been an Apple guy till the wheels come off for the last 25 years, but I'm beginning to get annoyed by the introduction of more and more bells & whistles (eg the measuring app that came with 12) at the expense of some of the iPhone's most basic longtime uses. Use #1 has been communication. Use #2, for a long long long long time, has been playing music back in my car, something that's now been impaired by Apple's "progress."

[user-removed]

It's a month since the most recent postings on this thread.  If anyone has found that any of the latest updates to iOS12 resolves the issue of distorted music playback that the original installation of 12 introduced, I hope he/she will post here. 

[Michey24]

No, the problem persists

[Attlo]

**bleep** I thought I was crazy.

Bought an Audi a month ago and noticed this, also my friends couldn't hear the problem, I was thinking I was literally crazy, but sometimes I could definetly hear the music cristal clear and sometimes crappy.

The music changed bitrate while played I was **bleep** sure. I thought it was an Audi problem and I was mad AF because throught my Bose Revolve and QC the music quality was fine.

Anyway turning Off Wi-Fi from settings solve the problem for me also, but I'd really like a fix since it's not normal and It's crazy that from a 1k phone quality through bluetooth (the thing that Apple is aiming at also, since they removed the hedphone jack as well) is **bleep** compared from a 100€ Samsung.

Really mad, also since now I know that is an iOS 12 problem and not an hardware problem. It makes me even more mad. I can't really enjoy my music like this. Like this is really a problem for me.

[samcap64]

Same issue here! But happening in all apps not just Spotify. iPhone X and XS doing it on my 15 i3 and my buddies 15 535d BMWS 

[user-removed]

I have this exact problem! I use an iphone 8 plus. I've tried to explain this problem to people, but no one knows what I'm talking about. Glad I found this thread.

[blkdg]

Raised a bug report via Apple developer.  Normally, once a bug is understood they would mark it as a 'dupe' and have a master bug record, which is then merged into an update and released.

So far, the bug report has not been marked as dupe.  It was opened in October.

I ran some analysis of the BT logs on my iPhone XS and can see that it is not a bitrate issue - headphones over both SBC and AAC (where the issue is presenting itself) connect at the expected bitrate.

[Mixpower]

Yeah, it is a combination with the Wi-Fi somehow.

I have a call again on wednesday with Apple, I will check if there is any update on this!

[Ashhong1]

Good to know that there is a developer bug case open for this issue, and that I'm not crazy. 

I've been having this issue since the first iOS12 beta on my iPhone X and submitted numerous bug reports to no avail. I've gone through 3 iPhone replacements trying to pinpoint the issue until finally on the last replacement, I decided to stay on iOS11. No issues! Everything works perfect.

The other day I decided to throw caution to the wind and update my phone. 1 minute later and I'm hearing the issue already. I thought maybe it was only my car, a 2014 BMW 3 series, so its good to know that it's not a super specific case. Any update on the dev bugs? Are they even pretending to look at it and try and fix this? For the record I use Apple Music as well, and it's a problem all around. Definitely not a data signal issue or anything. I'll try turning off the Wifi to see if that helps

[jotap_66]

Does anyone know if this problem is solved in iOS 12.2?

Regards

JP

[daniel_rie]

no, still persists.

[jotap_66]

Oh no. It is incredible.

JP

[bubalint]

It is an iOS 12 issue and I really hope apple will fix it asap. ‘Till it happens the problem can be solved temporarily with turning off the wifi when using your Bluetooth device. 

[bennialbrecht]

iPhone XR with iOS 12.1.4 - still issues. Experienced it in my BMW - super annoying. Also updated the BMW software but could not fix the problem because it is obviously on iOS side...

[Ashhong1]

Indeed it sucks. I created a Siri Shortcut to turn off the wifi and then activate it with the car bluetooth when I drive. It's obviously not the best solution but its only a very minor inconvenience now

[jotap_66]

Thank you very much to all for your answers. It’s vey annoying 

[samcap64]

I called Apple and was eventually able to open a case with high tier support. They have had me install diagnostic profiles in my phone to create logs of the issue. Been working with them on it for two weeks and Im currently awaiting their next response. The best thing you can do is call Apple and make them aware you also experience the issue.

[daniel_rie]

Forget it - I called Apple last year.. Diagnostic is for nothing.. They always say that they are trying to fix this - the last thing I've heard from Apple was "No changes yet."

[Mixpower]

I have been working with Apple since I opened this topic, they are aware of this topic and are working on it but so far it takes a very very long time! Did a lot of diagnostic tests for them also with the profile installed, made videos, time stamps, etc. So if anything happens I will give an update.

[Tamas_Protovin]

Cant believe no one mentioned that if you turn off the Equalizer in spotify it solves the issue. 

On iOS Spotify:

1. Gear icon at the top rigth corner.

2. Playback

3. Equalizer

4. Turn off

Hope it solves the issue for you all.