Just submitted feedback to Apple re: iOS + Bluetooth...

[Ichinisan]

Unfortunately, there was no option to submit iOS feedback, so I had to categorize this as iPhone feedback:

iOS A2DP problem (should be a simple fix)

iOS needs a way to ensure that system / notification sounds come through the phone speaker, especially when A2DP is in-use.

Most battery-powered A2DP headsets and devices "sleep" when there's no audio, and they usually take a full second or longer to initialize when sound begins. Sound effects for notifications (like text messages) don't last long enough and the user never hears anything at all.

There are multiple ways this could be resolved:

-Move the Bluetooth settings from "Settings > General > Bluetooth" to "Settings > Bluetooth" and add device-specific options for each paired Bluetooth device. Currently, tapping a paired Bluetooth device has only one option ("Forget Device"). If a device supports multiple profiles, there should be an option to toggle the features of each profile. This would prevent conflicts between different devices that offer multiple functions (example: car system and headset both support HFP and A2DP). For example, if a device supports HandsFree, A2DP, and AVRCP, tapping the device's name in the Bluetooth screen should present device-specific toggles like these:

(Advanced Audio)
System sounds and notifications [On/Off]
Play music and video [On/Off]
Control media playback [On/Off]
Switch to this device automatically [On/Off]

(HandsFree)
Announce incoming caller name [On/Off]
Allow access to phonebook [On/Off]
Allow device to read caller ID [On/Off]
Switch to this device automatically [On/Off]

The options should be presented to the user immediately after initial pairing with any device.

Another way to resolve the same issue would be to add an option allowing the user to selectively choose how sounds are output. It should allow multiple outputs to be selected simultaneously. For example, notifications could be set to play simultaneously from the iPhone speaker and A2DP. This option could be placed in two locations:
Settings > Notifications
Settings > Sounds

I recently upgraded from a Voyager Pro to a Voyager Pro+. One difference with the "Plus" version is A2DP audio support. The audio performance is excellent and A2DP sounds good when listening to music. When the headset is connected, all of the phone's audio is transmitted through it (even the clicking sounds when using the touch keyboard). There's no noticeable delay in sound effects when entering text or playing a game.

However, when the phone is locked/idle and receives a notification, the notification sound plays before the A2DP connection has time to initialize (about 1 second).

Do you want to back up this suggestion or submit something similar?

http://www.apple.com/feedback/
http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

 

[Ichinisan]

...if Apple doesn't do this, I feel like I need to learn how to program for iOS and create this functionality for jailbroken iPhones.

 

[gsaldivar]

Apple's mentality is "if we didn't add that feature, then you don't need it". Start a discussion on any of the fan forums and you'll get flamed alive for daring to question Apple's designs. Of course, when a feature like this inevitably gets implemented, everyone is in agreement - it's Insanely Great...!!

 

[poofyhairguy]

...if Apple doesn't do this, I feel like I need to learn how to program for iOS and create this functionality for jailbroken iPhones.

Good luck. Recent versions of iOS have bluetooth locked down like you wouldn't believe. In the past version I could install iBluetooth to get back basic functionality (such as the ability to transfer files via bluetooth, use bluetooth GPSes, etc.). But in iOS 4+ all the alternative bluetooth stacks I have tried are pretty much terrible.

If you find something let me know, I would love to use a bluetooth GPS on the wife's iPad.

 

[pm]

I've never run into this issue but an option to output to multiple sources would be nice.

 

[akugami]

Apple's mentality is "if we didn't add that feature, then you don't need it". Start a discussion on any of the fan forums and you'll get flamed alive for daring to question Apple's designs. Of course, when a feature like this inevitably gets implemented, everyone is in agreement - it's Insanely Great...!!

Or go to any other site and watch the haters spout crap about Apple. Seriously, is it necessary to spout the anti-Apple message at all times?

 

[Ichinisan]

Good luck. Recent versions of iOS have bluetooth locked down like you wouldn't believe. In the past version I could install iBluetooth to get back basic functionality (such as the ability to transfer files via bluetooth, use bluetooth GPSes, etc.). But in iOS 4+ all the alternative bluetooth stacks I have tried are pretty much terrible.

If you find something let me know, I would love to use a bluetooth GPS on the wife's iPad.

Well, Bluetooth Profile Selector didn't require an alternate stack to disable certain profiles on a per-device basis. However, it was broken with iOS 4.3+ :hmm:

BTPS never was implemented in the best possible way. It should have integrated seamlessly with the existing Bluetooth devices menu.

 

[Ichinisan]

Or go to any other site and watch the haters spout crap about Apple. Seriously, is it necessary to spout the anti-Apple message at all times?

He actually does have a point, though.

 

[gsaldivar]

Or go to any other site and watch the haters spout crap about Apple. Seriously, is it necessary to spout the anti-Apple message at all times?

My "spout" was more anti-fanboy than anti-Apple. I'm actually rooting for the OP, and hope that Apple can come up with a quick fix for what appears to be a problem potentially affecting many users.

In the meantime, I'll just say that blind loyalty to a Brand instead of an objective critique of the merits (and flaws) of a product does not in any way make that product better.

To that point, I think many people would agree that the "if we didn't add that feature, then you don't need it" attitude is exactly how many of Apple's loyal fans treat people who have valid criticisms of that company's products.

 

[pm]

By the way, my next-door neighbor works for Apple. He says they do pay attention to these feedback submissions - they don't dsiappear but are read by people, collated into slides, presented to teams and prioritized and that several changes to iOS directly came from suggestions from users.

Not that I'm saying that this will happen in this case, but my neighbor says that customer feedback is a big deal at Apple and submitting these things is not a waste of time.

Do you have a link to the submission page you used? I'll submit a similar suggestion to add weight to it.

 

[QueBert]

Apple's no different than most companies, unless they get a metric sh!t ton of people complaining about something they don't do anything about it. Even if it's an obvious bug like OP's case. Hell almost 2 years ago I contacted Google about how when I'd put a high quality picture for a contact on my Android phone, when it would sync with Google contacts online it would compress/resize the pic and I'd be left with a horrible looking one on my phone. They emailed me back saying this was normal and fine, so they had no plans to fix it. They recommended I disable contact syncing, when I got my EVO a few months ago I tried again just to see, and yup it still does it. So I still have contact syncing turned off. Good luck OP.

 

[Ichinisan]

By the way, my next-door neighbor works for Apple. He says they do pay attention to these feedback submissions - they don't dsiappear but are read by people, collated into slides, presented to teams and prioritized and that several changes to iOS directly came from suggestions from users.

Not that I'm saying that this will happen in this case, but my neighbor says that customer feedback is a big deal at Apple and submitting these things is not a waste of time.

Do you have a link to the submission page you used? I'll submit a similar suggestion to add weight to it.

Awesome.

Yeah, the link is after the quote in the OP. I had to choose "iPhone" because there was no option for "iOS" feedback.

 

[Ichinisan]

Added this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_bug

iOS email doesn't handle remote images correctly. Through the Settings applet, users can choose to show all images or block them. Of course, most users want to see the images sent to them, so everyone leaves the "Load Remote Images" option set to "On."

There needs to be a setting for "Ask." There's a good reason why other email clients all block images until the user approves them. Consider this scenario: I might be unsure if a particular message is spam based on the subject, so I open it to read inside. If I determine that it's spam, it's already too late. Remote images with unique URLs have already been downloaded, so the spammer knows my email address is real.

There needs to be an option to show images on a per-message or per-sender basis. It has been known to be a vulnerability as long as HTML email has existed. It's hard to believe that iOS Mail.app was ever released without this capability, enabled by default.

I hope to see it in the next minor update to iOS.

Thank you!

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

By the way, my next-door neighbor works for Apple. He says they do pay attention to these feedback submissions - they don't dsiappear but are read by people, collated into slides, presented to teams and prioritized and that several changes to iOS directly came from suggestions from users.

Not that I'm saying that this will happen in this case, but my neighbor says that customer feedback is a big deal at Apple and submitting these things is not a waste of time.

Do you have a link to the submission page you used? I'll submit a similar suggestion to add weight to it.

This is absolutely true. I know of 3 people now who've worked on the MBP teams and two on the iOS teams. Feedback does help. They won't respond saying "We'll look into this change," but surely its studied internally.

 

[Ichinisan]

Another:

Open folder pushes dock off the screen.

Opening a folder always pushes the dock off the bottom of the screen. This restricts quick accessibility of docked icons.

Consider this scenario:

-I have docked an app that I often need to access quickly.
-I open a folder and launch an unrelated app.
-My situation changes and I suddenly need to use the docked app, so I press the home button to return to the SpringBoard.
-The folder is still open and the dock is not visible.
-Additional seconds are wasted because I must close the folder before I can see my dock.

There are two simple and intuitive ways that iOS could be changed to resolve this:

1) When opening a folder, unrelated icons could be pushed up instead of down.

or

2) Unrelated icons can be pushed down (as they currently are), but they should disappear behind the dock (which remains where it should be).

 

[CZroe]

Another:

I use a jailbreak tweak that closes the folders automatically.

 

[Ichinisan]

I use a jailbreak tweak that closes the folders automatically.

Ideally, it should be on a timer. If you stay in the app for more than 10s, the folder should be closed when you press the home button. That's not what I gave feedback for.

 

[CZroe]

Ideally, it should be on a timer. If you stay in the app for more than 10s, the folder should be closed when you press the home button. That's not what I gave feedback for.

That would make up for accidentally touching the wrong app next to the right one but keeping it open like they do after you've already used the app and clearly want to do something else is just stupid.