Why Didn’t You All Tell Me About This Watch Pairing To Car Bluetooth???

[naturalstar]

So bear with this Apple Watch newbie, but I’m ready to cry with tears of joy...

I went on a test drive to put gas in my car just to play with the LTE features. Left the iPhone at home. Didn’t like the awkwardness of talking and listening to the conversations out of the Watch. My iPhone is paired to my car, so I’m used to not thinking about it. If I need to reach for something (not while driving) or there is noise from an open window, the car speakers have me covered regardless. Anyway, I decided to try pairing my Watch to my car and it worked beautifully. Even made calls using Siri!

I mean, sure, maybe I should have known this already, but this is my first Watch. I was just happy to get the LTE, updated health features, etc. Everyone talks about going on runs and working out with the Watch and leaving the phone at home, but I hadn’t viewed any posts with being on calls in the car, so I just didn’t know.

Is anybody using this feature already with the AW3? Why don’t you all talk about it then?? This is HUGE!! Now if only I didn’t need my phone to play music... *sigh*

*looks for tissue*

 

[musicpenguy]

Many including my car dash won’t pair with my Apple Watch and it’s insanely frustrating, cool that yours works as I’d love that!

 

[KeepCalmPeople]

I paired mine with my Honda Pilot a couple of days after I got it. I was quite impressed - the car shows signal strength and battery level, just as it does with my phone.

 

[naturalstar]

I paired mine with my Honda Pilot a couple of days after I got it. I was quite impressed - the car shows signal strength and battery level, just as it does with my phone.

Oooohhh, I’ll have to pair with DH’s car. He has an Acura. Then it won’t matter what car I drive!

Many including my car dash won’t pair with my Apple Watch and it’s insanely frustrating, cool that yours works as I’d love that!

That’s a bummer. Maybe a software update will fix it eventually.

 

[musicpenguy]

Oooohhh, I’ll have to pair with DH’s car. He has an Acura. Then it won’t matter what car I drive!




That’s a bummer. Maybe a software update will fix it eventually.

Yea it’s something to do with the contact sharing required by some car dashes.

 

[fischersd]

Wow! We actually figured it couldn't be done (that Apple had planned it that way) - as it could be really detrimental to battery life.

This should prove interesting.

 

[K Anderson]

I have tried several times in my truck but it never works. I tried with A vehicle at work and it did not work either. Both are 2017 Dodge vehicles.

 

[naturalstar]

Wow! We actually figured it couldn't be done (that Apple had planned it that way) - as it could be really detrimental to battery life.

This should prove interesting.

I have no doubt that it drains the battery. I went from 85% to 69% after making 3 quick calls (less than 3 minute talk time) before linking to the car bluetooth and a 10 minute call made after pairing and driving around. I have a 38mm. I think I was out on LTE for an hour from leaving home to return.

 

[KeepCalmPeople]

Using your car”s bluetooth connection should use no more or less battery than bluetooth headphones.

 

[fischersd]

I have no doubt that it drains the battery. I went from 85% to 69% after making 3 quick calls (less than 3 minute talk time) before linking to the car bluetooth and a 10 minute call made after pairing and driving around. I have a 38mm. I think I was out on LTE for an hour from leaving home to return.

Heh...some of the car decks even brag about the high quality audio they can produce over bluetooth from your phone by doubling the bandwidth between them (so, some of these could drain the watch pretty damn quick)
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Using your car”s bluetooth connection should use no more or less battery than bluetooth headphones.

They (car decks) weren't designed to be miserly on power like bluetooth headsets are. If anything, they're trying to produce perfect sound. (they're also making the assumption that your phone is being charged most of the time).

 

[naturalstar]

Using your car”s bluetooth connection should use no more or less battery than bluetooth headphones.

This actually makes more sense. The calls being the drain, not the connection itself. I’ll play with this more to be sure.

 

[naturalstar]

Just wanted to share my follow up.

Left home earlier with 99% - iPhone was off.
Watch paired with the car Bluetooth once it was on.
Drove to the grocery store about 5 minutes away. Was in the store for about 30 minutes.
Came out - checked. I was at 96%.
Back to the car Bluetooth.
Made a call that lasted 6 min 43 sec (it shows on the car display)
Called Mr. Naturalstar, talked for a minute, told him to call me right back. (Hadn’t checked incoming calls in the car)
Mr. Naturalstar called back. We spoke for 9 minutes.
Back at home, checked battery in the garage. I was at 76%.
Total time out - 1 hour 15 min

Inside home - back connected to the iPhone
At 75%, put on the Bluetooth headphones to listen to a downloaded Podcast on the Watch. (Shoutout to the poster who mentioned WatchPlayer!)
Played music for 1 hour 20 min
Got my workout in during this time (closed that green ring!)
Checked after done listening to music and I was down to 66%

23% vs 9% loss in battery - definitely LTE calls.

Unfortunately I can’t play music over Bluetooth in my car - only calls will work, but that was always the case. My car requires the Navigation package for that to work. It’s an Infiniti 2012 G37x. No big deal for short drives since I don’t play music in the car all the time. I tend to be in my own headspace a lot.

Just happy to have the option to take calls in the car like I normally would with my iPhone. Hopefully this is something that gets worked out with other car manufacturers, so it becomes a universal benefit.

Oh, I haven’t tried pairing with my husband’s car yet, maybe later this evening.

 

[fischersd]

Oh. You're just doing calls. I thought you were playing music from your watch. That shouldn't be that bad.

One thing that people noticed with CarPlay systems connected to the iPhone was that you could do "Hey Siri", it gets picked up by the watch and the watch can tell the iPhone what to do. Saves you pressing the Siri button on your deck I guess.

 

[naturalstar]

Oh. You're just doing calls. I thought you were playing music from your watch. That shouldn't be that bad.

One thing that people noticed with CarPlay systems connected to the iPhone was that you could do "Hey Siri", it gets picked up by the watch and the watch can tell the iPhone what to do. Saves you pressing the Siri button on your deck I guess.

Sounds cool. I just say, “Hey Siri, call.... “ and she just starts dialing. I hang up by pressing the button on my steering wheel unless the other end hangs up first. I don’t have all of the really fancy deck buttons that the late model cars have now. Looking like a mini command center, lol. Maybe in my next car, I’m sure.

 

[alleyooptroop]

I paired mine with my Honda Pilot a couple of days after I got it. I was quite impressed - the car shows signal strength and battery level, just as it does with my phone.

what year honda pilot?

 

[KeepCalmPeople]

what year honda pilot?

2011

 

[weeesss]

Not getting it to pair with my Kenwood Carplay receiver DDX9 series receiver from 2016. Says fails to pair even though passcodes match. Am I missing something?

 

[naturalstar]

Not getting it to pair with my Kenwood Carplay receiver DDX9 series receiver from 2016. Says fails to pair even though passcodes match. Am I missing something?

I can’t tell you other than what I learned which is that it seems to work on some car systems, but not on most. I followed the steps I typically follow when pairing a phone to my car Bluetooth. I don’t have CarPlay. It’s whatever was built into the car.

 

[alleyooptroop]

2011

well, here's what i experienced. i also have a honda pilot, 2013 model. i was able to connect the watch with no problem. i didn't test a phone call but i was able to listen to podcasts i had downloaded to the watchplayer app i had on the aw3. here's where things went a little wonky. the next time i took the car out i had my phone with me and the car defaulted to connecting to the phone. the pilot's ui isn't the easiest to navigate so it was a pain trying to reconnect to the watch. i think if you're never going to have your phone with you things should be fine but that unfortunately isn't the case with me. so what i ended up doing was buying a cheap bluetooth receiver from amazon. i think it was $16. i connected it to the aux jack in the arm rest. works perfectly! the watch instantly finds it. plus, i was able to connect the receiver to the usb jack (also in the glove compartment) which it uses to charge.

 

[KeepCalmPeople]

well, here's what i experienced. i also have a honda pilot, 2013 model. i was able to connect the watch with no problem. i didn't test a phone call but i was able to listen to podcasts i had downloaded to the watchplayer app i had on the aw3. here's where things went a little wonky. the next time i took the car out i had my phone with me and the car defaulted to connecting to the phone. the pilot's ui isn't the easiest to navigate so it was a pain trying to reconnect to the watch. i think if you're never going to have your phone with you things should be fine but that unfortunately isn't the case with me. so what i ended up doing was buying a cheap bluetooth receiver from amazon. i think it was $16. i connected it to the aux jack in the arm rest. works perfectly! the watch instantly finds it. plus, i was able to connect the receiver to the usb jack (also in the glove compartment) which it uses to charge.

The UI is painful - using voice control to pair and delete devices. I have since deleted my watch from the car, but I might add it again, as long as the car connects to my phone instead of my watch when both are present.

 

[alleyooptroop]

The UI is painful - using voice control to pair and delete devices. I have since deleted my watch from the car, but I might add it again, as long as the car connects to my phone instead of my watch when both are present.

you should be fine then. only reason i wanted my watch to be the primary is it's now the only device i use to listen to podcasts (via watchplayer). once apple releases a podcast app for the aw3 that syncs with the iphone then i might go back and connect.

 

[juan99999]

Apple make this work for safety!

 

[AlliFlowers]

I must admit, it never occurred to me to pair my watch with my car. I'll have to try that this afternoon.

 

[mcvaughan]

Wow! I wondered if this would work, but hadn't tried it. Glad to know it does, thanks!

 

[Bfarmer38119]

I’ve tried this with my Chevy 2016 Colorado truck. They find each other and appear to be talking to each other but always fail to finally pair.

Curious to know a pattern of the haves and have nots and whether it is a vehicle firmware issue or not.