Notify When Left Behind Audible Alert is Unreliable

[RonAKA]

I cleared a few potential causes from my list today, but still no success getting audible alarm to work in the car.

- Updated to iOS 16.1.2
- I turned on Siri Notifications for the Find My app. She notified me about a text when I was at home, but no go in the car for the AirTag.
- I went into Settings, Screen Time, Content & Privacy, Do Not Disturb While Driving, and set it to Don't Allow
- I checked my hearing aid app while driving and it showed it was paired to my phone.
- I set the timer app to alarm in a couple of minutes and drove away. It alarmed quite loudly to my hearing aids

I am working my way through the list of possible solution but not getting anywhere so far. Reminds me of the Edison quote. "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

I still need to try the unpairing with my car, and I also need to try driving without hearing aids and just the audio from the phone.

 

[NO🇳🇴]

I am working my way through the list of possible solution but not getting anywhere so far. Reminds me of the Edison quote. "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

Haha!

Does your phone automatically connect to your car while already connected to your hearing aid? Because bluetooth 5 support two streams simultaneously and if it can't Search for your AirTag, it wouldn't give any alert, another thing the U1 chip is for (I suspect) Might also be that phone is trying to connect to your car and that also does it.

Ok had to pause myself here. Does the FindMy AirTag alert show on the phone at all? (in car) or does it show, but there just isn't any audio notification? 🙃

Have you tried changing preview (FindMy alert) from "when unlocked" to "always"?

Also turning on Siri to announce notifications while having it to always could make her tell you that you forgot it instead. (if your phone notices that you forgot the AirTag)

 

[RonAKA]

Yes, the phone connects to the car based on the message I get on my car display. And my phone stays connected to my hearing aids based on the Bluetooth status shown on my hearing aid app on the phone. I do always get a banner alert on my lock screen when I am in the car. It is the audible alert that is missing. Everything is turned on to allow notifications in the Find My app. I had Siri turned on, but she did not announce anything. She did announce a Text when I was at home though.

I am pretty close to dismissing Bluetooth in the car as an issue but I still need to try it with my phone not paired, and also I need to try it with my hearing aids out, turned off, and the app for the aids off. The other clue that audio is working in the care is that when I set the clock timer app to alarm I heard the alarm loud and clear through my hearing aids.

I also need to try having someone send me a text an email when I am in the car to see if I get a notification. I am not sure that I am. And, I am starting to think there is a bug in the iOS 15 and 16 that is suppressing alerts when driving, no matter how Focus is set. I believe Focus was introduced with iOS 15, and I may have had this issue since then, but I didn't realize it until I got the AirTag, and couldn't make the audible alert part work when driving.

Thank you for the suggestions. I have not given up yet, but am getting closer to that point!!

 

[NO🇳🇴]

Yes, the phone connects to the car based on the message I get on my car display. And my phone stays connected to my hearing aids based on the Bluetooth status shown on my hearing aid app on the phone. I do always get a banner alert on my lock screen when I am in the car. It is the audible alert that is missing. Everything is turned on to allow notifications in the Find My app. I had Siri turned on, but she did not announce anything. She did announce a Text when I was at home though.

I am pretty close to dismissing Bluetooth in the car as an issue but I still need to try it with my phone not paired, and also I need to try it with my hearing aids out, turned off, and the app for the aids off. The other clue that audio is working in the care is that when I set the clock timer app to alarm I heard the alarm loud and clear through my hearing aids.

I also need to try having someone send me a text an email when I am in the car to see if I get a notification. I am not sure that I am. And, I am starting to think there is a bug in the iOS 15 and 16 that is suppressing alerts when driving, no matter how Focus is set. I believe Focus was introduced with iOS 15, and I may have had this issue since then, but I didn't realize it until I got the AirTag, and couldn't make the audible alert part work when driving.

Thank you for the suggestions. I have not given up yet, but am getting closer to that point!!

Delete (forget) your car from bluetooth on your iPhone 8, and reset the bluetooth in your car so nothing is registered would probably be the best bet (so the car isn't trying to connect to the iPhone) If you do get the FindMy banner on your phone, setting it to preview when unlocked would probably make Siri at least read it out when it notices you are away from the AirTag.
It might be a bug but honestly can be som apple trickery to not bother the driver while driving even tho the settings are turned off, idk lol.

Go to FindMy and push on the name of your AirTag to see what firmware it has installed on it.
I got x1 with 1.0.301 and 3x with 2.0.24 that updated tonight

 

[RonAKA]

The firmware is version 2.0.24

I have not gotten back to the rest of the tests in the car. It has been -25 C here for the last couple of days, but now appears go be warming up.

 

[RonAKA]

Some partial success when I went out tonight. Earlier in the say I spent some time on Apple Support Chat and the tech suggest unpairing and pairing the AirTag. So I did that. But when I went out I took my hearing aids out, and closed the hearing aid app. And, I also unpaired the phone to my car. So lots of changes.

The outcome was that without hearing aids and only the phone audio I did get both the Alert Banner on the Lock Screen and an audible alert. Next I have undo those changes one at a time to see if I can narrow the problem down further.

 

[NO🇳🇴]

Some partial success when I went out tonight. Earlier in the say I spent some time on Apple Support Chat and the tech suggest unpairing and pairing the AirTag. So I did that. But when I went out I took my hearing aids out, and closed the hearing aid app. And, I also unpaired the phone to my car. So lots of changes.

The outcome was that without hearing aids and only the phone audio I did get both the Alert Banner on the Lock Screen and an audible alert. Next I have undo those changes one at a time to see if I can narrow the problem down further.

Great news! that seems like a step in the right direction 👍

Could you also if possible list the brand/model of your hearing aids, and the type of app you use?

- Did you upgrade your car stereo yourself, or do you have a newer model 2010+ that came with bluetooth stereo?

I do not use hearing aids, but I know there are som built inn stuff for it in iPhone accessibility
settings - accessibility- hearing aid. Are any of those settings relevant for the model/brand you use? Or add them or use the "better compatibility" switch (if you have older hearing aids)

Its probably an idea to delete and reinstall the hearing aid app just to be sure (and I asked what app it is to check if they have support for it and if there is any app-updates after iOS 16!)

 

[RonAKA]

I made a quick trip out for gas this morning and wore my hearing aids, but did not start up the hearing aid app. Since they are Made for iPhone (MFi) compatible aids they work to a degree without the app. A triple tap on the home key brings up the Hearing Aid Control menu which is built into the iOS. The good news is that the Left Behind audible alert worked through my hearing aids while driving the car. It came through loud and clear. That leaves the hearing aid app and Bluetooth pairing to the car as possible problems, as the app was off, and the phone was not paired with the car.

The aids are Kirkland Signature 8.0 and are a Costco branded Rexton Emerald S 80 8C, and are also very similar to a Signia 7Nx 312 aid. Both made by the same company with different brand names. My car is a 2012 Camry Hybrid and has the original factory sound system.

The hearing aid app I am using is Rexton RX, and was updated last about a month ago. A year or two ago I was using a Connex Smart Connect or something like that, but support for that was discontinued. The version history of the RX app shows frequent updates and a few of them are to resolve Bluetooth issues. So, it may be the possible bad actor. I think, but I am not sure that the hearing aids and app use Bluetooth BLE.

The Apple MFi interface provides all the basic controls for the hearing aids, and I think pretty much everything would work without it. The aids have a 3D Classifier capability which claim to be able to identify 24 different sound environments and then adjust the aids to suit it. I think the app has to be running to do that, but I am not certain. This 3D classifier may also be a bad actor as it knows when you are driving probably from the iPhone. But I don't see any documentation that it actually mutes the aids altogether. Based on what I hear through the aids it definitely turns the aid gain down if there is no voice detected from me or others in the car. It can make for a very quiet drive on the highway if all sounds are steady.

In any case the next trip out I will turn on the Rexton RX app and see what happens. I think however it may turn out to be the pairing with the car audio, which I will try last. That may be triggering the iPhone to mute the aids. It shouldn't based on my Focus settings, but it still may be doing it -- possibly a bug....

I think I am slowly getting there...

 

[NO🇳🇴]

I made a quick trip out for gas this morning and wore my hearing aids, but did not start up the hearing aid app. Since they are Made for iPhone (MFi) compatible aids they work to a degree without the app. A triple tap on the home key brings up the Hearing Aid Control menu which is built into the iOS. The good news is that the Left Behind audible alert worked through my hearing aids while driving the car. It came through loud and clear. That leaves the hearing aid app and Bluetooth pairing to the car as possible problems, as the app was off, and the phone was not paired with the car.

The aids are Kirkland Signature 8.0 and are a Costco branded Rexton Emerald S 80 8C, and are also very similar to a Signia 7Nx 312 aid. Both made by the same company with different brand names. My car is a 2012 Camry Hybrid and has the original factory sound system.

The hearing aid app I am using is Rexton RX, and was updated last about a month ago. A year or two ago I was using a Connex Smart Connect or something like that, but support for that was discontinued. The version history of the RX app shows frequent updates and a few of them are to resolve Bluetooth issues. So, it may be the possible bad actor. I think, but I am not sure that the hearing aids and app use Bluetooth BLE.

The Apple MFi interface provides all the basic controls for the hearing aids, and I think pretty much everything would work without it. The aids have a 3D Classifier capability which claim to be able to identify 24 different sound environments and then adjust the aids to suit it. I think the app has to be running to do that, but I am not certain. This 3D classifier may also be a bad actor as it knows when you are driving probably from the iPhone. But I don't see any documentation that it actually mutes the aids altogether. Based on what I hear through the aids it definitely turns the aid gain down if there is no voice detected from me or others in the car. It can make for a very quiet drive on the highway if all sounds are steady.

In any case the next trip out I will turn on the Rexton RX app and see what happens. I think however it may turn out to be the pairing with the car audio, which I will try last. That may be triggering the iPhone to mute the aids. It shouldn't based on my Focus settings, but it still may be doing it -- possibly a bug....

I think I am slowly getting there...

Awesome! This does sounds like it will get solved 👍

 

[NO🇳🇴]

The firmware is version 2.0.24

How's it going?

 

[RonAKA]

Not good. I have become frustrated with this thing. I thought I was down to the final couple of steps to figure out the secret, and it suddenly stopped working when I had made no changes to the setup. It still works when walking, but now in the car it does not sound an audible alert or even the banner on the lock screen. I have no idea what did it. A suggestion was made a while back to set up a location based alert not using the AirTag. I may try that. The AirTag seems to be more trouble than it is worth...

 

[RonAKA]

Have you checked your Car Stereo bluetooth setting (pressed the ℹ️) to see if it has additional settings specifically for your car. Turn on of sound notification ON car stereo etc?

I would still try to unpair it. But your car might have settings disabling loud notifications from phones, but if your car stereo plays iMessage/sms notifications its probably not that.

My phone shows no Bluetooth pairing with the car. And, when I went out for a drive this morning I got both the audible alert and the lock screen banner. I have made no changes for quite a while now. This alert system seems to have a mind of its own!

 

[NO🇳🇴]

My phone shows no Bluetooth pairing with the car. And, when I went out for a drive this morning I got both the audible alert and the lock screen banner. I have made no changes for quite a while now. This alert system seems to have a mind of its own!

Only way to know for sure whatever the problem might be at this point would be to factory reset your cars infotainment system, including Bluetooth settings (possibly it's own system) And unpairing the AirTag And factory resetting the iPhone.. "lots" of work I know, but that's modern coding/technology for you lol.
This probably won't give any answers, but it might fix the alerts!

Also if your phone connects to more than two Bluetooth accessories it might loose the ability to talk to a third one if the first two are active (possibly even not active) Like when using your pairing aids, and then connecting to car stereo going for a ride, your phone won't talk to the AirTag anymore.
So if your phone connects to your car in the driveway when you walk out the door, it won't know you're not near the AirTag anymore. (If your car has the "always on bluetooth")

Just remember that if you use iCloud for anything it synchronizes when the phone is charging and connected to wifi (most of the time) And if connected to iTunes or a Mac it can download the entire iOS software and reinstall it from scratch.

 

[RonAKA]

It is getting more interesting. I got about 4 trips away from the house in my car and the alert including the audible worked every time without any changes to my setup. I turned my Rexton hearing aid app on and made one further trip. The alert worked just fine again. The only thing I have not tried now is establishing the Bluetooth pairing with my car. I have deleted the pairing, and it seems to make no attempt to pair again. I guess I will do that to see if that is the key to the whole mystery.

For reasons I do not understand the pairing between my iPhone and the hearing aids themselves do not show on the Bluetooth pairing status screen. However if I go into the Settings, Accessibility, Hearing Devices, it shows my hearing devices as connected. I have a recollection that the hearing aids use BLE to communicate so perhaps that is the reason. And to make things even more complex the Rexton app has to pair with MFi in the phone, so it works. You are correct, modern technology does not always make things simple..

The other is blue pairing I have is with my Toyota truck. It is listed in my phone but shows as Not Connected. I hardly ever drive the truck in the winter, so what happens there will be a whole new adventure. And I have a Contour blood glucose meter that connects when when I turn it on. It is shown as Not Connected, but does connect and work when I turn the BG meter on.

And to make things even more complicated I use a FreeStyle Libre BG monitor on my arm. Currently I obtain the readings from that using the NFC in the phone. I just hold it very near the sensor and it uploads the last 8 hours of data from the sensor. I am planning to replace this with a FreeStyle Libre2 sensor system which I believe uses Bluetooth to communicate alerts for high or low BG readings from the sensor. To date I have not been able to try them due to their app not being compatible with iOS 16. But, I think it is now and I will try it when the current sensor is to be replaced.

All considered perhaps with all this complexity one should be grateful if even some of it works!!!

 

[msackey]

Thanks for the suggestion. That will be hard for me to try. What I plan to do, which is an approximation of this, is to unpair my phone to my vehicle and see if that helps....

I think it is very possible that being your phone is bluetooth connected to your car stereo that the car stereo isn't playing that audible notification, perhaps because the car stereo is off.

 

[RonAKA]

I think it is very possible that being your phone is bluetooth connected to your car stereo that the car stereo isn't playing that audible notification, perhaps because the car stereo is off.

That is a possibility. I will check further when I pair the phone to the car again.