Does anyone know of a list of phones that work with the Jaguar Bluetooth? I've seen the list of phones Jaguar put out, but that list is only the phones they guarantee will work. Just because a phone isn't on that list doesn't mean it won't. My HTC Thunderbolt paired fine, and the phonebook downloaded and mostly works. My brother's iPhone 4 and 4S both work, and the phonebook works fine. My wife's Casio G-Zone Commander is like the Thunderbolt - pairs and the phonebook mostly works.

A few months ago HTC updated my OS from Gingerbread, which worked flawlessly, to Ice Cream Sandwich, which has pretty much ruined the phone. One of the things that no longer works in the phonebook - no download at all. There are so many problems that I have to buy a new phone.

If anyone wants to post what they have working I'll put together a spreadsheet. In my case, 2004 XJR, BT Revision AC, HTC Thunderbolt, Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, Pair Yes, Phonebook No.

Same thing with Android 2.1 Gingerbread, Pair Yes, Phonebook Yes.

 

Samsung Galaxy S II, android obviously, pair and phonebook both good

 

I had an interesting conversation with a Verizon geek today about phone compatibility. I had first talked to a sales guy, who thought a phonebook had yellow pages. I managed to get talk to one of the guys in back who actually know his stuff and what he said made a lot of sense.

According to him, phone compatibility was mainly an issue prior to smartphones. Any Bluetooth phone made since 1994 that meets the IEEE 802.15.1 standard should pair with any device meeting that standard, although not all devices follow it. He said 99 out of 100 phones will pair with any car. The difference is in the phonebook integration, because phone manufacturers used different firmware and different phonebook implementations. Just because a phone is not on the car maker's list of approved devices doesn't mean it won't work, just that they don't guarantee it does.

With the advent of smartphones, most of those phonebook differences disappeared. Any iPhone through the iPhone5 should work, and unless Apple does something stupid with the next one they should continue to work. In the Android field, the same thing applies. Since the Android OS came out in 2008 the phonebook implementation is compatible with the hardware in most cars, and each iteration of the OS from 1.0 to Jelly Bean has maintained that compatibility. Therefore, it shouldn't matter which Apple or Android phone you have, because generally speaking, IOS and Android are compatible. (We didn't talk about windows phones.)

He said he's never seen an Android phone that didn't download the phonebook ok, although the iPhone is cleaner. There may be a handset that doesn't work because of some incompatible software the manufacturer added to the OS, or the phone could be defective like my old phone. The bottom line is that unlike the pre-smartphone days with dozens of systems, there are now two - Apple and Android, and they both work. (Again, I'm ignoring Windows, as everyone should.)

 

My Blackberry Bold will pair and work fine the first time. It downloads the phone book OK, but as soon as you turn the car off and leave for over the six minutes the system can stay paired with the key off the phone does not reconnect correctly.

The phone says it is connected and you can place calls, but the sound quality is garbled. I have to go into my phone and delete the Jag from the list of connected devices (before turning the car on or it recognizes the car and wants to connect) and then re-pair the phone and car each time I get in the car. It is a pain, but has become second nature to me now.

As a side note, when I first got the car in December of 2011 I did not have the issue. Only after the phone got a software upgrade to ver 7 a month after I got the car did I start having problems.

 

I didn't ask the guy about Blackberry either. I know they are trying to make a comeback, but I haven't actually seen a Blackberry phone for years. Do you have the same problem with other devices, like a Bluetooth headset? My problem also started with a software upgrade to my HTC Thunderbolt. I would sometimes get the garbled audio also, and then the next call would be clear.

 

I don't have issues pairing my phone with my Bluetooth headset or my wife's Jeep. I also have issue pairing her iPhone with the Jag. It must just be something in the software upgrade.