Solutions for Samsung Galaxy S5 Bluetooth and Car Mode Issues [Part 1]
Today, we give you our first article dedicated to answering questions regarding Bluetooth and Car Mode problems. After weeks of reviewing the emails we received from you, we realize that that Car Mode and Bluetooth issues usually go hand in hand, or so they appear.
In this post, we hope that the solutions for Samsung Galaxy S5 Bluetooth and Car Mode issues will effectively work in your favor. You will notice that some of the cases below happens after updating their mobile to Android Lollipop so if you have similar problems, let us know about them so we can publish them here. We are looking forward to hearing from you.
See also our Solutions for Note 3 Bluetooth Issues.
Problem #1: Song info and tracks no longer show in car display after Samsung Galaxy S5 was updated to Lollipop
Hi DroidGuy. Might be a bit of an odd one. But have you heard about any issue where Spotify track artist and song info doesn’t show up through a car’s Bluetooth? It’s a weird one because pre-Lollipop, all track info was displaying fine. I’ve tried it with a mate’s Note 3 and their track info shows up fine. Thanks a bunch! — Hakim
Solution: Hi Hakim. If the problem happens after updating to Lollipop, there might be some slight incompatibility issue between your car kit and S5. We recommend that you delete all Bluetooth devices from your car kit first and pair it with your S5 again. The most probable cause may be due to an outdated memory stored in your car kit.
Contacting the car kit’s manufacturer may also help if you continue to experience the same problem.
Problem #2: Samsung Galaxy S5 Bluetooth keeps on switching to phone’s speaker while in a call, Sources of Bluetooth interference
Hi there. I’m trying to troubleshoot an ongoing issue I’ve been having with my phone’s Bluetooth. It connects fine (I notice it most in my vehicle) but partway through a call will flip to handset mode. The call still appears connected through the vehicle but the audio and microphone are now through the phone rather than the vehicle. I have to switch the call to speakerphone and back to Bluetooth and the car will pick up the call again. My phone will do this repeatedly throughout a call! Sometimes every few seconds. It seems worse in town vs on the highway. Have you heard of this issue with a Samsung S5 before?
Thanks for any suggestions! — Lisa
Solution: Hi Lisa. While it can be difficult to ascertain what the real problem is, we believe that the main reason is interference. In-vehicle interference can come from a number of sources like other Bluetooth devices, Wi-Fi, GPS navigation equipment, car stereo, etc. It’s also a known fact that some vehicles may reflect Bluetooth waves from side to side that results to disconnected calls or link disruption between your car kit and mobile.
Technically, today’s car kits are designed to resist most sources of interference. One technique that has become standard when building Bluetooth devices is frequency hopping. This standard forces both the transmitter and the receiver to switch from 79 randomly selected channel for about 1,600 every second. On paper, this makes the system almost invulnerable to interference. In reality though, a data packet can get dropped or lost along the way, forcing the devices to retransmit the same request. If this cycle keeps on happening, a user may perceive a loss of connection between a mobile device and the car kit similar to what you have.
As mentioned, interference or loss of data packet can be due to other devices so try to isolate its source by turning off wireless devices in your car when in a call. Remember, the higher the wireless traffic in your vehicle while using your mobile during calls is, the more likely that link reliability is lessened. If you are not using Wi-Fi in your phone during calls, try to turn it off as well.
If the issue persists despite having disabled all other wireless devices in your vehicle, consider replacing your car kit.
Problem #3: How to disable Car Mode in Lollipop Samsung Galaxy S5
My Galaxy S5 (Verizon) running Lollipop, has the Samsung Car Mode service running whenever I connect via Bluetooth, wireless data connection, and GPS to my car. Of course I know that Samsung believes that Car Mode is helping us to stay safe behind the wheel, but that’s what making/receiving phone calls via Bluetooth is for – keeping my eyes on the road. I never really found the S-Voice speech recognition and dictation to be severely lacking. I really hate Car Mode!
This software is seriously bloated, tends to be buggy, and simply cannot be permanently turned off (in App Manager). I have to cancel its use each time it auto-starts, knowing that it’s sucking up precious cycles sitting in the background! Grrrr.
Any thoughts about how to completely disable Car Mode? Thanks in attendance for any help and suggestions! — Bill
Solution: Hi Bill. Car Mode is one of the optional apps for S5s. This means that the availability of the said app depends whether or not your carrier incorporates it into the system or not. For AT&T, Car Mode is replaced by their own similar app named Drive Mode. For Verizon users, they could normally access Car Mode under the notification panel. This is the only other way to turn off Car Mode in a Verizon S5 — by tapping it after pulling down the notification bar.
Suggested Reading: How to Set up Car Mode in Samsung Galaxy S5
Problem #4: Samsung Galaxy S5’s Bluetooth not connecting to other devices
Hi. I recently updated my Samsung Galaxy S5 and I am no longer able to switch from sound to vibrate to silent from the lock screen. Am I really supposed to go into settings every time I want to switch from one to the other? I am new to Android so there might be an obvious answer I’m missing.
Another question – I am no longer able to use Bluetooth on my phone. I got it in February and it would connect to my wireless speaker and to my car but now I am not able to connect to anything. I remember seeing a Bluetooth related notification on the phone and I clicked something too quickly and it’s ever since then that it doesn’t work. I don’t remember what it said and I don’t know how to fix it. I’ve tried everything but I just can’t get it to work.
Thanks. — Marina
Solution: Hi Marina. Because this is a special article for Bluetooth-related issues, we will answer your second concern first.
You may have disabled your phone’s Bluetooth functionality by mistake. Try to check it by following these steps:
- Go to Settings.
- Tap Application Manager.
- Tap All tab.
- Tap on Bluetooth.
- Make sure that the Disable button is active to ensure that Bluetooth is ON. If Enable is showing instead, tap it.
If the problem continues after you enabled Bluetooth (BT), head down to the same screen where you enabled it previously and tap Force stop button. You can also clear the cache and Bluetooth data to resolve the issue.
New notification settings for S5 after Lollipop update
If your S5 is now running the most recent Android operating system, you will realize that the new Sound and Notification settings have changed a lot. You now have more options to customize how you receive notifications so we suggest that you play around with them and see what’s fit for you.
Keep in mind that there is no distinct vibrate mode in Lollipop. If you want to silence the phone, you can use the volume down button.
Problem #5: S5 Bluetooth keeps on disconnecting from car kit
I was an iPhone user and then switched to the Galaxy S5 and then whenever I use the Bluetooth connection in my car it keeps disconnecting and reconnecting anytime I use the phone in my car as opposed to the iPhone which I used to use that was not the case. I would highly appreciate your input on this. Thanks. — Ikenna
Solution: Hi Ikenna. Please refer to the solutions mentioned above for Lisa and Marina.
Problem #6: Samsung Galaxy S5 can’t connect via Bluetooth to a speaker
Hello there, my name is Sherri and I’m having issues with my Galaxy S5. Just bought a Bluetooth speaker and I can’t even connect to it. My phone can’t find it and if it finds other devices, it always shows connection error. Do they have a fix for this or do you know how to correct this? Please help because I have no other issues with this device. Thanks in advance! — Sherri
Solution: Hi Sherri. Try to delete your Bluetooth app’s cache and data first and see how it goes. Sometimes, corrupt or outdated cache can prevent a mobile’s Bluetooth feature to work properly. If that doesn’t work though, consider booting the phone in Safe Mode to help you identify a possible issue coming from third party applications. If nothing works, you can try to do a factory reset.
Problem #7: Car Mode issue after updating Galaxy S5 to Lollipop
Hiya. I’m hoping you can help me with a frustrating issue I have with my Galaxy S5. It’s an unlocked (bought as handset only rather than on a contract with a specific network) and I’m in the UK (not sure if you’re stateside or elsewhere that could confuse matters).
I’ve had the phone for almost 18 months & downloaded the Lollipop software a few months ago. Everything was working perfectly before the Lollipop update but since I have had issues when using Car Mode amongst others but the car mode is particularly frustrating.
It connects to the car via Bluetooth in car mode perfectly It makes and receives the first call with no problems The screen locks after a call made or received (but car mode still running in background). Screen does not lock at all in car mode. if no call is made or received, it stays in car mode screen and I have to ‘unlock screen’ using fingerprint or password to allow incoming or outgoing calls again defeating the purpose of the app/program.
I’ve tried ‘Googling’ the issue (where I found you funnily enough) but no real answers.
Really hoping you can help. Cheers. — Dave
Solution: Hi Dave. We are still in the process of gathering all Car Mode-related issues after updating mobiles to Lollipop. However, we noticed that there seems to be no particular issue that stands out. There appears to be a disconnect with all other issues we encountered with Car Mode after Lollipop was released. This leads us to think that each car mode issue may be due to the unique car kit the mobile is trying to link with. While this does not necessarily mean that the car kit has gone bad coincidentally after updating your phone to Lollipop, there’s always that chance that car kit’s drivers or system may have simply become incompatible with the new Android operating system. Keep in mind that vehicle Bluetooth systems have longer developmental cycles compared to mobiles so your car kit’s system may have simply become unrecognizable or is unable to work 100% in harmony with Lollipop. Whatever the case, it’s best if you can contact the car kit’s maker.
We recommend that you clear the phone’s cache partition and perform a factory reset if necessary. These are standard potential solutions if you have multiple issues after a major operating system update.
Engage with us
If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply contact us by email at [email protected] and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem.
When describing the problem, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start.
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