Solved two problems: car will not upload contacts and additional symbol is now in top status bar

[daniel4ever]

Hello! We recently bought a new car - a 2016 Toyota Corolla. The dealer showed us how to upload contacts from the phone into the car via bluetooth. Well, she tried with my DroidX, but it did not work. It did work fine for my husband's old iPhone. But, I am the primary driver of the new car..... I found a thread that recommended Bluetooth File Transfer, but it was from 2012, and I read recent comments about that app where people are ditching it because it now requires location and phone access. The Toyota website says it has no info on pairing the car with a DroidX - guess because the phone is too old. Does anyone out there have experience with this and suggestions for me?

The other problem I have - I do not use apps - my phone is for calling and texting, and occasional internet searches, but nothing else, but I still get those darn "updates" messages at least once a week. Recently I allowed it to update the installed apps, and now there is a symbol up at the top that was not there before. I am unsure if I can just turn everything off - which would be fine with me, but don't know what harm it might do. The message even when you stop and app seems pretty dire! The symbol is two semicircular arrows and i think it is related to syncing, but I cannot find it in the manual, and I certainly can't make it go away. Please can someone help me?

Thanks so much!

 

[cr6]

Hey Daniel4ever, congrats on the new vehicle. Can you tell us what you've actually tried so far? We'll need a little more information before we can help you. Have you turned on BT pairing for your car first and then tried turning on BT pairing for your Droid X to see if they connect automatically? There really isn't a need to pair your "contacts" if you're using Google Voice. If you have Google Voice activated, and the Bluetooth headset feature turned on

you can call a contact by simply saying, "ok Google, call Jane". As long as your device is paired and Google Voice is turned on, your contacts have nothing to do with being paired to your vehicle. (Unless of course your vehicle displays them on your head unit, or something to that affect)
Also, I'm a bit confused as to whether you actually tried to download "Bluetooth File Transfer" or you didn't bother because of the comments you read online? Regarding your concerns with the app needing your "location and phone access", this is completely normal and you have nothing to worry about. I would suggest downloading the app to see if it actually works, if it doesn't then simply uninstall it. If after you've tried the above suggestions and it still doesn't work, than unfortunately your Droid X may not be compatible with your newer vehicle. Let us know how it goes and we can move forward from there and try some other options.

As for your apps updating, you'll want to open up the Play Store, go into settings, click auto update apps,

, then make sure you have "do not auto update" selected.

Good luck and let us know how it goes. I'm sure some of our fellow Droid X owners will be able to provide some insight as well

S5 tap'n

 

[daniel4ever]

Hi cr6! Thanks for your response. I'm loving the new car, and if I can't get this one feature to work oh well, but I would like to see if is something I am doing wrong.

So, the car does see the phone. They do sync if BT is on for the phone, and I was able to answer a call from my husband's phone. But, for his phone, the car uploaded his contact list, so that when his phone is in proximity, he can search on the car touch screen or say to the car "Call home" and it will dial that number. I do not know what Google voice is, nor do I have BT headset - but it kind of sounds like what the car is supposed to do for me? sorry if these are stupid questions.

I did not download Blue Tooth Transfer, because of the volume of people that were saying they were abandoning it due to this recent change. While I am savvy enough to be dangerous, I am not as savvy as most others and so rely on what I read from people in the know to decide how to act. But, your suggestion of installing it, transferring and then uninstalling actually makes sense to me! I'll give it a try and report back once I try it.

Ok, so I set the phone to not auto update apps. Thanks for that! I turned the phone off and back on again, and woohoo, the mystery symbol is gone!

Thanks so much!

 

[daniel4ever]

Oh - I spoke too soon, the symbol is back. It looks kind of like this.

Do you know what it is? Thanks!

 

[Sajo]

That's kind of a standard sync symbol
Does anything open when you tap the Notification? Do you have something set to sync at a certain interval?

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[Sajo]

Found this online from 2011 related to the sync to web symbol you are describing:

I had a look in settings, application management and saw that Skype and stumble-upon were running in the background. Once I stopped these services the sync to web icon disappeared. It had been there for days. Other background apps might be causing the same problem.

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[daniel4ever]

Hi sajokaz! Neither of those two were running - I had shut them down previously. But, when I forced stop of You Tube, then it did go away, but it keeps coming back and I have to keep force stopping You Tube - is there a way, without uninstalling, to get You Tube to not restart itself? I am not looking at anything on the web!

And, cr6, on my other issue, I tried with the car and BT file transfer - and there is still some kind of problem with the pushing of the file - it gave me a message about the car not being able to accept the file or something, so now I need to get the car manual out and see what setting there might be preventing it. But, I'm thinking you may be right - it may be the new car - old phone combo is a bad thing.....

 

[cr6]

. But, I'm thinking you may be right - it may be the new car - old phone combo is a bad thing.....

Unfortunately, this is more than likely the problem.
That said, you should at least be able to use the vehicles Bluetooth to make & receive calls.



S5 tap'n

 

[Sajo]

Hi sajokaz! Neither of those two were running - I had shut them down previously. But, when I forced stop of You Tube, then it did go away, but it keeps coming back and I have to keep force stopping You Tube - is there a way, without uninstalling, to get You Tube to not restart itself? I am not looking at anything on the web!

And, cr6, on my other issue, I tried with the car and BT file transfer - and there is still some kind of problem with the pushing of the file - it gave me a message about the car not being able to accept the file or something, so now I need to get the car manual out and see what setting there might be preventing it. But, I'm thinking you may be right - it may be the new car - old phone combo is a bad thing.....

You could try this: open Settings > Apps or App Manager > Find You Tube you may have to scroll right and select the ALL column. Select Clear Data if it is available. Select Uninstall Updates. Select Yes / OK to any messages. Reboot the phone and see if the sync symbol goes away. It's possible that the new version of the You Tube app (if it auto updated) is not compatible with the version of Android on your phone.

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[daniel4ever]

Ok, so first, cr6, I will need to figure out how to manually enter phone numbers into the car - at least the car came with a manual, so there's that... LOL.... Although, there is also the possibility son will get a new phone and I will get his hand-me-down for Christmas, and it is newer than what I have now, so it may be self-ameliorated!

sajokaz, yep, I uninstalled the updates to You Tube, and it seems to have gone away - we shall see if it stays away. I think I will uninstall all the recent updates...... but that is only a couple of things!

Thank you both for all your patient help!!

 

[Jeffrey]

I would do the following:

Turn BT off on your phone and shut the phone down.

Start your car and select BT pairing.

Turn your phone on

Turn BT on and see if the car finds it and pairs with the phone.

 

[cr6]

Once your device is paired to your vehicle, activate Google Now (which is standard on every Android device) and use voice calling. You don't need to manually enter any phone numbers or contacts. All of the contacts already on your Droid X will be readily available simply by saying "OK Google, call _____".
I'm going to provide you with a link that will give you step by step directions to set this up. It provides much better instructions than what I could give you. How To: Setup, Configure, and use Google Now
Please don't hesitate to ask questions along the way. We'll be more than happy to help guide you through the process.

S5 tap'n

 

[daniel4ever]

Thanks Jeffrey and cr6!

So, update. Jeffrey, the phone was already paired with the car. The issue was getting the contact uploaded, and that just was not happening.

But, today I had some extra time in the car waiting for someone to finish an appt, so I got out the manual, and started messing around. I learned something very valuable. It is hard to do on my phone, but you can swipe down from the status bar - but it takes a quick touch or it goes away! So, don't ask me exactly how I did it, but between Bluetooth File Transfer, and a combination of things I read in various places, and my new skill of swiping down from the status bar, *I did it*!!!!

Yes, all my contacts are now in the car. But, boy does Bluetooth drain my battery fast! As in yikes! The car charger I bought on the cheap does not work - the part that plugs into the phone does not seem right. Don't buy cheap things - lesson learned!

But, today was a good day.....

Thanks again for all your help! You all are wonderful!

 

[Sajo]

Thanks Jeffrey and cr6!

So, update. Jeffrey, the phone was already paired with the car. The issue was getting the contact uploaded, and that just was not happening.

But, today I had some extra time in the car waiting for someone to finish an appt, so I got out the manual, and started messing around. I learned something very valuable. It is hard to do on my phone, but you can swipe down from the status bar - but it takes a quick touch or it goes away! So, don't ask me exactly how I did it, but between Bluetooth File Transfer, and a combination of things I read in various places, and my new skill of swiping down from the status bar, *I did it*!!!!

Yes, all my contacts are now in the car. But, boy does Bluetooth drain my battery fast! As in yikes! The car charger I bought on the cheap does not work - the part that plugs into the phone does not seem right. Don't buy cheap things - lesson learned!

But, today was a good day.....

Thanks again for all your help! You all are wonderful!

Glad to hear you got it working. I think you found the popup / question asking if you wanted to allow the vehicle BT access to your contacts. It should have been right up front, but may have been hidden in the Notification tray waiting for you. Maybe the battery will not drain as fast now that the initial sync is complete? But even if it does drain it faster, with a good charger, hands free driving is worth it in my opinion.

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[Jeffrey]

Glad you got it resolved..