Help Why can

[rajahd]

I have a handsfree Bluetooth kit in my car so that I can safely place calls while driving. This worked flawlessly with my previous Windows Mobile phones (Tilt/Tilt II). With the phone tucked in my pocket and the mobile OS

 

[rajahd]

Post removed by MOD

Actually Android is apparently for people who don't wear seatbelts, don't use helmets when riding a motorcycle, and who text and drive - people who will not be missed from the gene pool.

Just to put closure to this, the situation has been remedied. AT&T is swapping my phone with an iPhone. I talked to a lot of unhelpful, unfriendly, and uncaring customer service people but finally reached someone who understood the issue and was willing to resolve the situation fairly.

It's also confirmed without a doubt that by default Android OSs (at least up to 2.3.x) deny bluetooth control while the phone is locked (PIN/pattern locked, not just screenlocked). As I stated in my original post calling this a security feature is crazy - *most* people don't need this level of security especially when it it compromises the ability to use the phone safely. To have this as a default, unchangeable behavior is asinine.

Those of you who are reporting your phone works fully with bluetooth even when locked are in the minority - either you're just screenlocking the phone (no PIN/pattern required), you're plugging into a device which disables locking (some recent built in car systems have this feature apparently) or you've got a rare model that has bluetooth bypass. Go buy a lottery ticket cause you're lucky!

For now I'm jumping off the Android bandwagon. Good luck and again thanks to those who made constructive replies.

 

[lunatic59]

Actually Android is apparently for people who don't wear seatbelts, don't use helmets when riding a motorcycle, and who text and drive - people who will not be missed from the gene pool.

Just to put closure to this, the situation has been remedied. AT&T is swapping my phone with an iPhone. I talked to a lot of unhelpful, unfriendly, and uncaring customer service people but finally reached someone who understood the issue and was willing to resolve the situation fairly.

It's also confirmed without a doubt that by default Android OSs (at least up to 2.3.x) deny bluetooth control while the phone is locked (PIN/pattern locked, not just screenlocked). As I stated in my original post calling this a security feature is crazy - *most* people don't need this level of security especially when it it compromises the ability to use the phone safely. To have this as a default, unchangeable behavior is asinine.

Those of you who are reporting your phone works fully with bluetooth even when locked are in the minority - either you're just screenlocking the phone (no PIN/pattern required), you're plugging into a device which disables locking (some recent built in car systems have this feature apparently) or you've got a rare model that has bluetooth bypass. Go buy a lottery ticket cause you're lucky!

For now I'm jumping off the Android bandwagon. Good luck and again thanks to those who made constructive replies.

It was actually most likely much simpler. If you go to menu>settings>Power Saving mode, my guess is you had it set to turn off Bluetooth when the screen went to sleep.

 

[OfTheDamned]

Sorry to hear that you had such a hard time with this.

Since, my phone is typically in a car dock the moment I enter the car I've never run into this issue. I would have to agree with Luna that there was probably some setting in there that just needed to be changed though.

I hope that your new phone works out for you.

As far as the security issues go, I do know of a few people that have had information stolen off their device because they left bluetooth on all the time and didn't use the available security. That may be one of the reasons that such a feature is in place.

 

[rajahd]

It was actually most likely much simpler. If you go to menu>settings>Power Saving mode, my guess is you had it set to turn off Bluetooth when the screen went to sleep.

It's not a power issue. My screen timer was set for 1 minute. The PIN lock timer was set to 1 minute *after* the screen goes off. For that 1 minute while the screen was off but the phone was not actually PIN locked the Bluetooth device worked fine. Conversely having the screen on, but sitting at the PIN screen prevented outgoing bluetooth operations. It's specifically when the PIN (or pattern) lock activates that bluetooth is cut off for "security reasons". It took a lot of calls to ever higher levels of support but both Samsung and AT&T have explicitly confirmed the issue and that it's "just the way Andoid is designed".

I'm still amazed anyone defends this as a reasonable security option. The devices are already paired - I'm not suggesting someone should be able to add a random bluetooth device to a locked phone to circumvent the security. If someone steals my phone *and* my already paired bluetooth device (in this case my car), good for them, they can make a few free calls until I report everything stolen. I'd rather have this highly unlikely scenario than prevent safe use of the phone that affects me daily.

And just to drive the nail in the coffin, ALL OTHER NON-ANDROID PHONES that I've tested allow bluetooth dialing from an already paired device while the phone is PIN locked. This includes several Windows Mobile phones (mostly HTCs), iPhone 3/4, Nokia flip phones, and a couple flavors of Blackberry phones.

I'll stop arguing now and I won't post on this anymore. Maybe voice calls are becoming a thing of the past with texts and such. Maybe fewer and fewer people care about security. If you're fine with the way Android operates and are willing to work around it's limitations, great, that's your choice. My solution is to go with a device that's usable the way I need. I'm sure the iPhone has issues, too, but it's "phone" part works the way I need and that's my primary concern.

 

[sonnythemoney]

I am looking for a solution to the exact same problem with my Galaxy S. My blackberry had a bluetooth setting to "trust" each bluetooth device, which allowed me to make calls via my headset when paired and connected. There must be an app to fix this situation, or an update to the OS. At least I am hoping there will be.

 

[wing2012]

Have you tried to adjust the settings in Voice command in ATT-SGS2? IIRC, some are related to bluetooth. As for screen lock goes, my LG Bluetooth headset can bring up the Media Player and starts playing music with a push to play button on the headset. I am running 2.3.6(UCKK6) with mostly default settings; so I really don't think Android OS denies paired bluetooth control by default. Please correct otherwise.

 

[KRoberts]

Actually Android is apparently for people who don't wear seatbelts, don't use helmets when riding a motorcycle, and who text and drive - people who will not be missed from the gene pool.

Just to put closure to this, the situation has been remedied. AT&T is swapping my phone with an iPhone. I talked to a lot of unhelpful, unfriendly, and uncaring customer service people but finally reached someone who understood the issue and was willing to resolve the situation fairly.

It's also confirmed without a doubt that by default Android OSs (at least up to 2.3.x) deny bluetooth control while the phone is locked (PIN/pattern locked, not just screenlocked). As I stated in my original post calling this a security feature is crazy - *most* people don't need this level of security especially when it it compromises the ability to use the phone safely. To have this as a default, unchangeable behavior is asinine.

Those of you who are reporting your phone works fully with bluetooth even when locked are in the minority - either you're just screenlocking the phone (no PIN/pattern required), you're plugging into a device which disables locking (some recent built in car systems have this feature apparently) or you've got a rare model that has bluetooth bypass. Go buy a lottery ticket cause you're lucky!

For now I'm jumping off the Android bandwagon. Good luck and again thanks to those who made constructive replies.

Hahahahahahaha needed a phone with bumpers and padded corners huh..?

 

[sonnythemoney]

So here is a strange twist on this issue. I have a garmin ZUMO GPS system for my motorcycle. It allows me to make and receive calls while riding my bike. The Galaxy S connects via bluetooth to the ZUMO unit, and the ZUMO unit connects to my helmet via Bluetooth as well. I expected the same issue that I was having, not being able to make calls while the phone was locked, but I was surprised that even when the lock was on the phone, I could make calls, and even read my contact list on the ZUMO unit. I am not sure why this is, but the phone is capable of allowing outgoing calls via bluetooth when locked. Any way we can allow the same when the phone is connected direct to our headsets or car sync systems, would be great.

 

[disara]

I am able to listen songs or video sound in bluetooth headset, but not able to receive calls in samsunga galaxy S2, Some one could you plz help me.