Do Android smartphones really cost $100 outright or is that the contract-subsidized price? No one needs to pay $1,000 to get an iPhone if they’re willing to sign a service contract.

[WM: Been to WalMart lately? Here’s an LG Android phone for under $60. There are many others. As for "no one needs to pay $1,000 to get an iPhone," the big IF of course is signing a 2-year contract and paying at least double the monthly cost with the potential for huge overages on your data charges. The article noted that the $1,000 cost was based upon a desire to use StraightTalk with its unlimited data plan and AT&T’s cellular network.]

[WM: Never suggested that it affected everyone. I suspect part of the blame lies with GM. Starting to wonder if perhaps GM is making Bluetooth less reliable as a way to encourage migration to their new dedicated AT&T car service. Coincidentally, it includes features such as Pandora.]

http://www.autoconnectedcar.com/2014/10/gm-offers-ios-8-8-02-bluetooth-pairing-help-4-iphone-6655c5s4s-with-gmchevycadillacbuick/

I have personally had no issues with our 2011 Ford Edge, 2012 Mercedes, or 2013 Ford Mustang…your mileage my vary! 😉

[WM: We actually contacted both GM and our dealer before writing the article. Some of the comments in the referenced article suggest that GM may be underplaying the problem a bit because of existing relationships with some of the carriers. In any case, Bluetooth doesn’t work in our 2014 vehicle as we have noted in the article. Thanks for the link.

UPDATE: Just spoke to another GM rep who said that a USB connection was now necessary to get complete functionality with the iPhone 6. That’s a polite way of saying Bluetooth is broken.]

"GM vehicles allow up to five Bluetooth®-enabled devices to be paired with a vehicle at once."

If you have 8, perhaps that is the source of the problem. Have you tried deleting all the pairings and starting over? I was helping somebody with bluetooth and their car on a new iPhone, and they had restored their phone from a backup of their old one. It was showing up to the car as if it were the old phone. I changed the phone name and voila!

[WM: Thanks, Matthew. We don’t have 8 paired now. But we’ve tested the vehicle with 8 different types of phones. Good suggestion though.]

I’ve read that this is a known problem, specific to certain vehicle Bluetooth stack, and should be fixed in an upcoming OS release. For now it’s frustrating.

Otherwise the phone is great, and a fantastic upgrade from my 4-year-old phone. I’ve used Android devices, and I can’t stand the UI, so I’m sticking with Apple. But it did switch from ATT to Verizon – because I despise them both for their billing and customer support, but Verizon still supposedly has better cell coverage.

[WM: Funny you’d mention the Android UI. We have the exact opposite preference. Flipping through a half dozen screens of random apps to find the one you want to use is downright awful in iOS. And having to do a search for an app every time you want to use it is even worse. Would an alphabetized list be that difficult to implement? Oh, but wait, there is no way to differentiate favorites from the whole app enchilada, unlike Android. DSFDF. ]

[WM: I’d tend to agree with you if we didn’t have 8 other phones that work perfectly in this 2014 vehicle. Considering the fact that GM uses the same technology in all of its vehicles, you’d think it wouldn’t be that difficult to at least test one new GM car or truck since they’re the largest vehicle manufacturer in the world! 🙄 Glad to hear things are working for you. Wish you had included the type of vehicle. That would be more helpful to other readers. Thanks.]