pseudoswede

My household has four drivers, and we all use the Bluetooth functionality in our two cars (2017 Hyundai and 2021 Subaru) when driving. When the Hyundai starts, it chooses the "priority Bluetooth connection" when available, which is Mrs. Swede's phone. In the Subaru, it chooses the last known good connection. If I start the Subaru, and Miss Swede was the last to use it, it will connect to her phone even if she's upstairs asleep in bed. As I drive away, it will disconnect and usually connect to my phone. The Hyundai does take a little longer, so I can usually pull out of the driveway and it will detect my phone.

However, if both Mrs. Swede and I are in the Hyundai, but I'm driving, it automagically connects to Mrs. Swede's phone, and then I have to manually switch it to my phone once Bluetooth is connected. This gets extra confusing if one of the kids is driving when all four of us are in the car. Same goes for the Subaru: if Baby Swede and I are in the car, the Subaru just selects who was driving last--which could be Miss Swede sleeping upstairs.

Anyways, I wish a car's bluetooth system was smart enough to first detect all previously paired bluetooth connections within range. Let's say that myself, Miss Swede, and Baby Swede are coming back from a movie. We all get in the car, start the engine, and then system would first say...

"Detected multiple Bluetooth connections, please select one:
1. pseudoswede's phone
2. Miss Swede's phone
3. Baby Swede's phone"

Then obviously whomever is driving would select their phone and off we go.

Does this exist in any car right now?

Silver Fox

My 2012 Volvo XC60 does. I'd offer to swap but the steering wheel is on the wrong side, and the car is on the wrong side of the Atlantic!

TGarza

Toyota 4 Runner rental had USB A & C connections. When A was being used for navigation then a phone was connected to C, A navigation was discontinued and C becomes the display phone. This happened in downtown Boston.

TWA884

My 2021 BMW does. Up to four phones can be paired and two phones can be connected simultaneously for phone calls. I get an option of which one to use for outgoing calls, I have no idea what happens if both have calls incoming at the same time.

pseudoswede

Obviously I'm choosing wrong cars.

KRSW

My '18 Mercedes can connect to multiple phones simultaneously via BT or USB. I know you can individually select which phones get used for which functions (calls, media, etc.) as well, including splitting calls to one device and media on another. It does a good job with video conferences and streaming is a game-changer. Great way to catch up on lectures and continuing education. Live concerts are also a dream.

Taikucing

Yeah, it's a crapshoot when we went together on family trip.

jsnydcsa

When it comes to my car and my phone connecting. I got 99 problems.
Any Apple Car Play Experts Out There?
I was just commenting to someone the other day how dead simple some things have gotten (e.g. installing a stand alone webcam on a PC the other day, it just "worked" - no "drivers", no downloads, no "USB setup processes" - just plug and play) in the tech world. Obviously being on this forum for 15+ years I've seen that problems occur. But, sometimes, esp with the car-phone connection, I wish it just "worked."