Sena - Garmin - iPhone interface

[OverHillAndDale]

I have a Sena 20S headset, an iPhone 6 and the Garmin GPS that came on my 2014 RT (I don't remember the Garmin model #). In terms of route guidance, the Garmin is a great unit.

For a while I had all 3 talking together, then it stopped working. I couldn't consistently make calls or receive them. After talking with Sena and Garmin I was led to the fact that Garmin didn't have the iPhone 6 on their supported phones list (Really? The most commonly sold smart-phone anywhere?). So, I now have my phone and the headset linked directly and have the GPS and the headset linked, but I have lost the phone interface component of the GPS.

Years ago I had one of the first Zumo units and had the same issue with phone and GPS, each time with Garmin stating that they couldn't support all phones. I don't understand why my '08 Ford, 2014 Honda and 2014 Toyota all communicate with the iPhone. My Sena headset (and previously my Cardo headset) work with the iPhone, a headset I use at my desk that I bought 7 years ago works with my iPhone, and a TomTom GPS I had on my Kawasaki touring bike worked with the iPhone. Somehow Garmin seems to not be able to manage this.

I understand full well that the phone market is constantly changing, but there is a set of core Bluetooth functions that has changed little for many years, and in general are backwards compatible. I would rather Garmin stick to a reduced set of functions but have the ones they advertise work with nearly any device any time. Or, those claims should have disclaimers like "Will likely not work with iPhones".

Am I the only one with this issue? I don't want to throw Garmin under the bus without cause but I would think that Bluetooth compatibility issues like this should be long gone.

[Lucky]

While not identical, I have an iPhone 6, a Sena headset and the Garmin Zumo 590 and they work fine together, including the Smartlink app. You may want to re-visit your settings. I have found that doing a Garmin update has changed my settings for some reason.

[bmwlarry]

I have a new 7 iPhone and Garmin 590 and Sent 20S. They work seamlessly. I do have the phone and Garmin paired separately to my Sena. I do not use the caller ID function that is avail when you pair the phone try the Garmin.

[Peteoz]

Do you have the latest firmware/software on the Garmin?. Like the others, I have no issue with the 6s to the Garmin 595 to the Sena SMH 10, although it did intermittently drop the phone link, but then reinitiated it a few minutes later ???.

I am now running the new Uclear Amp instead of the Sena (I dislike boom mikes) , and in the iPhone to Garmin to Uclear setup, the music is badly distorted. Uclear are aware of the problem and say there is a Garmin / Uclear Bluetooth incompatibility somewhere that they hope to fix in their next firmware release. In the meantime, I have configured iPhone to Uclear and Garmin to Uclear. Great music and phone clarity and a simply voiced "hello" answers an incoming call. I don't make outgoing calls unless I am stopped somewhere. I can't use the Garmin/iPhone Smart Notifications, but that's just a "nice to have", anyway.

Pete

[OverHillAndDale]

I have the latest software on the Sena, Garmin and iPhone. I can get this to work fine if I link the phone to the Sena and the Garmin to the Sena, but the other method (Sena to Garmin, iPhone to Garmin) just won't work consistently.

[KX5062]

I'm having the same issue, but with a different platform. I have a Samsung Galaxy s5 and Garmin (BMW) Navigator (Zumo) V with a Sena 20s. They used to work just fine and now not so much. My Garmin will connect to the phone, but then drop the connection, re-establish temporarily, and then drop it again. Now the Garmin will just not connect to the Sena at all. I've reset my pairing on the Sena, phone and GPS to no avail. The phone and the Sena connect just fine.