How to prioritise connection of CAR Bluetooth PHONE system/ device over SmartBand Talk SWR30

Question

After pondering about this device for over a month I asked my wife to gift it me for Christmas. For 3 days I really liked it, but then a critical flaw became apparent  Having not driven for a few days due to the holidays I set off in my car, only to realise that I was not receiving telephone calls, SMS and other notifications on my built-in car bluetooth system (Ford Sync by Sony/ Microsoft), only on the Smartband Talk. Doing some research it became clear that if my SWR30 was already connected with my Xperia (Z2) my Ford Sync could not connect! I realise the limitations of Bluetooth (i.e. you cannot have simultaneous connections using a same Bluetooth profile) and the workaround is to manually turn off the Phone Audio (handsfree) Bluetooth profile for SWR30 in the Z2. Remembering to turn off/ back on is proving to be irritating and too much effort. I thought I might be able to create an Event (macro) in Sony's Smart Connect app to do this automatically, but this cannot be done as the app is rather limiting! It is more important for my car system to work with my Z2 as I use it frequently and is altogether a safer and more legal way of answering calls etc. Has any one got ideas or suggestions? I really like this SmartBand (its far sleeker & lighter than true smartwatches) and I actually want the talk feature, but if I cannot resolve the car bluetooth problem (and this will probably affect all other Bluetooth car systems/ devices) easily and smoothly, regretfully, the SWR30 will be going back to the seller   

Answer 1

As stated before, I really like the SmartBand Talk and was very disappointed to learn that it could not coexist with a car Bluetooth system! Having had a few days off between Christmas and New Year I was determined to resolve this "flaw" and am glad to report that I have and in a slick way! Prompted by "ensaro's" widget suggestion, unfortunately I did not want a toggle which had to be manually executed, it had to be automatic. So I thoroughly researched the Google Play Store, trying out many, and ended up with 2 apps which were real contenders: Trigger (by Egomotion) and Automagic (by Gridvision). Both apps basically allow you to create a trigger (eg Bluetooth Car Audio wants to connect to phone) followed by an action (eg switch off Bluetooth phone connection to SmartBand, followed by switch on connection to Bluetooth Car Audio). Trigger calls this automation task a Trigger, Automagic calls it a Flow.Trigger is fairly intuitive visually, but unfortunately support for this supposedly highly rated app seems no longer to exist! This became very frustrating for me as at times it would not run (however, it also allows a widget to be created to manually run the task manually)... therefore I dug in to the more heavyweight Automagic! Automagic uses a dynamic flowchart, where you add a trigger, an optional condition (true/ false) and finally action(s). The style reminded me of my programing days many years ago and the logical nature excited me. The possibilities are huge and may scare off some users looking for a quick result, but in fact it is really quite easy to use, especially once you undertstand some of the slightly "obscure" terminology used (after all this a German programer at work and some translation suggestions may be required). At the end of the day I created 2 flows, one to connect to the car system (via disconnection of SmartBand and then connection to my car) and one to reconnect to the SmartBand when not in car (the trigger being that the car Bluetooth is no longer connected/ disconnected). These flows are passive and apparently use very little battery power, executing when a trigger condition is matched and so far is working well. If anyone wants to see how my flows are constructed, I will be happy to email them. You open them up directly in Automagic (going to their site allows you to download a 9 day trial with up to 3 flows working)... my flows are embellished with extra actions, such as switching off WiFi and playing a sound when a connection has taken place... and most important of all there is a forum with lots of help and examples and I was really happy when the progaming author, Martin, actually replied to a query... Problem... sorted! Automagic is well worth £2.40   ...