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Pandora - Does it Work Reliably for Anyone?

20K views 49 replies 17 participants last post by  jeffc83 
#1 ·
I just have to wonder if everyone has the same experience as me with Pandora not exactly being reliable from a day to day basis.
For reference I'm using Bluetooth with a Nexus 4 on Android 4.2.2.

I will say I use Pandora daily, it is my go-to for music in the car.

The problems that I have are inconsistencies, and connection issues.

For instance a lot of times it doesn't connect when first getting into my vehicle and just shows "no internet connection" (yes I have an internet connection on my phone at the time), there is no way to fix this I've found without restarting my phone and then going to another media source and back to Pandora (I've tried force stopping Pandora (on the phone), and also toggling Bluetooth on and off (CUE hates me when I do that, I wouldn't recommend it, I thought I broke Pandora for good...LOL)).

Sometimes when skipping songs or a track change I lose all audio, however Pandora is still playing and I can control it and the display is updating however there is no longer audio until the next time I get into my car and therefore it is restarted and then works again.

Sound quality is also somewhat poppy and glitchy, however I'm guessing this is also related to Android 4.2.2 making the matter worse (a known issue).

I had issues with my other phone and the older CUE also, so I don't think it is just me. The question is if not, is it the CUE team who needs to fix it, or Pandora?.. I'd guess both working together, but not sure.

Anyhow, anyone who uses it regularly I'd love to know your experiences with it.
Thanks for any input.

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CUE team, I'd be more that willing to allow logging/debugging if possible on my car to send logs to help resolve these issues.
If it needs to be more on the phone end with a logcat or a dump of some sort I'd be more than willing to provide that info also if it'd be of help.
 
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#2 ·
Have you received the CUE update yet? I'm assuming so. I haven't had any issues since the update, but it's only been 2 days... Prior to that, I had many of the same issues. Don't have a fix for the phone not pairing automatically... Mine did that once or twice a week, I just had to re-pair the phone before I started moving or stopped at a light. If your phone is connected properly, you can usually fix the inconsistency issues by swapping to FM or XM and back to Pandora. It forces it to resync with the app on the phone. Sometimes you may have to do it 2 or 3 times. I haven't had to do this since the update, but time will tell if this is actually fixed.

For the popping, on your phone go into the Pandora settings and under the Advanced section, make sure to check off 'Higher quality audio'. I used to skip tracks when they had a lot of pops - haven't noticed any pops since setting this a few weeks ago.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for your feedback!
I am post update, and I thought at first all was better also. :lies:

All kidding aside, my phone pairs correctly basically every time (I can see the phone/signal & battery under the phone screen) however at times I still see "no internet connection". Even going back and forth in and out of another radio function doesn't seem to fix this, a restart of the phone seems to be the only way to fix it (for me anyhow).
I believe post update they removed the "check connected device" message, and now I just get the "no internet connection" one that I stated.

Let me make sure I've got this right, I want to turn off the higher quality feature?.. It seems backwards, but I guess I'll try it, thanks.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Sorry, no - by check off I meant put a check in, not uncheck. Mine was unchecked by default. When I had that problem, I was hearing a bunch of random pops in the song, like bad compression / a bad rip. Was usually able to fix it by just skipping to the next song, but I don't recall noticing it again since I set it to stream Higher Quality Audio. I listen to it all the time though, so if I do hear it again I'll report back. It kind of sounds like you have a poor bluetooth connection between your phone and CUE.

I believe there are some bluetooth apps out there that will show you signal strength (RSSI strength) etc, you might see if your phone shows lower than someone else's, or if you get a lower signal in your car than another (preferably another CUE system) when the phone is equidistant from the receiver. May be a long shot.
 
#5 ·
Yeah I've had the higher quality checked the entire time, I can now only imagine what it'd be like with it off...LOL
I believe the quality of sound, mainly with intermittent glitches are because of Android 4.2.x as they changed the Bluetooth stack in 4.2 and beyond and it is a known issue. It was rumored to be better in 4.2.2 however nothing official and I hear the same as before.

Anyhow that's not my main concern or focus of this thread, I'm more wondering of experiences with connection issues, dropped audio (rare, but still happens), sitting there doing nothing (at times, maybe just reception related), etc...

Thanks for the tips though.
 
#6 ·
I use pandora exclusively for audio in my car ... i've got an iPhone4s on AT&T
i subscribe to pandora one and i use the higer quality audio
i almost never have any problems with connectivity

i would assume connectivity issues with pandora to not be cue related ... next time you're having problems try unpairing the phone from the car and see if you're still having problems getting it to stream just through the phone
 
#9 ·
I appreciate the input, and am glad it's working well for you. Being you stream through the USB cable I'd assume you'd have less issues.
I believe it is a connection issue from CUE to the phone and not exclusive to Pandora specifically.

I'm sorry you've been frustrated, bungee91! If you would like to discuss your concerns with the specialized Infotainment Customer Support Group, their agents are available at 855-428-3669, Monday to Friday 8:00am to 10:00pm EST and Saturday 8:00am - 4pm EST.

Best,

Katie
Cadillac Customer Service
Thanks Katie, however I'm not the type to typically call in to report my problems.
I strongly feel this forum, or the internet in general is a better place to report concerns and share ideas with more than just myself and the person on the other end.
Clearly GM understands this also, and I'm certain is a primary reason you're on this forum.. :)

So today when I got in my car after work, my phone paired up beautifully (that's one thing that's DEFINITELY improved. Before if it got disconnected, I couldn't just reconnect it no matter whether I initiated the connection through CUE or through the phone - now it always works!), but while Pandora showed it was playing on the CUE screen, I got no audio. I had to reboot the phone to fix it.

No idea whether it was a CUE problem or a phone problem - I was streaming Grooveshark to some bluetooth headphones just before I walked out to the car, so I'm leaning towards it being a CUE problem, but then why would rebooting the phone fix it? FM radio audio worked fine.
I'm sorry to have jinxed you! :(
However I'm very surprised this has never happened to you before, it has happened to me more times than I can count on my hands.
I had a similar thing happen to me the other day, however instead of no audio, the audio was playing out of my phone speaker with the rest of the info/control coming from CUE...Lovely!.. This happened a little less than the no audio that I reported, however I've certainly seen it before.

I decided to investigate this, so I went to the phone and exited Pandora, and then went to another media source on CUE and back to Pandora. It relaunched on the phone and came back up in CUE however again with no audio. I repeated this again, same results. Then I exited Pandora on the phone, went to the phone screen on CUE, disconnected my phone, then reconnected my phone. I launched Pandora from CUE, it connected, and worked correctly this time.

So with that result, I'd say it is highly likely to be the Bluetooth connection from CUE and the phone that is causing this issue and not Pandora exclusively.
 
#7 ·
...CUE team, I'd be more that willing to allow logging/debugging if possible on my car to send logs to help resolve these issues...
I'm sorry you've been frustrated, bungee91! If you would like to discuss your concerns with the specialized Infotainment Customer Support Group, their agents are available at 855-428-3669, Monday to Friday 8:00am to 10:00pm EST and Saturday 8:00am - 4pm EST.

Best,

Katie
Cadillac Customer Service
 
#8 ·
So today when I got in my car after work, my phone paired up beautifully (that's one thing that's DEFINITELY improved. Before if it got disconnected, I couldn't just reconnect it no matter whether I initiated the connection through CUE or through the phone - now it always works!), but while Pandora showed it was playing on the CUE screen, I got no audio. I had to reboot the phone to fix it.

No idea whether it was a CUE problem or a phone problem - I was streaming Grooveshark to some bluetooth headphones just before I walked out to the car, so I'm leaning towards it being a CUE problem, but then why would rebooting the phone fix it? FM radio audio worked fine.
 
#14 ·
i wonder if turning your bluetooth on and off on the phone would help
CUE hates it when I do that, so I wouldn't advise it. Sometimes it never shows the phone disconnected, other times it fails to reconnect and during all of that I thought I had broken Pandora for good (it refused to connect & just kept saying "no Bluetooth connection" even though the phone was connected to CUE, this stayed broken for a couple of restarts).

Thanks for the suggestions though.
 
#18 ·
I'm running android 4.2.2 and also have issues with connecting pandora via bluetooth. As previously mentioned, there are some bugs in Jelly Bean regarding bluetooth. I found that as long as I reset the phone before getting back into the car again, it will work without issue. A slight annoyance, but simple enough
 
#21 ·
My nearly two year old blackberry seems to work fine, although i don't stream Pandora in my car every day. Was going to upgrade to Android (maybe iPhone if they allow Bluetooth streaming to the CUE Pandora app) this summer but now I'm wondering if I should hold off
 
#23 ·
I don't get any commercials when streaming through CUE. Seems that Pandora doesn't stream ads when you're using an accessory device.

And the higher-quality audio is only applicable when streaming to a PC, apparently.

Pandora on the Web plays 64k AAC+ for free listeners and 192k for Pandora One subscribers. All in-home devices play 128k audio, and mobile devices receive a variety of different rates depending on the capability of the device and the network they are on, but never more than 64k AAC+.
http://help.pandora.com/customer/portal/articles/90985-audio-quality
 
#25 ·
if i recall correctly (and from reading the pandora faq quoted by sircuss)
the higher audio quality setting is available for all pandora users in the settings
but it is set to lower quality by default in case you're on edge or 3g
choosing the higher audio quality on a mobile device forces the 64k aac+
one subscribers get better audio on the desktop/web app (192k)
 
#26 ·
I'm not a subscriber, and I have the setting on my Android device (also no commercials using CUE!). It seems like changing that setting made a difference for me, but I'm not 100%. I don't get the clicks on various tracks anymore, so good enough for me...

But if we're already getting 64k AAC+, and it won't increase any further if we subscribe, then I guess there's no motivator to sign up for One since I stream Grooveshark when I'm at a PC. Would REALLY like to see a Grooveshark app for CUE...
 
#27 ·
I'm glad to hear everyone gets the higher quality option, I wasn't sure as I've been a "One" subscriber for a while now.

I certainly still get pops and clicks, more so initially on track changes or just starting Pandora from CUE.

I still see "no Internet connection" quite often. It's odd too, because I can be listening to it fine, get out of the car and when I return it then no longer works until a phone reboot. (most of the time, sometimes I can toggle in and back and it'll work, but not most times).

I'll call the CUE hotline soon, as it seems that Codeman has disappeared from our forums.
 
#30 ·
Yep I agree, when I used to use it via 3.5mm audio jack, I had no quality issues with Pandora whatsoever (previous vehicle, Aux in).
If Android had the option for USB with control through CUE I'd certainly try it. Having it wireless and your phone in your pocket is pretty nice (in theory), however clearly has it's shortcomings (in my experiences so far anyhow).

On the iPhone, you have the allow the Pandora App to be controlled once per session otherwise you get the "Internet Connection Not Available". Until you disconnect the phone from USB, you won't get that message again.
Gotcha, Android here, hopefully that suggestion may help someone else though.
 
#33 ·
I had the same problem after CUE upgrade. I have a Motorola Droid Bionic and I use Bluetooth not the cable. First remove Cue bluetooth from phone( I know you already did that trust me follow the steps) not just grayed out. Completly removed. Remove cell phone from CUE completely again not just grayed out. Check in both Media and Phone . Turn off Cue Shut off car let sit a few minutes. Turn off cell phone remove battery for few minutes. Replace cell phone battery and re boot phone. Start the car and once again re pair cell and CUE. Make sure pairing is confirmed in phone and you have your contacts. Then go to media and scroll until you see your cell phone. Go to Pandora app on CUE and activate. You may have to wait a few minutes. Don't rush it. It has worked flawlessly since completing above steps. At least we know that the update does work, its just a matter of getting bluetooth to correctly sync up. If the above does not work I suggest you keep trying different combinations. I got it to work through trial and error. Good luck!!!
 
#35 · (Edited)
Have had my ATS4 2.0T a few weeks and love it, but the CUE Pandora was a bit of an enigma. My iPhone 4S pairs easily and automatically but the CUE Pandora Ap will only work with the iPhone if it is connected via the USB charge/sync cable to one of the built in USB ports. The CUE Ap erroneously reports "no Bluetooth Connection" when the iPhone is unplugged from the USB. The iPhone remains paired via Bluetooth for phone functions, but the CUE's native Pandora Ap can apparently only access the iPhone's internet stream via the USB charge/sync port. This may be because to stream the internet connection via bluetooth would be a form of "tethering", which AT&T will insist that you pay extra to do with an iPhone. If I simply ignore the CUE Pandora Ap and access the Pandora Ap on the iPhone , then go to Audio>My Media, Pandora streams over Bluetooth, like the music Ap, complete with artist name and track name, and skip button. When streaming the audio this way, the sound is fine, comparable to satellite without the frequent dropouts caused by trees and hills where I live. When plugged into the USB port, you also get album art, thumbs up or down, and other Pandora functions. None of this is explained in the ATS user manual or guides.
 
#36 ·
Hello whidbeyben,

Congrats on your ATS; glad to hear you are loving it! I am sorry you had an issues with pairing Pandora with the CUE system. I do not know why the manual does not provide this information for the customer. I know others have had issues figuring out Pandora connection with the USB also. Thanks for providing this information on the Pandora system to share with others.

Regards,

Laura M.
Cadillac Customer Service
 
#37 ·
I too use Pandora on a daily basis. The problems I have seem to stem from starting my car when my phone does not have a signal or when my phone is locked (Droid RAZR with PIN lock). This happens frequently because it is parked in a multilevel parking garage both at home and at work, and my phone locks after one minute of inactivity.

The lock problem is a problem with the Pandora Android app. The app does not start until after the phone is unlocked. This causes CUE to report that it doesn't have a device connection. Unless I remember to unlock my phone before getting in my car and driving away, this means I do not listen to Pandora on that trip. This could be fixed by Pandora adding the DISABLE_KEYGUARD permission to the app and unlocking the phone when CUE connects to it. It would be very helpful if someone at GM could call Pandora and tell them to fix this. This is low-hanging fruit.

The signal problem seems to be that CUE tries to connect to the app on the phone three times before giving up. If I do not have signal before the third time, I need to switch away from the Pandora CUE app and back to it before it will try again. Couldn't it just continuously retry or have the Pandora phone app let it know when it has a signal? I'm sure there is a better solution to this. If I am on the Pandora CUE app, I want to listen to Pandora. It does me no good to have CUE stop trying to connect to my phone after three tries. I don't see a downside to it continuously trying to connect. If the reason for this was a concern about phone battery life, please give me a checkbox in the app settings I can check to make it retry continuously and leave it unchecked by default.

@Cadillac Cust Svc: Would it be possible for you to look into these things?
 
#38 ·
Hello BricksATX,

I understand how an issue with Pandora can be frustrating. I would feel the same way if I were you. I appreciate the fact that you brought this to our attention. There is a phone number to contact representatives for the CUE system. The number is 855-428-3669, Hours of Operation: 8:00am to 10:00pm EST Seven days a week. They may be able to assist you with your issue. I can be reached via private message if you would like to discuss your concern further or have any other issues.

Laura M.
Cadillac Customer Care
 
#39 ·
I'd just like to say (as the creator of this thread) that Pandora streaming from my phone is still a very poor experience!.. The only reason that I haven't given anymore input to this thread recently is because my faith in GM or the CUE team to actually fix the problems we are experiencing is extremely low.

I regularly see "no Internet connection" or "no Bluetooth signal" however I can clearly see my phone connected under the phone screen, and can even load Pandora on my phone and then Bluetooth stream the audio through CUE.
So while I'm clearly able to load Pandora on my phone, connect to the phone through CUE, and stream the sound over Bluetooth, I'll still regularly get the 2 error messages I described prior.. It's just not reliable, and I know I'm not the only one with these issues.

Are these problems very likely Pandora's to fix?.. Very likely, however reading through the CUE developer literature it should be tested by the CUE team prior to allowing it in the system. I have a feeling GM gets paid plenty to include it with CUE.
 
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