Installed iOS 14 on your iPhone and now facing Bluetooth issues? There can be many reasons why the iOS 14 update is causing Bluetooth problems, though the OS itself does not bring any changes to how Bluetooth works. Nonetheless, here are some general tips, tricks, and solutions you can follow to fix all Bluetooth woes on your iPhone running iOS 14 – iOS 14.7.1.
Some common Bluetooth related issues that many iPhone users are reporting after updating their device to iOS 14 include:
- Bluetooth unavailable or unable to connect to the Bluetooth accessory or car audio
- Crackling sound
- Not seeing the Bluetooth accessory
- Skipping, stuttering of music tracks while connected to car Bluetooth or AirPods
The first step you’d want to take is to ensure that the problem is with your iPhone and not with the Bluetooth accessory you’re trying to connect to. So try connecting to the accessory with your Mac, PC, or any other device, and see if things work fine or not.
How to Fix Bluetooth Issues in iOS 14 – iOS 14.7.1 on Your iPhone
If you find out that the problem lies with your iPhone running iOS 14, here are a few solutions you can try:
1. Install the Latest Update
If you are running iOS 14, you should wait for another point release of the OS from Apple to see if that fixes the Bluetooth issues or not. It is quite common for the first build of a major OS to have some issues, and companies generally tend to release a point update soon after to fix any widely reported issues.
There were battery drain issues with the initial releases of iOS 14, including iOS 14.1 and iOS 14.2. The latter especially lead to heavy idle battery drain for several iPhone users. However, Apple has greatly fixed these issues idle battery drain issues with the iOS 14.3 and iOS 14.4 update.
2. Turn off Bluetooth and Force Reboot
The first thing to try is to turn off your Bluetooth and hard reset your iPhone:
- Turn off Bluetooth by launching the Settings app, navigating to Bluetooth, and turning off the Bluetooth toggle.
- Hard reset or force reboot your iPhone by holding the Home button (Volume down button on iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus) and the Power button until you see the Apple logo. On the iPhone X, iPhone XS/Max, iPhone XR, iPhone 11/11 Pro, quickly press and release the Volume Up button. Then quickly press and release the Volume Down button. Finally, press and hold the Side button (Sleep/Wake button) until you see the Apple logo.
- After the iPhone device has restarted, enable Bluetooth again from Control Center or by launching the Settings app, navigating to Bluetooth, and tapping on the toggle to turn on Bluetooth.
Try connecting to the device now. If the problem still isn’t solved, try the next solution.
3. Forget Device
If the previous tip didn’t work for you, you can try forgetting the device you paired with from Settings, and then try reconnecting:
- Launch the Settings app and go to Bluetooth.
- Tap on the “i” icon against the device name you’re having problems connecting.
- Tap on the “Forget This Device” button and confirm your action.
- Now pair your iPhone with the device again, and see if the issue has been solved.
The above solution should help fix issues such as skipping, stopping, or stuttering while playing music tracks in your car over Bluetooth. You can check our post if you want iPhone to stop auto-playing music when it connects to your car Bluetooth.
4. Reset Network Settings
If none of the two tips worked, you could also try resetting your network settings. A side effect of doing this is that all your Wi-Fi settings will also be cleared, so you might have to rejoin Wi-Fi networks and configure VPN all over again.
Here’s how to reset network settings:
- Launch the Settings app and navigate to General > Reset
- Tap Reset Network Settings
- You’ll be required to enter your passcode if you have one.
- Confirm your action in the popup
Your iPhone will reboot. Once it starts up, try pairing to the device again. If your problem still isn’t solved, move to the next step.
5. Restore and Setup as new iPhone
This is not ideal, but if none of these tips fix your issues, the last resort is to restore your iPhone via iTunes or Finder in macOS Catalina/Big Sur and set it up as a new device. This way, you start afresh and get rid of possibly problematic customizations and settings on your device. Follow the instructions in the post linked below to do a clean restore to the latest version of iOS via iTunes.
6. Visit an Apple Store
Even after performing all these steps, you’re still having problems, then you might want to visit your nearest Apple Store to know of any possible hardware-related issues. If you were facing any Bluetooth-related issues in iOS 13 on your iPhone and the same issues persist on iOS 14, it is likely a hardware issue.
Have you faced Bluetooth issues after updating to iOS 14 – iOS 14.7.1? Let us know in the comments below.
This post was last updated on August 2, 2021.
