Lumia 928 DP - > Denim post update

[reversalagent]

I want to preface that the 928 is not my primary phone any longer, but still have it to play with WP. I have the developer preview installed and all updates. Yesterday, I saw the post about the Denim update for 928. After I got home and was able to charge up the phone, I had it check for an update and lo and behold, it was available. I DID NOT need to factory reset or do anything to update to Denim. It was a very smooth update without issue.

But, with that I have a few questions:

1. I hooked the phone into my 2013 Toyota via the USB cable and audio began to play. (Bluetooth was not even on, I did not know that a normal USB cable could carry audio, but I am quite happy). I honestly did not know this was a new feature, but a very nice one. With that though, music started playing and I have absolutely no idea what app was playing it. Clicking on the volume buttons does not bring up the music controls. Opening the music app and starting to play a song plays a song through the phone's speaker, while music continues via the car system. Has anyone else experienced this and if so, have you found out how to control the music through the car system?

2. This may be a dumber one, but what exactly did I gain by updating to Denim on the 928 at this point?

Thanks.

 

[stephen_az]

I want to preface that the 928 is not my primary phone any longer, but still have it to play with WP. I have the developer preview installed and all updates. Yesterday, I saw the post about the Denim update for 928. After I got home and was able to charge up the phone, I had it check for an update and lo and behold, it was available. I DID NOT need to factory reset or do anything to update to Denim. It was a very smooth update without issue.

But, with that I have a few questions:

1. I hooked the phone into my 2013 Toyota via the USB cable and audio began to play. (Bluetooth was not even on, I did not know that a normal USB cable could carry audio, but I am quite happy). I honestly did not know this was a new feature, but a very nice one. With that though, music started playing and I have absolutely no idea what app was playing it. Clicking on the volume buttons does not bring up the music controls. Opening the music app and starting to play a song plays a song through the phone's speaker, while music continues via the car system. Has anyone else experienced this and if so, have you found out how to control the music through the car system?

2. This may be a dumber one, but what exactly did I gain by updating to Denim on the 928 at this point?

Thanks.

The answer to the second question is easier. Microsoft's change logs for both Cyan and Denim will tell you what you gained. You do, however, need to look at both since Cyan obviously was not released and it was rolled into Denim. As door Denim itself, the following lists most of the stuff: Lumia Denim & Windows Phone 8.1 GDR1 update (Windows Phone 8.1 update 1) | NPU. Beyond anything else, it means that the firmware and OS are in sync and the device will be fully supported by VZW if there are any problems (not that I heard of them refusing anyone running the DP).

The first is more perplexing. USB ports in recent Toyota models certainly carry audio but I have never had one start playing on its own. What you are describing, however, is something I could replicate if the hands free Bluetooth is/was connected in my 2014 Toyota (or its 2011 predecessor). My first thought, if your car has hands free Bluetooth, is whether it may have actually been connected even though the display was showing as turned off. FWIW, my car always starts music automatically from Bluetooth as soon as it connects, if I turned off the car with music still playing - just picks up where it left off. If the vehicle is Bluetooth enabled, you might try to delete the profile from both the phone and car and then reconnect. It may be just a matter of the system getting confused. Sorry, but that is pretty much the only thing that comes to mind off the top of my head.

BTW, Bluetooth improvements are one for the things I have noted with Denim and 8.1. Each of the DP updates did odd things to the volume when connected to my Toyota. One update required me to up the volume in the car and the next reduce it. Now it is back to where is should be - same as it was with 8.0. The Bluetooth connect is also much cleaner and I don't have to wait several minutes before using the hands free button on the steering column. Previously it would tell me it was initializing for anywhere from a few minutes to (with the original DP) up to 15 minutes. Overall performance of the phone is also faster and much more smooth. I have yet to see hesitation or a resuming screen and when scrolling on the home screen tiles display immediately instead of having to catch up. Lumia Camera is still slow but does seem more fluid/intuitive. So far I am pleased with the improvements....

 

[egold70]

Toyota multimedia systems have "proprietary" music player, the system itself plays the music from connected device, the controls in your case are supposed to be within Media>USB or something similar
BTW There is an option to select which one you prefer at least for Bluetooth connections: play from car or play from device, I don`t know if such option exists for USB connection

 

[reversalagent]

Thank you for the reply. I know I can look through the release notes (and I skimmed through it) but I believe there are some we are just not getting secondary to hardware limitations:

Hey Cortana
4K video recording
Camera improvements

Although I will take firmware improvements any day to help with speed and battery life. I will admit the Lumia Camera still takes too long and have set the Microsoft Camera as my trigger button camera app based solely on the startup time.

As for the audio, it is just baffling. Bluetooth on the phone was not on at all (at least the quick setting was not active, hence my reasoning it was not on), as I double checked and even the console showed "USB" as the connection type for the music playing. I truly admit I do not know all about USB/audio etc, but I thought only iPhones/lightning connectors could carry audio over USB. As soon as I connected the phone via the cable to the USB jack, it started playing, just like my iPhone does.

I will try to delete the pairing and see what happens next time. Although it was just odd I could not find the "source" (app) that was playing the music and had no control over it.

Thank you very much for your response.