Q: Do I need to jailbreak my phone to work with Phone Amego?
A: No. This guide includes detailed instructions on how to configure Bluetooth on your phone
and your Mac.
Q: Does Phone Amego work with iPhone?
A: Yes. It supports inbound Caller ID and outbound dialing when paired with an iPhone. You may
be able to use your Mac as a Hands-Free speaker phone with some limitations (Mac OS X is not
optimized for Bluetooth audio). Since Phone Amego uses the "Handsfree Gateway" to connect
with iPhone, you cannot use a Bluetooth headset and Phone Amego at the same time without
some compromise. See Hands-Free Speakerphone.
Phone Amego uses a fairly small set of Bluetooth capabilities to reduce its compatibility exposure.
Request call status to notice incoming calls.
Dial outgoing calls.
Detect when a device moves in or out of Bluetooth proximity.
Route audio between your Mac and phone as selected.
This simplifies the design and avoids a large number of special case work arounds and bugs. SMS
is supported through Google Voice which also handles archiving.
Q: Which Bluetooth Cell Phones are Supported?
A: Phone Amego works with Bluetooth phones that recognize AT commands using the
HandsFree or Serial Port Profile. This includes many Bluetooth phones such as those by Nokia,
Motorola, Sony Ericsson, RIM BlackBerry, Google Android, and Apple iPhone. I have tested Phone
Amego with these phones:
Apple iPhone 1G with OS 3.0.1
Nokia 2760
Motorola RAZR v3
Sony Ericsson TM506
RIM BlackBerry 7290
Customers also report success with these phones:
Google Android (T-Mobile MyTouch)
Nokia N82
BlackBerry Storm 9530
Q: My phone went silent during a call, what happened?
A: The call audio may have been transferred to your Mac which acts as a HandsFree
Speakerphone. To restore the call audio, reset the "Audio Source" to be your phone, or enable
the speakerphone feature on your handset.
Q: How do I get call audio to play on my Mac?
A: You may need to set your phone to "Accept Hands-Free Always", or select "Speakerphone"
after you have told your phone to dial. See Hands-Free Speakerphone for details.
Q: How do I send out SMS messages through my iPhone?
A: The iPhone does not support sending SMS via Bluetooth at this time. Apple has kindly
provided a web page for feedback here: http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html
Phone Amego supports sending SMS using Google Voice. There is also a way to receive SMS sent
to your Google Voice number on your desktop.
I am considering adding support for sending and receiving SMS directly for phones which support
the GSM standard.
Q: What happened to the Bluetooth phone to Address Book integration
feature in Mac OS X Tiger?
A: Apple hasn't said why they removed this feature. I can only speculate it was too difficult to
provide a great user experience accross their entire customer base (with so many different
phones to support), and they didn't want the ongoing support burden. If it isn't great, Apple
would rather not do it.
As a smaller independent developer, I can focus on supporting a small number of devices, work
directly with customers to improve the product, and offer more frequent updates.
Q: What's the point of having a Bluetooth phone?
A: You can sync your phone with your computer to automatically transfer your Address Book
contacts and appointments from your calendar. No cables are needed. Just have your phone
near your computer and ask it to sync.
You can use your phone as a modem to give your laptop Internet access while you are traveling.
Again, no special cables are needed.
You can use a Hands-Free headset or use your phone with another device like a GPS to have it
call a nearby restaurant you just found.