Froyo Voice Dialing with Bluetooth Problem Solved!

Yes, I’m back (Did you miss me that much?)! But just briefly.

The one knock on Android 2.1 was that it didn’t offer voice dialing with bluetooth headsets (how is that possible!). So, as I noted in my previous post, I was excited to learn that Android 2.2 (Froyo) would have it.

But was I in for a disappointment. On both the CM-6 and Liberated ROMs, when I voice dialed from my Jabra BT-530 (outstanding headset at a very reasonable price, BTW), a screen would pop up on my Aria requiring me to respond manually to several options. Huh, doesn’t that defeat the purpose of hands-free voice dialing?!?!

Thankfully, with the help of my Google guru Doug Simmons, I have found a solution offered by TDianna over at xda. TDianna extracted a version of Google’s Voice Dialer that had been on an earlier version of CM-6 which you can find at the bottom of his first post.

I spent quite a bit of time trying to follow his instructions for removing the installed VoiceDialer and replacing it with the functioning version using a file explorer, but failed miserably. Then I just decided to throw caution to the wind and just install the better version and guess what? It worked.

Now when I double press my Jabra, I get a voice asking me what I want to do. I say something like, “Call Home” or Dial XXX-XXXX, it repeats my command, and then places the call. The voice recognition accuracy seems excellent (no miscues yet). I tried other voice commands, such as “Open Calendar,” but it didn’t work (I never use voice command for anything except dialing, so I don’t care). The one thing that I’m unclear on is what happens if it doesn’t accurately recognize my command. There is no way I can tell to abort the command aside from pushing Jabra’s button again (seems to work).

So, as I tell my daughters, there is once again “Joy in Whoville.”

Until the next major technological advancement in my life, I wish you all a fond adieu…