BMW - NO Android connectivity

[AMG Merc]

Courtesy of GPSWorld - Not sure if this has been aired but may be a pain for Android phoned-up Beemer drivers...

http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/BMW-focusses-on-Conn...

[Craikeybaby]

The car makers don't want to cede the sort of information generated/collected by the infotainment system to other companies.

[CraigyMc]

The thread title is pretty misleading. It's not like there's no connectivity, it's just that there's less integration with the dash than on an iPhone. You still get bluetooth etc.

[AMG Merc]

CraigyMc said:

The thread title is pretty misleading. It's not like there's no connectivity, it's just that there's less integration with the dash than on an iPhone. You still get bluetooth etc.

If I wrote '...No integrated Android connectivity' would you be happy?

[DanL]

Article said:

It's a move that is sure to frustrate owners, the beauty of offering CarPlay AND Android Auto support is you leave the choice of phone platform to the user. Dictating choice in this way is sure to anger owners and may even lose them sales when the next purchase is due.

Really? People wouldn't buy a particular car because it doesn't integrate completely with their phone? I'll admit - if it didn't have bluetooth for calls and a way of playing music from the phone I'd be annoyed, but I assume these features must be supported. Anything beyond that is a nice to have, but surely doesn't sway the purchasing decision above other car features?

[boyse7en]

DanL said:

Article said:

It's a move that is sure to frustrate owners, the beauty of offering CarPlay AND Android Auto support is you leave the choice of phone platform to the user. Dictating choice in this way is sure to anger owners and may even lose them sales when the next purchase is due.

Really? People wouldn't buy a particular car because it doesn't integrate completely with their phone? I'll admit - if it didn't have bluetooth for calls and a way of playing music from the phone I'd be annoyed, but I assume these features must be supported. Anything beyond that is a nice to have, but surely doesn't sway the purchasing decision above other car features?

I expect it will. If i had whittled down a shortlist to (for example) an Audi or a BMW, and one integrated with my phone while the other didn't, I'd go for the one that works.
It wouldn't be a top priority in deciding which cars I'd shortlist though.

[Craikeybaby]

Android Auto is the name of the feature which BMW isn't supporting. As an iPhone user I'd consider lack of CarPlay support a black mark against a new car I was considering.

[K50 DEL]

Wouldn't even be a line item for me, in every car I've ever owned the only thing I use is Bluetooth for phone calls and if the car didn't have it natively then I'd just fit a Parrot kit, I've never played music from my phone in my life (possibly because my phone doesn't have any music on it but that's another story lol)

[CraigyMc]

AMG Merc said:

CraigyMc said:

The thread title is pretty misleading. It's not like there's no connectivity, it's just that there's less integration with the dash than on an iPhone. You still get bluetooth etc.

If I wrote '...No integrated Android connectivity' would you be happy?

It'd still be misleading.

I've a BMW with connected drive and it has connectivity to my android phone (indeed, I can lock/unlock the car with the BMW app).

[Bungleaio]

I think this is quite short sighted of them, I've used both carplay and android auto a fair bit and I found the latter to the better of the two.

[gtidriver]

I have a 2013 63 BMW and my old iPhone 5 works quite well with it, my latest huawei p9 won't play music through the usb at all. If you want to update maps for example you can't​ do it on a Mac book, i had to have a friend do it for me, seams quite strange.

[Sheepshanks]

Bungleaio said:

I think this is quite short sighted of them, I've used both carplay and android auto a fair bit and I found the latter to the better of the two.

CarPlay doesn't seem to work reliably in any make of car.

[Craikeybaby]

On the other hand I have used CarPlay on quite a few different systems, both OEM and aftermarket, over the years and have never had trouble with it.

[Sheepshanks]

Craikeybaby said:

... over the years....

Are you sure you're talking about CarPlay? It hasn't been around for long.

[Trabi601]

Given the quality of the BMW navigation system and their integration of Apple Music, Deezer, Spotify and a number of web radio services, I'm not convinced I really need CarPlay etc.

[exelero]

There you go, bluetooth connectivity for every car

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TeckNet-Bluetooth-FM-Tra...

[CraigyMc]

exelero said:

There you go, bluetooth connectivity for every car

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TeckNet-Bluetooth-FM-Tra...

Bluetooth works anyway.

[Craikeybaby]

Sheepshanks said:

Craikeybaby said:

... over the years....

Are you sure you're talking about CarPlay? It hasn't been around for long.

I work in the infotainment industry, so had early access to head units. It has been baked into iOS for years, OEM development cycles are so much slower than consumer electronics so it has taken a while for them to catch up.