BMW Connected Drive Android Issues

[Robbzter]

Hi!

I have the following:

BMW 330e /w connected drive (2018) and no pending SW updates

Samsung s8 (no pending SW updates)

With the following problems:

The onboard spotify app - Changing to next song gives random song

The spotify menu is working 50% of the time

The app disconnects every 20min(requires app and BT restart)

What i've tried:

- Mailed BMW (Told me to bring it to a dealer)

- Reset of the car at the dealership(No changes, told me they knew about the problem but it was just on Android so they didn't care since everyone in Norway has IOS)

- Hard reset of the phone(No changes)

- Numerous guides that really just reinstalls the app(No changes)

- Called BMW again (New person told me Spotify was the problem without knowing any details)

- Searched my phone for some files(Found something i don't understand /attachment)

Regards

Someone who is tired of doing an unpaid job

[EvrenTR]

I have the same problem. I cant control my tracks with joystick. And i cant see album cover on the screen. It was working perfect with ios but doesnt work with android unfortunatelly. 

[SimonRoper19]

All the symptoms are the same for me also. Worked great with an IPhone but hit and miss with android

[martinsixsmith]

Same problem from another unpaid employee of Spotify / BMW.

Lost the connection with Connected Drive and Spotify on numerous occasions today ( my first day with the Spotify / Android package ). Played one entire playlist without problem but then the Spotify icon just disappeared from the screen and I had to revert to radio.

Also had the “ random”playlist for one session. A joke really from the supposedly number one music streaming company and one of the worlds top auto producers.

I will continue with Deezer ( supported by BMW on iOS but not Android - what is that all about ? ) via Android Auto in the car on my phone. At least I can listen to my playlists / albums on the car speakers via Bluetooth and have the benefit of Google Assist and messaging, emails, phone calls etc. Just unable to use Google Assist for controlling the playlists, nor can I see the album artwork. I can live with that until it’s time to change my 1 year old 430d Gran Coupe but if the situation remains the same it will be a deal breaker.

[SimonRoper19]

I have a brand new 5 series, and my experience matches yours. So don't get your hopes up that a new car will solve it! Mine drops out numerous times a day. I also notice that the Android doesn't have the search function either. With IOS I could request a song via voice control, not so with Android. 

[martinsixsmith]

What I find astounding is how two companies ( BMW & Spotify ) can release such a product without any apparent market testing beforehand - or maybe we are just part of an unofficial “Beta programme” ! Very disappointing.

[EvrenTR]

i use the cable to connect each other. it doesnt show album cover and track list with bluetooth connection unfortunatelly. it was working with apple perfectly but doesnt work with android. my car is m4 by the way. 

bmw must contact to android authority to solve this problem. at least with samsung. 🙂 but no way...

[martinsixsmith]

I have been doing some more research into the BMW / Android / Spotify connectivity issues. Boy, what a can of worms I opened.

i have a Galaxy S7 ( I switched a couple of weeks ago from iPhone). It seems that the most recent Android operating systems have an aggressive power saving mode which can affect the Spotify App. Here are the links from the Spotify firum

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Android/PSA-Samsung-users-please-read/td-p/1334731

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Android/COMPLETE-GUIDE-How-to-fix-most-Android-issues/td-p/914257

However, another issue reared its’ head. I have downloaded my playlists onto my SD card for offline listening to avoid exceeding my providers data allowance. When I open the Spotify App in offline mode I get a message telling me I am offline and that I should go online to login ! Therefore the app is redundant in offline mode. Talk about a chicken and egg situation and it remains unresolved as far as I can tell from the Spotify forums.

https://community.spotify.com/t5/forums/v3_1/forumtopicpage/board-id/spotifyaccountrelated/page/1/th...

The level of complexity which has been introduced for a seemingly simple task is frankly mind blowing. I haven’t got any more time to waste so will just continue with Deezer and accept its limitations in the BMW / Android format.

[EvrenTR]

Deezer works with Android phone clearly? 

i mean can you see album cover and playlist when you connect it via bluetooth.?

thanks for your reply.

[martinsixsmith]

Deezer works with Andoid / BMW but, as I said in my previous post, with limitations. Those limitations are :

1. There is no album artwork on BMW screen . However the BMW screen does display the playlist or album title, as well as the name of the track which is playing, in "black and white" . I use the split screen mode on my car display with the smaller portion of the split devoted to Deezer / multimedia . Works fine  

2. I cannot access or control my Deezer playlists. albums etc via I Drive.

3. Cannot use voice command to change tracks, playlists etc.

However, via Android Auto  ( also incompatible with BMW, wth !! ) on my Galaxy S7 I can :

1. View and change my downloaded playlists via the phone ( not iDrive) and listen to  them via the car speakers.

2. Move to the next track or previous track via the car controls ( arrow buttons or steering column ) 

3. Via Google Assistant, send and receive messages and make phone calls

4. Navigate via Google Maps ( also works via Google Assistant ).

All this is done via Bluetooth with no USB connection necessary.

To enable Deezer with Android Auto I first had to disable Google Play Music on my Galaxy S7 as the Android Auto App always defaulted to that. Once that was accomplished everything was fine. You can then "pair" the Android Auto App with your cars Bluetooth and also enable it to switch on automatically as soon as it is connected to the Bluetooth.

Hope this helps

[jediant]

Same story on my new X1. Spotify disappears randomly mid-song, and isn't selectable until I restart the car.

[martinsixsmith]

Hi jediant

My Spotify seems to be running ok now although I have not yet had the opportunity to test it on a long journey. So far maximum 30minutes but it seems to be behaving itself.

What seems to work for me was ensuring that no power saving settings from Galaxy G7, Android 7.0, were applied to either the BMW Connected App or the Spotify App. Go into Settings, Battery and make sure that both the BMW and Spotify Apps are selected as “ unmonitored apps that won’t be suggested to be put to sleep”.

I always open the Spotify app via BMW Connected - this may be “snake oil”or wahetever but it seems to work.

i hope this works for you - my apologies if you have already tried these steps.

[bcm3237]

Is this solution still working?

[SimonRoper19]

Thanks. I'll give it a try and see how it goes.

[jediant]

I'll try that, thanks!

[martinsixsmith]

An update to previous posts. Had my first long drive a couple of days ago and, yes, after about one hour the sound stopped and the Spotify logo had disappeared from the iDrive screen. By switching to “ Galaxy S7” on the screen the sound continued via Bluetooth but there was no  album artwork and I was limited to “ next track” or “ previous track”. All other functionality was gone ( selecting albums, playlists etc ). Only way to recover Spotify was to relaunch the Spotify app on my phone - not something you want to do while driving !

Overall, a **bleep** scenario for the premium brands involved in this fiasco.

.......and by the way, iOS users also seem to be having connectivity issues with BMW / Spotify if you look at the latest blogs.

Would be interested in potential solutions from Spotify - and please don’t mention clean install etc. That’s all been tried and the problem of connectivity randomly disappearing still exists.

[bcm3237]

No matter what  I try, the Spotify app always disappears. I then have to restart everything  to get it working again. Terrible!!

[EvrenTR]

Do you think the problem is related with bmw? spotify? or android?

[martinsixsmith]

That's the big question. Having exhausted ( I think ! ) all the different forums on this issue, I am leaning towards it being more a BMW specific problem. Why ?

1. Apparently BMW fear that the predicted demise of the internal combustion engine will leave them ever more dependant on software in the future to run their cars, This leaves them vulnerable to the likes of Apple and Google and if they cannot control this they will simple become a "hardware" manufacturer with drastically reduced profits - think IBM / Microsoft as an example.

2. The Spotify problem is not confined to Android users. See attached :

https://michaelkummer.com/technology/major-bluetooth-audio-issues-iphone-bmw-no-carplay/

3. Android Auto is not available an any BMW model - nor will it be. BMW charges for Apple Car Play unlike most other auto companies.

4. Deezer / Android combo is not supported by BMW although Deezer is supported for ios. Makes no sense and BMW can only lose goodwill because of this.

5. Seemingly, Spotify / Android combo works well on most other makes of car but, as a BMW driver for many years, I cannot vouch for this.

Bottom line is that I am drawn to the conclusion that BMW are not giving these connectivity issues any priority, preferring to plan for the future by paddling their own canoe.

[Perssonheterjag]

I actually after like 2 months of trying reached BMW support about this issue got a response!
They said that Spotify needs an update to work well in their cars. And that update will be released in May/June this year.
Lets hope they do what they promise. Because this is embarrassing...