BMW Connected / MINI Connected works with SPOTIFY!!!!

[bk9996666]

Ok you guys snuck something big into this update!!! I just connected the spotify app to MINI connected in my car!

How come a big deal wasn't made about this? Did I miss the announcement? Is this beta?

[Johnnymiller]

album art not working on mine, im on a 6 plus with 8.1.2 car is an f20 bmw with pro nav (NBT).

[cgrex]

I'm also on a 6 plus. So wondering if it's related to the iOS update and 6 plus.

[RichardP7]

My 5s is connected using the Snap In adapter for the phone.  Maybe it's related to using the USB port that you are presumably using with the iPhone 6.  I'll try it with the USB cable and see if the Album Art is displayed.

[cgrex]

Lets hope not! Don't think the snap in is a cheap retro fit or even if it's possible.

[miep]

It can't be related to snap-in vs. USB as since my iPhone 6+ I'm using USB and it works without problems with Deezer or Napster. Just not Spotify. That to me rules out problems with iOS or iDrive.

[cgrex]

I don't have any issues with my 6 plus and Deezer, it's just spotify.

[Hahn]

I don't know if we should open new threads. As @cgrex said, there are 3 different problems in this thread.

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@cgrex wrote:
Just be clear, it seems there are 3 issues with BMW and MINI with iOS Spotify.

1.Last update stops artwork from being displayed on iDrive display.

2.When playing via Bluetooth to car, only the first track artwork and track details are displayed. These remain on screen even when skipping tracks.

3.People would like an option to turn off the BMW app function when plugging the phone in via Bluetooth. This would allow the phone to be used without the default BMW / Spotify screen. I suspect this is a function of the BMW system and not fixable, as all other apps require the phone to be plugged in to the USB and the phone not locked, and the display shows the apps fixed display.

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On top of that, everyone should include all their data. A statement like "it works for me" is not very helpful. 

I have problem 2. In my car, a BMW 520d (F11) I have software version 2.38. My iPhone 6 (iOS 8.1.2) has the latest Spotify app (2.2.0.2464).

[Hahn]

There seems be a fix: http://www.2addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?p=17085931

Will try that later.

[cgrex]

I've done the NBT update above this week and it didn't make any difference with

F20 2014 pro nav with iphone 6 plus.

I have problem 2 with Bluetooth and problem 1 with artwork

[Hahn]

Yeah, same here. Update did not fix my problem (N°2).

[RichardP7]

I've tried my iPhone 5s with iOS 8.1.2 with both USB cable connection and snap in adapter, the Album Art works fine for both off line and streamed tracks. 2013 F06 (6 series Gran Coupe) with Pro Nav, latest release version of Spotify 2.2.0.2464.

When connecting via Bluetooth the Spotify track info and Album art do not update when the track changes, but they are correct for the 1st track. The situation is the same if you connect via Bluetooth, then connect via USB, the iDrive system automatically switches over from Bluetooth to USB (not the Spotify App) but the track details do not update.

I have encountered the lack of track updating before when developing a device for older BMWs (E46/E39 generation) that uses the Alpine KCA-420i iPod adapter which was designed long before the original iPhone was releaseed or Spotify was available.  The problem was the same, the track details did not update when the track changed.  I fixed the problem by monitoring the track time, when it reset to 0:00 I waited a couple of seconds and then issed a request for the track details - everything then worked fine.  So, I'd guess there is either some missing 'track changed' indicator or Spotify needs to resend the track details and not wait for them to be requested.

[apw2607]

I use the Spotify app with my BMW with the USB cable. My car supports the BMW connected apps platform, however the Spotify app is probably the worst implementation so far.

The biggest issue is unresponsiveness. You goto My Music or any other menu option using iDrive, and most of the time, nothing happens. You have to keep selecting the options and then eventually ... you get to the next menu level ... and then again unresponsiveness.

Similarly to change tracks. It takes seamingly forever for a track to change.

The whole point of moving functionality from the phone to the car interface is to improve driver safety, but the way the app currently works, make it a frustration and a distraction from driving.

I use TuneIn, BMW own's connected app, Rhapsody, Sticher, Pandora and they generally work better than the Spotify app. Please can you pass onto the BMW or Spotify app development team to address these issues. Don't they actually test the functionality in "real cars" with real hardware? And not just one car, but multiple, with the different hardware configurations of the BMW vehicle range. European speced cars, USA speced cars, and so on.

Seems to me Spotify app development just seem to thrown this over the fence and let the users test the software in the hope "it works" ... which in this case .... it doesn't.

[Speedryder]

Same for me. No response. Sometimes works and mostly not, like when playing a song and receiving a call. darn this crap almost made me crash today.

[MasterYous]

I believe the unresponsiveness has to do with what version of iOS you run and on what devices. On my iphone 4 with iOS 7.1.1, I have a very hard time doing anything with the idrive interface because it locks up. On my iPhone 6 with ios 8.0.2, everything works well (referring just to idrive- Bluetooth is still broken).

[apw2607]

Thanks for the reply and information.

Perhaps it would be helpful to the developers, for users that are experiencing unresposonsive behavior within iDrive of the Spotify app, when using the BMW connected Apps platform (so we're not talking about Bluetooth audio connectivity here), then post your iPhone model, iOS and Spotify app version.

So for me

iPhone 5 32GB, iOS 8.1.2, Spotify App v2.2.0

[Hahn]

I have created a separate thread for problem N°2: https://community.spotify.com/t5/Help-iOS-iPhone-iPad-iPod-Touch/Playing-via-Bluetooth-in-car-BMW-me...

[AgentMax]

Also having strange issues with the Spotify App in my BMW M235i with Nav Prof.

First, the app takes 10-20 sec until its registered by the nav.

After selecting the app it takes 2-3 Minutes until the music starts playing.

After 2 more minutes the title and artist are shown.

The tracktime is stuck.

Selecting an option is impossible.

And, the connection is only established once. As my phone stays in the car everytime i come back to my car I have to:

- remove the phone from cradle

- force quit the spotify app

- place phone in the cradle

- restart the spotify app

- see above

Worst app ever!

Tried with cradle and cable. iPhone5S or iPhone6+.

[apw2607]

Thanks for that. Thats exactly what I'm seeing too. I'm assuming youre using iOS 8.x with your iphone 6+?

So i've got a 2010 X5 which has the latest UPD01008.bin in the media interface ECU. So has versions MX-3.5.4, TX-3.5.8

Newer BMWs have a slightly different media interface and thus run different versions of software, however all versions (older and newer) do support the BMW apps platform when optioned.

Wonder if there is any consistency here to the issues.

I certainly notice on first startup of the Spotify app, theres no way to interact with the app at all through iDrive for at least 2 minutes or so. Then each time you interact with it, it seems to become unresponsive for about 30s - 1 minute.

It really is a dreadful integration with the BMW apps platform.

[Poupousse]

i just renewed my Deezer premium account as it seems no one from Spotify really care about our 8 pages describing how in car integration sucks with Spotify, and as this is my main usage of the mobile app, I need a *working* application, particularly WHEN I PAY FOR IT.

[Overclock321]

I also have a problem.. Using spotify on a iPhone 6 on iOS 8.1.2 it does not display album art. I'm current using this app on a 2013 Mini Cooper with mini connected system with 1006.bin