"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/19/2020 at 10:27 • Filed to: None
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"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/19/2020 at 10:27 • Filed to: None | 1
| 7 |
BMW is one of the last car companies to adopt Android Auto. Earlier this year they !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! that in July, they would push an OTA update to cars equipped with the latest iDrive 7 infotainment system, to add wireless-only Android Auto with no backup USB connection capability. Well, it’s October now, and BMW just put out a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! that the OTA is on the way.
The new software version will be available to customers in Germany from 19 October and can be downloaded to vehicles directly over the air and installed free of charge. Customers will receive a push notification in their vehicle or via BMW App on their smartphone as soon as the upgrade is available. Following launch in the German market, it will be rolled out in stages across Europe, in the US, Canada, China and the remaining international markets.
BMW smartphone mirroring in both Google and Apple flavors only works wirelessly , which I think is stupid. BMW cars have plentiful USB ports for charging and basic media streaming functionality, but BMW won’t make these USB ports work for full Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. Wireless mirroring is good, but it’s not perfectly reliable yet. H aving a USB port as an option in case the admittedly more convenient wireless connection doesn’t want to work right is just the right way to do things . The ports are already there fer chrissakes.
Until very recently, wireless Android Auto was restricted to a very select few Android phones, namely Pixels and Samsung Galaxy S & Note models. But, Google !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , so eventually once more phones get updated to Android 11, they’ll be able to connect to BMW iDrive 7 equipped cars. So for all the phones that don’t yet support wireless Android Auto, or are past their update window where they won’t get Android 11, they’d at least be able to do Android Auto through the USB port, if only BMW offered that functionality.
Oh, and yes BMW is the first car company to offer wireless Android Auto, but it’s also coming on the refreshed 2021 Honda Accord, and I’m sure it will proliferate to many other cars soon enough. All of which will probably retain their wired Android Auto (and CarPlay) capabilities.
Nice job BMW. You’re almost cau ght up to the Android Auto functionality offered in my Honda Civic, which Honda has offered on the Civic since the 2016 model year.
KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
> Textured Soy Protein
10/19/2020 at 10:43 |
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And just like that, the G20 330i is on my list for next potential car.
facw
> Textured Soy Protein
10/19/2020 at 10:56 |
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Ooh, wireless too (well only wireless I guess). OEM support for wireless Android Auto has been terrible, so I’m glad to see it making inroads.
WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI
> Textured Soy Protein
10/19/2020 at 11:32 |
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It’d be interesting to know what the ratio of iPhone to Android is for new BMW buyers.
My gut reaction is that the vast majority have iPhones (in the US anyways), but I have no data to back that up.
Separately, I would love to have wireless Apple Carplay in my car. Having to plug the phone in isn’t that much of a hassle, but if I never had to take it out of my pocket, I’d prefer it.
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Textured Soy Protein
> WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI
10/19/2020 at 14:01 |
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It’s probably heavily skewed towards iPhone in the US but there’s the whole rest of the world which is more on Android.
Wireless connections regardless of OS are good but on anything other than short trips you’d probably have to take the phone out of your pocket as they can eat the battery pretty quickly.
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Textured Soy Protein
> facw
10/19/2020 at 14:02 |
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I’m sure wireless will catch on soon enough as a newer better thing for carmakers to offer over wired-only smartphone mirroring connections in older models. I bet they’ll still support wired connections too.
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WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI
> Textured Soy Protein
10/19/2020 at 14:08 |
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Good point.
I’d say 95% of my driving is under 30 minutes, which is what I’d consider short trips, so the charging aspect isn’t a huge concern for me.
I did used work with guys that drove 90 minutes each way (they were insane, during snowstorms, it’d take the 2 and a half to 3 hours to get to work), so they’d have to do more plugging in.
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Textured Soy Protein
> WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI
10/19/2020 at 14:28 |
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Now that I think about it I basically never drive with my phone in my pocket. I usually take it out so it’s not poking my leg .
I’m not too hyped up about wireless AA/CarPlay because I’m a compulsive plugger-inner of devices anyway. I usually treat driving somewhere as an opportunity to top up my phone’s charge. I’m the charging fairy in my house. I often enter a room, see my wife has left her phone/tablet/laptop sitting unplugged, right next to a charger, so I’m like boop lemme give you a little juice there.
If anything the appeal to me with wireless AA is that most cars’ USB ports aren’t compatible with the various phone fast charging standards. For example my Si’s USB port is a plain old 1.5 amp charger with no fast charging. With wireless AA, I could use my fast car charger with the wireless connection for maximum topping up of the battery while in the car.
One nice thing about Android Auto is the first time you set up a wired connection with a car, it also pairs the phone to the car’s bluetooth so you don’t need to do that separately. I dunno if Apple does something similar but this way you or you have to set up a separate bluetooth pairing but either way once this is set up you still have some phone<>car interaction even without plugging in.