[mobilehavoc]

Hi I just brought home a 2018 M240xi fully loaded which I think comes with iDrive 6.0. It has the 8.8" screen that is touchscreen etc. It seems almost identical to what my mom has in her 2018 540xi.

In any case, I know that BMW is anti-Android but was wondering if any other Android users have any tips to better integrate with the car. My other car is a 2018 Audi which (shocker!) plays perfectly with both iPhone and Android. Shame BMW are being so stubborn and anti-consumer as they are but it is what it is.

I have the BMW Connected app on my phone and it appears to be working when I get in the car it auto launches when it connects over Bluetooth but that app seems pretty useless from what I've seen. Is there anything good I can do with that app connected to the car?

Has anyone figured out anyway to get Android Auto to work even through coding or hacks? I use Android Auto exclusively on the Audi and would be amazing to find a way to get it to work on the BMW.

Just looking for tips from like minded Android users. Thanks.

[JohnnyCanuck]

If you use Spotify, Pandora, or iHeart ... iDrive integration is pretty good. Other than that, us Android users are second class citizens to BMW. They simply don't care.

I've not heard of any coding or software solutions to get AA to work. Would love to see it, but not sure it's possible.

[twolsten]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCanuck

If you use Spotify, Pandora, or iHeart ... iDrive integration is pretty good. Other than that, us Android users are second class citizens to BMW. They simply don't care.

I've not heard of any coding or software solutions to get AA to work. Would love to see it, but not sure it's possible.

I don't think that Android users are second class citizens to BMW, but the OS suffers from the same issues as Linux on the desktop (Android is Linux after all).

Apple provides a limited hardware set to interface with. Iphone X, Xs, Xs + all have the same hardware interface and same OS. It makes it easy to support and keep updated.
Android, on the other hand, has many hardware variants (Samsung, LG, Google, Moto, Sony, etc) and each one has a different hardware and tuned version of the OS. That is the beauty of Linux is it can easily be changed for each use case, but the downside for 3rd party support is obvious.
My 2016 Mustang GT supported Android. I had an LG V20 when I bought it and it sort of worked. Lot of glitches because it technically wasn't a supported phone. Bought a Note 9 when it came out. Note 8 was supported and they promised support for the Note 9, but it still had several issues. The hardware interface changed so often across all of the brands of phones they couldn't keep up. As a Linux architect for my company, I see this across all hardware manufacturers, unless they just support a couple of distros (RHEL, Ubuntu, and SuSe are common, but you don't find Arch support too often for example).

[JohnnyCanuck]

Originally Posted by twolsten

Apple provides a limited hardware set to interface with. Iphone X, Xs, Xs + all have the same hardware interface and same OS. It makes it easy to support and keep updated.
Android, on the other hand, has many hardware variants (Samsung, LG, Google, Moto, Sony, etc) and each one has a different hardware and tuned version of the OS.

This argument (and it's BMW's stock answer) is pure, unadulterated, BS.

Android Auto is a single platform and interface. There is no difference between Google's implementation or Samsung's or anyone else's. This is just BMW coming up with an excuse to not support AA because they have no interest.

[twolsten]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCanuck

This argument (and it's BMW's stock answer) is pure, unadulterated, BS.

Android Auto is a single platform and interface. There is no difference between Google's implementation or Samsung's or anyone else's. This is just BMW coming up with an excuse to not support AA because they have no interest.

I might not have been very clear in what I was meaning by "interface", but it is the hardware that is different. The OS, and all of the apps that run on it, have to be compiled for that hardware. Its where the differences lie.

I know that somehow smartphones have turned into a religious like argument online somehow. So just to be clear, I wasn't stating one is better that the other. I would have preferred Android be supported, but I understand the challenges. Linux architecture was my primary job for a long time and I kept buying into the "Year of the Linux Desktop" but it never came to be because of similar issues.

[JohnnyCanuck]

Originally Posted by twolsten

I might not have been very clear in what I was meaning by "interface", but it is the hardware that is different. The OS, and all of the apps that run on it, have to be compiled for that hardware. Its where the differences lie.

I know that somehow smartphones have turned into a religious like argument online somehow. So just to be clear, I wasn't stating one is better that the other. I would have preferred Android be supported, but I understand the challenges. Linux architecture was my primary job for a long time and I kept buying into the "Year of the Linux Desktop" but it never came to be because of similar issues.

And BMW need not be concerned about any of that. Android Auto is brand agnostic to a car head unit. Yes, Android phone manufacturers need to make it work on their hardware and app developers need make their apps AA compatible, but none of that matters to the car. It's a standard that BMW can choose to adopt. Once adopted, they only need to worry about major version revisions to AA itself, not different hardware or Android versioning.

[PickleRick63]

Any idea whether there's a chance BMW might make Android Auto support available for older iDrive versions? As they have changed their stance on AA as of v7, I would be surprised if they don't consider it for the many, many other iDrive 6 owners who are left in the cold...

[USA-RET]

I think it comes down to BMW not wanting to invest the time to support android auto. Easier to only offer Apple integration (as there is a huge "herd mentality" with that product). Nearly all of our German friends buy Apple and this could be the case throughout Europe.

I would hope there isn't something like a stipend from Apple to BMW for doing this (but based upon Apple's previous bad acts, I would not be surprised).

I think BMW knows that it will not lose sales because they do not offer Android Auto. I think more people would likely buy an IPhone than not buy a BMW.

[BimBimM2]

Originally Posted by USA-RET

I think it comes down to BMW not wanting to invest the time to support android auto. Easier to only offer Apple integration (as there is a huge "herd mentality" with that product). Nearly all of our German friends buy Apple and this could be the case throughout Europe.

I would hope there isn't something like a stipend from Apple to BMW for doing this (but based upon Apple's previous bad acts, I would not be surprised).

I think BMW knows that it will not lose sales because they do not offer Android Auto. I think more people would likely buy an IPhone than not buy a BMW.

Android Auto is coming in future BMWs