Braving the wind and lashing rain, I have been busy in the garage, ahead of tomorrow’s jaunt out to test the beta version of the BMW app.
Having never used the cradle, nor a phone connected to the TFT screen when in the cradle it was all a bit hit and miss at first but in the end I got it all to work. The only slightly annoying thing is having to switch between TFT and Nav in order to have the wheel control either the TFT or the phone in the cradle (Nav) though I can understand why it’s that way. A shortcut button would be good.
As part of the beta app test is try out lots of different things, I had my Bluetooth ear pieces in…. But no sound! I then discovered that it is possible to accidentally turn the sound down on an iPhone X if you slide (as I stupidly did) the phone into the cradle. Put it in properly and all is well.
Voice instructions from the Connected app are clear and the ability to have it repeat voice instructions (or at least when the next turn is) is good.
Music running in parallel to the Connected app is good. But there was no method (or at least none that I could find through just fiddling about) of pausing music via the iWheel. This mild crisis was averted when I tried something I have never tried before….. the services of Siri….. which worked perfectly….. “Hey Siri, pause music”…… and she did….. and restarted it and found another album, all on her own. I am not a big fan of music on a motorcycle but at least I can confirm to BMW that the beta app does not interfere with Siri instructions. I didn’t try the phone, simply because there is no SIM card in the phone I was using.
All in all and from doing no more than fiddling around in the garage it all seems to work. It’s quite a neat set-up, the cradle holding the phone pretty securely.
PS It took me a while to twig that the phone needs to make two Bluetooth connections at once. One to the cradle and one to the TFT screen. This was driving me bonkers. One I twigged this I set about making a connection, which kept failing…..until I realised that the TFT screen was trying to connect to my other iPhone in my pocket, not to the one in the cradle.
Having never used the cradle, nor a phone connected to the TFT screen when in the cradle it was all a bit hit and miss at first but in the end I got it all to work. The only slightly annoying thing is having to switch between TFT and Nav in order to have the wheel control either the TFT or the phone in the cradle (Nav) though I can understand why it’s that way. A shortcut button would be good.
As part of the beta app test is try out lots of different things, I had my Bluetooth ear pieces in…. But no sound! I then discovered that it is possible to accidentally turn the sound down on an iPhone X if you slide (as I stupidly did) the phone into the cradle. Put it in properly and all is well.
Voice instructions from the Connected app are clear and the ability to have it repeat voice instructions (or at least when the next turn is) is good.
Music running in parallel to the Connected app is good. But there was no method (or at least none that I could find through just fiddling about) of pausing music via the iWheel. This mild crisis was averted when I tried something I have never tried before….. the services of Siri….. which worked perfectly….. “Hey Siri, pause music”…… and she did….. and restarted it and found another album, all on her own. I am not a big fan of music on a motorcycle but at least I can confirm to BMW that the beta app does not interfere with Siri instructions. I didn’t try the phone, simply because there is no SIM card in the phone I was using.
All in all and from doing no more than fiddling around in the garage it all seems to work. It’s quite a neat set-up, the cradle holding the phone pretty securely.
PS It took me a while to twig that the phone needs to make two Bluetooth connections at once. One to the cradle and one to the TFT screen. This was driving me bonkers. One I twigged this I set about making a connection, which kept failing…..until I realised that the TFT screen was trying to connect to my other iPhone in my pocket, not to the one in the cradle.
