Quote:
Originally Posted by drivethemachine
Same here...I think it's junk.
I have a question for those who have no issues with it:
can someone time how long it takes for a simple command to complete?
Make sure your doors are unlocked before you begin.
1. open the app
2. start a stopwatch
3. tap Lock doors, confirm.
4. wait for the doors to actually lock
5. stop the stopwatch
My results vary. The best time I have seen is 18 seconds, but often it runs for about 1:30~2:00 minutes and then it just times out.
Even at the best case 18 seconds -of waiting and staring at my phone- it does not meet my expectation of how an IOT device should perform. All the home automation products I have used are tap & forget, and they complete commands within a couple of seconds at most.
Reloading the remote camera image succeeds maybe 1 in every 10 attempts. The other 9 times it times out.
Everything about the 5 series BMW is top notch, premium quality and feel. I think they should do a better job with the mobile app.
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I haven't had any real issues with it. It took me 19 seconds to lock mine just now which I think is decent. The only time it took longer than 20-25 seconds is when I tried to load the remote camera for the very first time after I bought the car. It took a few tries and then it would time out so I ended up just uninstalling the app on my phone, re-installing it and logging in. Then it worked the very first time.
Can they improve the app and the speed upon in which commands are carried out quicker? Of course. Everything can always be improved and more efficient. However, I think it's a very good starting point/foundation to build upon.
All of your home automation products that you're comparing our cars to are built specifically for automation. That's what they're designed to do. Our cars aren't built and designed for home automation so it's not a fair comparison to compare the two. Our cars (and cars in general) are built and designed with far more important qualities and characteristics (i.e. safety, drivability, reliability, etc) than being built and designed just for the sole purpose of IOT and communicating with other IOTs.
Given our ever increasing connectedness as a society and the explosion of IOT and data analytics, BMW realizes certain things that weren't possible in the past, now are, and they're doing a good job of putting this technology in their cars/app. IMO, BMW is one of the best car manufacturers when it comes to advancing technology in the car, software platforms (with iDrive), and the BMW Connected APP. The only car manufacturer that is steps ahead of everyone is Tesla as they're the kings of technology and software in vehicles.
For people who's expectations were not met with the app, ask yourself a question, what was your expectation before using it? Were you thinking it was going to be like the Tesla than you had just ridden in? Were you thinking it was going to work like your Google Home or Amazon Alexa or Apple HomePod? If yes then your expectations, possibly, were too high to begin with. A better comparison would be to look at other (similar) car manufacturers- Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, etc. and compare BMW and the Connected APP to those. IMO, BMW with their iDrive, Connected APP, and tech is better than the other 3 car manufacturers software, App, and tech.