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Technical Topics iDrive, Nav, Phone, Audio, Video, Cameras, Electronics Spotify v. Apple Music, iDrive v. CarPlay

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      07-29-2019, 12:17 PM   #1
Serottab1kr
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Spotify v. Apple Music, iDrive v. CarPlay

I have had my M340i for a week and still am unsure about the best way to listen to music? I have a family Spotify account on my iPhoneX, but still have a good amount of music in Apple Music. CarPlay works reasonably well with an occasional hiccup, but iDrive seems a bit smoother. I especially like being able to scroll through playlists on the HUD or dashboard display.

Just curious what people are finding the best way to listen to music? I wouldn’t mind switching to Apple Music, it works fine for me. Also, best way to connect the phone? For some reason, I think it sounds better when the iPhone is connected via USB.

Btw, I came from a 2017 A4 and it had similar hiccups with CarPlay.
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      07-29-2019, 12:29 PM   #2
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What hiccup exactly are you referring to? On my F36 It's a known issue that Carplay tends to overtake other audio source such as radio and starts playing musics from the phone soon after car being started.

I think BT audio connect works best if your intention is only to listen to music and it does display songs on the playlists via HUD as well. Also you can store the BT audio source in one of the physical buttons to make switch sources easier.
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      07-29-2019, 12:37 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kalien34 View Post
What hiccup exactly are you referring to? On my F36 It's a known issue that Carplay tends to overtake other audio source such as radio and starts playing musics from the phone soon after car being started.

I think BT audio connect works best if your intention is only to listen to music and it does display songs on the playlists via HUD as well. Also you can store the BT audio source in one of the physical buttons to make switch sources easier.
Sometimes, when I launch CarPlay and go to Spotify, the music plays locally on the iPhone and not over the car stereo. Just happens occasionally. Also, sometimes when I receive a call, and pickup - it also local on the phone. Again, just occasionally.

I am connecting with BT, WiFi and have been experiencing adding or just using usb.
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      07-29-2019, 12:42 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Serottab1kr View Post
Sometimes, when I launch CarPlay and go to Spotify, the music plays locally on the iPhone and not over the car stereo. Just happens occasionally. Also, sometimes when I receive a call, and pickup - it also local on the phone. Again, just occasionally.

I am connecting with BT, WiFi and have been experiencing adding or just using usb.
With BT connection being so mature these days, there's really no reason to use USB any more... The audio quality might arguably be slight better than BT but still... To me BT works almost perfectly, and with the weird issues that BMW's Carplay has I simply disabled it.
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      07-29-2019, 01:07 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kalien34 View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serottab1kr View Post
Sometimes, when I launch CarPlay and go to Spotify, the music plays locally on the iPhone and not over the car stereo. Just happens occasionally. Also, sometimes when I receive a call, and pickup - it also local on the phone. Again, just occasionally.

I am connecting with BT, WiFi and have been experiencing adding or just using usb.
With BT connection being so mature these days, there's really no reason to use USB any more... The audio quality might arguably be slight better than BT but still... To me BT works almost perfectly, and with the weird issues that BMW's Carplay has I simply disabled it.
Do you have control over Spotify from the idrive when not using CarPlay?
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      07-30-2019, 09:12 AM   #6
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Do you have control over Spotify from the idrive when not using CarPlay?
Depends on what kind of control you are referring to... Next/last song can be achieved of course, but you won't be able to navigate through different playlists in the app.
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      07-30-2019, 01:39 PM   #7
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I can access Spotify through iDrive, but you have to manually launch Spotify through your phone or if you already have it opened it does run sometimes.

I do like seeing the lists in the HUD and cockpit display. But, you can access Spotify playlist details on the dash.

Just was wondering if anyone else had spent time on it.
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      08-01-2019, 11:58 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Serottab1kr View Post
I can access Spotify through iDrive, but you have to manually launch Spotify through your phone or if you already have it opened it does run sometimes.

I do like seeing the lists in the HUD and cockpit display. But, you can access Spotify playlist details on the dash.

Just was wondering if anyone else had spent time on it.
I haven't been able to get the lists to show as the previous user posted I thought they removed this functionality?
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      08-04-2019, 02:58 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kohlzor View Post
I haven't been able to get the lists to show as the previous user posted I thought they removed this functionality?
Since couple of days, spotify is fully integrated into iDrive as part of connected music app.
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      08-05-2019, 06:31 PM   #10
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Quote:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kohlzor View Post
I haven't been able to get the lists to show as the previous user posted I thought they removed this functionality?
Since couple of days, spotify is fully integrated into iDrive as part of connected music app.
Maybe i need to get a software update.
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      08-09-2019, 07:57 AM   #11
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Interestingly Spotify is shown as separate entry in the media sources next to the connected music and if I log on onto connected music provides such us Deezer it Spotify entry disappears from the list of media sources. To get it back I need to logout from the connected musing and Spotify is back on the list and can be used.
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      08-09-2019, 11:11 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sashkavas View Post
Interestingly Spotify is shown as separate entry in the media sources next to the connected music and if I log on onto connected music provides such us Deezer it Spotify entry disappears from the list of media sources. To get it back I need to logout from the connected musing and Spotify is back on the list and can be used.
When you say "connected music" do you mean selecting Bluetooth audio? For example your phone name?
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      08-10-2019, 12:05 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kohlzor View Post
When you say "connected music" do you mean selecting Bluetooth audio? For example your phone name?

No -
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      08-10-2019, 10:24 PM   #14
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Garage List
We do not have Connected Music in the US market (for those wondering.)
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      08-11-2019, 01:47 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mzdial View Post
We do not have Connected Music in the US market (for those wondering.)
Useful clarification- thanks.
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