BMW rolls out four new apps for integration with Apple's iOS
BMW on Wednesday announced four new BMW Approved apps for Apple's iPhone, bringing owners of both items a range of new music and connectivity options.
The newest BMW Approved Apps are Audible, Glympse, Rhapsody, and TuneIn. Audible, from Amazon, allows users to play downloadable audio books and other spoken-word content through their iOS devices. Users of the app have access to Audible's massive audiobook library.
Glympse is a location-sharing app that leverages the iPhone's GPS capabilities to let others know where a user is when en route to a place. The app can share locations to other Glympse users, using the phone's existing contact list, or to a user's social media feed.
Rhapsody is a premium, ad-free, on-demand music service. The service counts more than one million subscribers, all of whom can listen to more than 16 million tracks on their connected devices. With BMW integration, the app will allow users to control music with the vehicle's built-in controls. The app's music discovery tools have also been reworked in order to take advantage of in-car use capabilities.
TuneIn is an Internet radio app allowing users to listen to music, sports, talk, and news from more than 70,000 AM, FM, HD, and Internet radio stations around the globe. As with Rhapsody, the TuneIn app has been specialized to take advantage of the infotainment controls built into BMWs.
BMWs from model year 2011 forward can have the BMW apps option built in, allowing them to connect to a user's iPhone by USB cable or using a snap-in adapter. Once connected, the iPhone can be controlled using the vehicle's iDrive controller, steering wheel buttons, and on-board monitor.
The newest BMW Approved Apps are Audible, Glympse, Rhapsody, and TuneIn. Audible, from Amazon, allows users to play downloadable audio books and other spoken-word content through their iOS devices. Users of the app have access to Audible's massive audiobook library.
Glympse is a location-sharing app that leverages the iPhone's GPS capabilities to let others know where a user is when en route to a place. The app can share locations to other Glympse users, using the phone's existing contact list, or to a user's social media feed.
Rhapsody is a premium, ad-free, on-demand music service. The service counts more than one million subscribers, all of whom can listen to more than 16 million tracks on their connected devices. With BMW integration, the app will allow users to control music with the vehicle's built-in controls. The app's music discovery tools have also been reworked in order to take advantage of in-car use capabilities.
TuneIn is an Internet radio app allowing users to listen to music, sports, talk, and news from more than 70,000 AM, FM, HD, and Internet radio stations around the globe. As with Rhapsody, the TuneIn app has been specialized to take advantage of the infotainment controls built into BMWs.
BMWs from model year 2011 forward can have the BMW apps option built in, allowing them to connect to a user's iPhone by USB cable or using a snap-in adapter. Once connected, the iPhone can be controlled using the vehicle's iDrive controller, steering wheel buttons, and on-board monitor.
Comments
Looking at Glympse, I used to be a big fan when it came out a couple of years back. However I hadn't touched it for ages until Navigon came out with Glympse integration. Great idea, but terrible implementation. I couldn't get the blessed thing to send a Glympse, for love nor money. Admittedly, this was while stuck in heavy traffic, but the interface has become extremely unintuitive in my opinion.
Yawn.
When Siri is fully integrated with key connectivity functions -- phone calls, texts, emails, location-based queries, internet searches, and most importantly navigation -- let us know, BMW.
It would also be nice to be able to control all my music from my iPad/iPhone/iPod via Siri-based voice commands; photo streaming may not be a bad option either (although that would be for the passengers, not the driver while driving).....
I'm not a native English speaker, but it somehow bugs me to put a 2mx1m (or something) machine on the same foot as a device that's measured in centimeters...
Quote:
Originally Posted by alphafox
What's the point. Just give me screen mirroring on the LCD and call it a day. The apps already work on the phone, why reinvent them on the BMW screen??
Because you need to be able to control the stuff with the iDrive wheel? How are you supposed to use a touch based app with a scroll wheel? And you don't want people looking down at the screen of the phone to look at stuff.
Cars like mine with the BMW Apps option also support the iPod Out feature (which gives you the iPod classic interface on the cars screen, picture of it here: http://www.engadget.com/gallery/bmw-and-mini-get-ipod-out/3155253/) but BMW makes it so it only works if you buy their $500 dollar cradle for it when it would work perfectly fine over a lightning or 30 pin dock connector that plugs in to the USB port to play music the normal way. And BMW is always about 8 to 12 months behind developing the cradle or whatever the latest model iPhone is, which doesn't work for people like me that get a new iPhone every year.
Yeah... I think BMW jumped the gun with the proprietary connectedDrive Apps.
It's OK but not very smooth. I think Apple will come out with a much better universal integration method for iOS.
Quote:
Originally Posted by payeco
Because you need to be able to control the stuff with the iDrive wheel? How are you supposed to use a touch based app with a scroll wheel? And you don't want people looking down at the screen of the phone to look at stuff.
I think he is making a very good suggestion of scrapping the idrive wheel/controller disaster, and instead having a larger touch screen mirroring the phone... so you use the touch screen just like you already know how to use your phone.
Using the idrive wheel or a MB controller jobby, you STILL need to look at the screen rather than the road ahead.... and by being unintuitive and generally rubbish, you have to spend longer looking at the screen rather than having a GOOD touch screen or even old fashioned big buttons/knobs to press to get your radio station one or two etc etc, or a big volume knob you can reach and use without even looking at (fortunately air con /heating controls still have their own knobs and dials.... think it would be a good idea to integrate those in to the idrive malrkey just to get rid of some buttons?).
Quote:
Originally Posted by cjcoops
I think he is making a very good suggestion of scrapping the idrive wheel/controller disaster, and instead having a larger touch screen mirroring the phone... so you use the touch screen just like you already know how to use your phone.
Using the idrive wheel or a MB controller jobby, you STILL need to look at the screen rather than the road ahead.... and by being unintuitive and generally rubbish, you have to spend longer looking at the screen rather than having a GOOD touch screen or even old fashioned big buttons/knobs to press to get your radio station one or two etc etc, or a big volume knob you can reach and use without even looking at (fortunately air con /heating controls still have their own knobs and dials.... think it would be a good idea to integrate those in to the idrive malrkey just to get rid of some buttons?).
While it's not perfect I actually like the iDrive system. As far as taking your eyes off the road, in my BMW at least the screen sits on top of the dash so your eyes are still at road level. Look at photo 5 in the slideshow in this review of my car to see what I mean. I think that is the optimal place to position the screen to allow you to keep your eyes on the road while operating it, but it is too far away to be operated by hand were it touch screen. I think the iDrive system is the best compromise. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904199404576538741991133766.html