[BigKutta]

Hello all. Yep I'm a little late to the Carplay party because frankly I dont do anything but drive in the M2, but saw that the screen was only half full, even when I turned off split screen. is this what some of you have coded out? If so, can you share the steps (via Bimmercode). Thanks!

[Poochie]

It's not something that can be easily done via regular coding.

There is a "patch" that needs to be added through the USB port that allows for fullscreen CarPlay. There are a couple of vendors here like kubax86 that does it for I believe like $65.

Also, depending on the current version of software in your vehicle, it still might need to be updated before the fullscreen CarPlay patch could be utilized. Only the latest software revision (2020+) allows for this option.


Full screen Apple carplay https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1723880

[ASAP]

Had it done by Kubax... minutes worth of work and very well worth it.

[TheoIam]

Originally Posted by ASAP

Had it done by Kubax... minutes worth of work and very well worth it.

Same. Great experience. Worth it.

[BigKutta]

Thanks all, but i cant help but wonder what BMW was thinking in the first place. Like how does a half screen make any sense?!?!? It looks so dumb. I'm sure someone will come along with a real explanation

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by BigKutta

Thanks all, but i cant help but wonder what BMW was thinking in the first place. Like how does a half screen make any sense?!?!? It looks so dumb. I'm sure someone will come along with a real explanation

I guess they had a reckoning because all the new BMWs have fullscreen CarPlay, standard. It was only from 2017-2019 model years which had the split screen interface.

I originally assumed it was for safety reasons, so the driver wouldn't be fixated/distracted by a larger CarPlay screen image but when full screen became standard, I scraped that notion. I now believe it was just an afterthought that wasn't widely accepted.

BTW, my vehicle is a 2016 MY, which doesn't have a CarPlay option and there is no love lost. I could take it or leave it.

I totally hate how CarPlay takes over control of your entire phone, where you no longer have the ability to text and drive or post this message. Very unsafe for my social life

[ESB]

Originally Posted by BigKutta

Thanks all, but i cant help but wonder what BMW was thinking in the first place. Like how does a half screen make any sense?!?!? It looks so dumb. I'm sure someone will come along with a real explanation

I just recently applied fullscreen carplay and overall I like it more. But admittedly some of the touch targets are harder to reach (further away) than when it's split. It's such a minor thing but it's slightly harder now. I also sometimes find myself missing the ability to glance at the non-carplay section to see what song is currently playing whereas now it requires app switching.

[Uscray]

Originally Posted by Poochie

I totally hate how CarPlay takes over control of your entire phone, where you no longer have the ability to text and drive or post this message. Very unsafe for my social life

Maybe BMW is different, but my Apple CarPlay on my work Camry still allows me to text or do any other function with my phone. I can report back about how it works when my new M2C arrives.

[KevinC]

Originally Posted by BigKutta

Thanks all, but i cant help but wonder what BMW was thinking in the first place. Like how does a half screen make any sense?!?!? It looks so dumb. I'm sure someone will come along with a real explanation

I suspect that they just couldn't support the widescreen aspect ratio without stretching the image, which of course would have looked like crap and nobody would have wanted it. Why it took so long to adapt it to the 8.8" format is a mystery.

Those of us with late build '21's have it from the factory.

[BigKutta]

Any tips on switching quickly between Carplay and just BT mode (not Carplay)? I cant switch without RFTM!!!! I may program a softswitch just for that

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by BigKutta

Any tips on switching quickly between Carplay and just BT mode (not Carplay)? I cant switch without RFTM!!!! I may program a softswitch just for that

The BMW vehicles I've used CarPlay on has been a total annoyance when it came to switching between regular Bluetooth and CarPlay.

Like for instance, sometimes it would just take an interminably long time to re-establish the Bluetooth connection or it would never re-establish it at all. My phone would indicate it's connected to the car, but the car wouldn't respond in kind.

Inconsistent behavior and an inability to connect my iPhone 11 Pro without deleting and re-connecting via Bluetooth. A brand new 330i also froze my iPhone, forcing a hard restart.

Then sometimes randomly, the iDrive would start navigating itself without any of my commands. This includes going back and forth and also confirming on selections. Often, it starts when my CarPlay is engaged.

This makes it impossible to take control of my phone as well as the car. It would go back and forth so quick that I can't even pull up my phone's camera to take a video or turn off the wifi/bluetooth.

I would have to turn on airplane mode to regain control of my phone, the car itself with CarPlay disconnected would keep on freaking out selecting different things and going into different menus. I just turn down the volume until I can get somewhere safe to turn off the car and restart it to fix the issue.

If CarPlay wasn't free, I would never, ever select it on a new BMW. I'm totally fine controlling and listing to my gansta rap on the native iDrive Spotify interface and keep my phone free from that blighted CarPlay feature.

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by Uscray

Maybe BMW is different, but my Apple CarPlay on my work Camry still allows me to text or do any other function with my phone. I can report back about how it works when my new M2C arrives.

It is totally different on BMWs, where it is not hard wired but instead uses the vehicle's Bluetooth/WiFI connection to communicate.

That might sound really cool in theory but in practice, it can be a total nightmare to operate (see my previous comment).

But I really don't want to discourage you, as you'll eventually experience and make your own assessment.

[Uscray]

Originally Posted by Poochie

It is totally different on BMWs, where it is not hard wired but instead uses the vehicle's Bluetooth/WiFI connection to communicate.

That might sound really cool in theory but in practice, it can be a total nightmare to operate (see my previous comment).

But I really don't want to discourage you, as you'll eventually experience and make your own assessment.

Well this is just a weekend play car so I will probably not use it very much.

[BigKutta]

Originally Posted by Poochie

The BMW vehicles I've used CarPlay on has been a total annoyance when it came to switching between regular Bluetooth and CarPlay.

Like for instance, sometimes it would just take an interminably long time to re-establish the Bluetooth connection or it would never re-establish it at all. My phone would indicate it's connected to the car, but the car wouldn't respond in kind.

Inconsistent behavior and an inability to connect his iPhone 11 Pro without deleting and re-connecting via Bluetooth. A brand new 330i also froze my iPhone, forcing a hard restart.

Then sometimes randomly, the iDrive would start navigating itself without any of my commands. This includes going back and forth and also confirming on selections. Often, it starts when my CarPlay is engaged.

This makes it impossible to take control of my phone as well as the car. It would go back and forth so quick that I can't even pull up my phone's camera to take a video or turn off the wifi/bluetooth.

I would have to turn on airplane mode to regain control of my phone, the car itself with CarPlay disconnected would keep on freaking out selecting different things and going into different menus. I just turn down the volume until I can get somewhere safe to turn off the car and restart it to fix the issue.

If CarPlay wasn't free, I would never, ever select it on a new BMW. I'm totally fine controlling and listing to my gansta rap on the native iDrive Spotify interface and keep my phone free from that blighted CarPlay feature.

This was my feeling exactly when I first got the M2. And the same reason for asking my question above. I connected via Carplay yesterday because my daughter was driving my car and, you know, its uncool to not have carplay up. Now its pissing me off and I cant go back to my old BT ways without spending an hour in the car. Oh well

[KevinC]

Originally Posted by Poochie

If CarPlay wasn't free, I would never, ever select it on a new BMW. I'm totally fine controlling and listing to my gansta rap on the native iDrive Spotify interface and keep my phone free from that blighted CarPlay feature.

That "native" Spotify interface is no longer native - it's running from the app on your phone. Don't believe it? Delete the Spotify app on your phone and poof, you no longer have it via iDrive.

[KevinC]

Originally Posted by BigKutta

Now its pissing me off and I cant go back to my old BT ways without spending an hour in the car. Oh well

It's a few clicks with the iDrive controller and you can unselect CarPlay quite easily. More trouble than I'd want to be doing all the time, yes, but hardly a major chore either.

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by KevinC

That "native" Spotify interface is no longer native - it's running from the app on your phone. Don't believe it? Delete the Spotify app on your phone and poof, you no longer have it via iDrive.

I'm fully aware of how the system works; BMW has an agreement with Spotify to allow usage of a bespoke "widget" in the vehicle's interface.

When the iDrive system detects that one has the Spotify app installed in their phone, it uses the telematics data in the vehicle to "whitelist" and upload usage of the unique Spotify widget. Same applies for many other widgets BMW designed and are agreement with, such as Audible and Pandora.

So maybe I was being a little too liberal by referring to the Spotify widget as 'native' but the fact is, BMW and Spotify is contracted, so in a way, it kind of is.

[BigKutta]

Originally Posted by KevinC

It's a few clicks with the iDrive controller and you can unselect CarPlay quite easily. More trouble than I'd want to be doing all the time, yes, but hardly a major chore either.

Yep, there it is. I need to see if I can program these to the soft switches

[ESB]

Originally Posted by BigKutta

Yep, there it is. I need to see if I can program these to the soft switches

Curious but why do you want to (often?) switch between carplay and Bluetooth?

Anyways the way I do it is once in carplay:

1. Press the topmost button under the dial (I think it's called menu). This drops you away from carplay and back into iDrive
2. Go to second tile. I think it's called Communication or something like that
3. Go to manage mobile devices. About 3-4 rows down from the top
4. Select the phone
5. Here is where you choose carplay vs Bluetooth

Sounds complicated but relatively simple once you learn (I guess you could say that for anything complex, lol)

Sooo needing to do it once in a while isn't a problem for me. But yeah I just haven't found myself needing to toggle carplay on/off frequently.

[BigKutta]

Originally Posted by BigKutta

Yep, there it is. I need to see if I can program these to the soft switches

Originally Posted by ESB

Curious but why do you want to (often?) switch between carplay and Bluetooth?

Anyways the way I do it is once in carplay:

1. Press the topmost button under the dial (I think it's called menu). This drops you away from carplay and back into iDrive
2. Go to second tile. I think it's called Communication or something like that
3. Go to manage mobile devices. About 3-4 rows down from the top
4. Select the phone
5. Here is where you choose carplay vs Bluetooth

Sounds complicated but relatively simple once you learn (I guess you could say that for anything complex, lol)

Sooo needing to do it once in a while isn't a problem for me. But yeah I just haven't found myself needing to toggle carplay on/off frequently.

Well, there isnt a way to program the soft switches with it. Oh well

ESB - You are correct, its not that hard to toggle once you get used to it. I have only used it a couple of times so didnt remember. I'm still baffled by the half screen

[KevinC]

Originally Posted by Poochie

I'm fully aware of how the system works; BMW has an agreement with Spotify to allow usage of a bespoke "widget" in the vehicle's interface.

You posted idrive 7 info. Doesn’t even remotely resemble id6 in our cars. Not saying your widget statement is wrong, but those links just don’t apply to our cars.

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by KevinC

You posted idrive 7 info. Doesn't even remotely resemble id6 in our cars. Not saying your widget statement is wrong, but those links just don't apply to our cars.

Wow, you're working overtime there to prove me wrong.. Good luck with all that..

Anyways, I was aware of what I posted and I know G20 runs on iDrive 7. The point of the video and post is to support the fact that Spotify and BMW has a symbiotic business relationship. I figure you would pick that up in context without it explicitly being stated.

On iDrive 7, you don't even need to use your phone or its data to utilize the Spotify widget. You simply log in your Spotify user name + password and it then uses the vehicle's in-car WIFI connection data to stream music. No cell personal needed but data charges might apply.

So, yes, there are some significant differences between iDrive 6 & 7..