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Technical Topics iDrive, Nav, Phone, Audio, Video, Cameras, Electronics Constantly switching my iPhone connection mode

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      05-14-2020, 09:14 AM   #1
hottroc
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Constantly switching my iPhone connection mode

So is it just me? I have to keep switching connection modes for my iPhone between Carplay mode and iDrive mode.

In iDrive I can receive, view and read out text messages but not send them.
In Carplay mode I can send text messages (via Siri) but not view the received ones nor read them out.
Then if I'm in Carplay mode and say Hello BMW, call "person" it tells me I can't while the phone is in Carplay mode, so I have to switch to iDrive mode. But then I want to change back to Carplay mode for the Carplay features like Google Maps etc....

It goes on like this....

While I'm grateful to have all these features it does drive me slightly crazy. I wouldn't mind if I could just switch phone modes with a single button press but no, it won't let me do that with my memory buttons.
Don't suppose this is improved in the 03/2020 version?
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      05-14-2020, 10:18 AM   #2
Don76
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I can't seem to use "hey bmw" to access my contacts when I'm in CarPlay either. Most annoying.
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      05-15-2020, 06:00 AM   #3
SOOK_BMW
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"Hey BMW" will not work for CarPlay. BMW's personal assistant only works for phone-related commands when your bluetooth's connection mode is in "iDrive."

For voice activation while connected to CarPlay, you must use Siri.

It is worth noting that if you press the voice activation button on the steering wheel just once, it is the BMW's personal assistant. If you hold down the button, Siri will appear if connected to CarPlay.
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      05-15-2020, 06:40 AM   #4
hottroc
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SOOK_BMW View Post
"Hey BMW" will not work for CarPlay. BMW's personal assistant only works for phone-related commands when your bluetooth's connection mode is in "iDrive."
Yes this is exactly what we're complaining about.

Quote:
For voice activation while connected to CarPlay, you must use Siri.
...but if you stay in Carplay mode to use Siri you can't use other iDrive features, most annoying example being reading your text messages. So you end up swapping between the connection modes, which is a hassle.

WHY can't you be in Carplay but still say "Hey BMW" and get iDrive to work is the question?

Last edited by hottroc; 05-15-2020 at 09:34 AM..
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      05-15-2020, 09:38 AM   #5
Nichols623
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I mostly stay in Idrive due to my preference of the display and maps.

I don't believe my Idrive lets me view text messages? Am I missing something or a setting I left out?
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      05-15-2020, 10:00 AM   #6
hottroc
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nichols623 View Post
I don't believe my Idrive lets me view text messages? Am I missing something or a setting I left out?
You need Enhanced Bluetooth and on your phone Bluetooth settings "Allow notifications"

And then...

Quote:
I mostly stay in Idrive due to my preference of the display and maps.
...and then you'll want to be able to reply to the text messages you can view....which you can only do by switching to Carplay mode lol.
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      05-15-2020, 01:39 PM   #7
Don76
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SOOK_BMW View Post
"Hey BMW" will not work for CarPlay. BMW's personal assistant only works for phone-related commands when your bluetooth's connection mode is in "iDrive."

For voice activation while connected to CarPlay, you must use Siri.

It is worth noting that if you press the voice activation button on the steering wheel just once, it is the BMW's personal assistant. If you hold down the button, Siri will appear if connected to CarPlay.
Thanks for the info on the long press for Siri.
Learn something new everyday 👏
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      05-15-2020, 10:30 PM   #8
2020g20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hottroc View Post
Don't suppose this is improved in the 03/2020 version?
Nope, zero change there. Still just as maddening.
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      05-17-2020, 01:33 PM   #9
hottroc
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It's like the designers/engineers don't actually drive the cars themselves! Is there ANY way (coding?) this could be improved?
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      05-17-2020, 04:10 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hottroc View Post
Is there ANY way (coding?) this could be improved?
I'm guessing not even a remote chance. iDrive or Carplay exclusively controls phone/text and navigation functions. That is a fundamental characteristic of the system it would seem.
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      05-17-2020, 04:36 PM   #11
hottroc
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If they let us send text messages in iDrive that would fix things enough for me. We can access Contacts and read the texts so sending should be possible too, maybe via voice control.
Also the thing is the iDrive voice control does actually work in Carplay mode. It recognises its keyword, comes on and asks how it can help. Just then it tells me it can't make a call while in Carplay mode. It's like an artificial restriction or the programmers couldn't be bothered to work it out.
Alternatively if I could switch between the 2 modes with just a click of a memory button, I could cope with that too.
Not asking for much lol.
We can just hope that they improve this with an update sometime.
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