[qballis]

For Apple devices at least, download the latest version 2.0.0 of Spotify from the AppStore, plug into USB of Tech package cars, and select Spotify from the list of Media Source.

We now have FULL control of Spotify! Radio Stations, Playlists, Browse All, etc.

My god it took them long enough, but the half hour or so I used it during lunch seems like the definitely did it right!

When you open the app now though, this appears and doesn't let you control it any longer from the iDevice:



EDIT: You need to select this option to get all the features (also may need to have the BMW Connected Drive app installed:

[bmxcamel]

thought the day would never come. Car is at the dealer but will test when I get it back tonight.

[markm92]

Does it work off the mobiles data allowance or the BMW built-in 3G?

[qballis]

Originally Posted by MarkMcG92

Does it work off the mobiles data allowance or the BMW built-in 3G?

Mobile's data allowance. However if you make playlists then set them to sync over wifi and play offline, you won't use any data.

[MG 228i]

The reason why I won't get off my grandfathered unlimited data plan...

[snodgrass23]

I just sync most of my playlists over wifi so I don't worry about mobile data usage.

I just took a drive an tried this out. You need to be plugged in to the USB for it to work, I didn't see any changes when connected via bluetooth. Even plugged in, it doesn't know what song is playing most of the time. It's better than it was, it doesn't just get stuck on the first song. It usually shows no song info, then every once in a while a song's info and album art will show up.

[qballis]

Originally Posted by snodgrass23

I just sync most of my playlists over wifi so I don't worry about mobile data usage.

I just took a drive an tried this out. You need to be plugged in to the USB for it to work, I didn't see any changes when connected via bluetooth. Even plugged in, it doesn't know what song is playing most of the time. It's better than it was, it doesn't just get stuck on the first song. It usually shows no song info, then every once in a while a song's info and album art will show up.

You probably aren't in the "Connected Drive" version of Spotify then...

You need to first select multimedia:

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Then Select the Spotify icon:

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Then you get all sorts of options, like Browse:

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Using it this way, album art does show up correctly.

[snodgrass23]

I was in the connected version. It had the logo and everything and I could browse playlists, etc. It's a huge improvement. I just saw the inconsistency with the album art and song info. This was over 30 minute drive.

[qballis]

After more use I noticed the following:

-Album art changes correctly every time
-Search function is not available via idrive
-Spotify app has to be open and running the whole time. This means you cannot lock your phone or exit the app (even though it's still running in the background).

[MrBucket]

I hope they do something like this for Google Music.

[snodgrass23]

Alright, I just went out and played with is some more. I found that if you do the exact steps qballis mentions it works great. The piece that seems to throw weird behavior into the mix is if you use the BMW Connected app.

If you use the connected app, you can see the Spotify app now under "more applications" in the media section of iDrive. Going to it this way leads to seemingly random behavior in my short experience testing it. While earlier I was able to get the interface to work right, but missed a lot of the artwork, this time I couldn't even get the interface up, it basically acted like it used to with only skip forward and backward icons. At this point, unplugging device, turning car switch on and off (though not long enough for system to completely shut down) didn't seem to help. However, if I unplugged the device and manually shut down the spotify and connected apps on my phone, and then started just spotify and plugged it back in I was able to select the spotify app in iDrive and everything started working correctly.

[qballis]

Pretty much same experience here. Don't open connected drive. Just connect phone, then open spotify. Then select spotify in idrive and all should be good.

[w4termelon]

Hello,
Just tested tonight : yes it works when using BMW connected apps.. BUT !
I'm currently a user of Deezer (similar to Spotify, and I'm paying for it), it also has full support of BMW connected app (for a long time already). But most of the time, I'm simply using it in Bluetooth mode (without any cable or phone dock, as I have both of them) because it is easier to use when listening to music for a short trip. In fact, when using BMW connected, you have to unlock your phone, open your music app, connect it to the vehicle (usb cable or phone cradle), and then you can't use it anymore (yeah I know we should not use a phone while driving, but I still want to use it when parked right ?). It also takes time to load (sometimes the app is not detected or you have to click it again in I drive to load). On the other hand, with Bluetooth, you have nothing to do : as soon as you get in your car, it resumes the last music app used and start playing the songs you were listening to. Of course you don't have full control of the app (only next/previous), but this is already enough when I'm having short trip (don't want to plug / unplug my phone when I'm driving for 5minutes..).

So deezer has a correct Bluetooth support (it shows correct album art, song name, etc. when clicking next), but this is still incorrect on spotify.. Why did they do the job half ??

[Oyinko]

I bought today an iPod Touch to run Spotify with my BWM and to have it always in my car connected to the USB.

It works well beside 1 thing:

• You have to power on the Spotify app on the iPod every time you come into the car

The alternative would be to never shutdown the iPod but I would need a source of power. Do you know if it's possible to always have power on the USB media port even if the car is locked?

[qballis]

Hopefully this get some visibility as I've noticed when playing music through the spotify idrive app, the music quality is dramatically decreased.

When I switch to USB device (iPhone) the quality of the music increases dramatically.

What the hell is going on here?