Mcfancy14

I think this was discussed before but no solution? Has mbux or android os figured a way so you can get a proper full screen ? There were some YouTube videos but seemed to be pre mbux?

kvelez

It is probably not on the list of priorities for their software engineers as they have something the works albeit the partial screen issue.

zengshengliu

This is most likely a limitation of the first gen MBUX system. If you have the traffic light camera view, you can see that the space utilized by the camera video is the same size and location as the Android Auto or Car Play. This is most likely the designated area where "external" (anything that is not part of the standard MBUX) video stream can be play.

aswoff

It isn't fixed, it is in MB control, and they should push an update. BMW figured out how to do it, the new Android Auto looks amazing taking up the full widescreen. They can overlay the MBUX buttons or move them to a small bar at the bottom like other manufacturers do. MB, your system will never be as good as Google so embrace what your customers want and make the change please!

PandaSPUR

Its fixed in MBUX 2.0 which the 2024 GLEs have. MB just doesn't seem to care to update the aging MBUX 1.0.

aswoff

That's good to hear. It means they are capable of fixing it, so I hope they do.

mikapen

I trust MB's use of HERE more than Google Maps or Waze. Combined with HERE's ability to use What3Words and Car2X, those Google programs are being left in the dust.

HERE is the source that agencies and mapping companies provide the largest and most current dataset to. Road closures, speed limits, construction zones - HERE is more current than Google.
I see Goog'Waze as temporary solutions unless they change their strategy.

The 2024 MB models will have a newer HERE interface, further distancing HERE from Google.

The audio quality of wireless Carplay has improved with the arrival of the latest Bluetooth codecs. It approaches the quality of wired no so one of the disadvantages has been conquered.

BTW BMW will charge for Wireless Carplay after the first three years, as another Subscription.

PandaSPUR

I don't think anything will beat the crowd sourced data of Waze, at least in metropolitan areas. Maybe if you're in rural areas and theres only a handful of drivers using waze at a time, then these subscriptions will be more accurate.

Also not sure where you heard BMW will charge a subscription for carplay. At worst it's a one time upgrade/unlock fee if the car didnt come standard with it.

mikapen

The Car2X supplies more data than crowdsourcing. One of the inputs (the X in Car2X) is the little magnetic strips placed in the pavement, reporting all cars to the traffic monitors/management systems, who simultaneously supply the data to HERE. Also traffic cams etc.
Lots more data with better specificity than the movement of phones from tower to tower. Metro areas are even more concentrated.

So the cars with and without Google are counted, delays are actual, not "as reported" by customers, and the data is immediate, not with the sometimes 30 minute delays seen by Waze.

Google is trying new formats and interfaces, and just retired another Waze platform to catch up. Maybe they can, but HERE is ahead. WAY ahead in the Rest of the World. Users are higher for Google in the US, but the tech is old.
I think all Euro manufacturers use HERE, since it's owned by a Euro consortium (and better).

PandaSPUR

I've never heard about HERE until now, it must be a bigger thing in Europe I guess?

You also have to realize that Google isnt reliant on ONLY crowd sourced info. They gather data provided by local departments of transportation too.
And for the crowd sourced portion, any phone with google maps installed and location services enabled will provide data to Google. You don't have to have Google Maps running (depending on the location services/permissions you set on your phone).

I'll give the MB Nav a try while its free, if I get the GLE, but ultimately I don't think I would want to be without the real-time alerts that Waze has (police, cars stopped on the shoulder, potholes, etc)

mikapen

I believe Google gets their data from HERE, since it's the clearing house.
And as we see in the Moscow Murder case, cell tower pings aren't reliable. They can only approximate withing a wide area, not the left lane at MP 122.

Mercedes has been using HERE since 2016. This is a list of Manufacturers who use HERE for Nav and Maps. https://here.navigation.com/home/en_US/HERENA/USD

No, it doesn't report potholes, but I'm not following another "user reported" re-route into a dirt road traffic jam while I watch the traffic flow past a non-incident on the road I just left.

Waze has been trying to find a way to have their erroneous reporting expire so it doesn't misdirect motorists as much. I think there's a 30 minute limit now, then the error expires unless reinforced by another user. It's still a flaw.

Next year you will be able to enter the exact trailer dimensions in the "map" menu. Previously you were only able to select a generic trailer. And of course, avoid tolls, tunnels, gravel, more.
Currently you can even select the number of occupants the Express Lanes require for free access, so it navigates you to those lanes if you qualify, or away if you don't.

Maybe Google's AI will be able to predict when that "car stopped on the shoulder" will leave, because the Original Alert-er has left the area.

mb2be

Where did you hear this crap from?
The higher audio quality is not from Bluetooth but WiFi.

I fixed it for you. Still looks like **** to me.

PandaSPUR

If Google also gets data from HERE, then how is HERE alone better?

Also FYI Waze and Google wont re-route you based on user reported hazards (unless its a road closure and waze actually sees that no one is going down that road).
Its just alerts that give you a heads up so you can look out for a potential hazard and drive accordingly.

Fair, still really stupid to have a bar of wasted space just for the MBUX home button, but waaay better than before.

mikapen

Car and driver, Road and track and motor trend. Subscription after the first three free years. 24 model year I think.

Bluetooth is not Wi-Fi. BT has new codecs allowing higher bit rate. Carplay uses Bluetooth.

mb2be

Are you talking about this? I don't know if it's accurate because I have a 21 and I haven't been asked to pay for subscription. I just looked at my spec sheet and it says "CarPlayAndroid Auto Compatibility Included." I haven't seen such complaint on bimmerpost either. I do see about connected services being expired but not CarPlay itself. CarPlay, as it works in BMW (wirelessly), will need both BT and WiFi for it to work. BT will provide the handshake but WiFi will take over. This is how audio is transmitted and thus it's higher quality than BT itself. It's almost as good as wired connection. But as you mentioned, BT codecs have improved a lot.

PandaSPUR

BMW Australia lets people see the prices of subscriptions and options without logging in (unlike BMW US), its a one-time fee of $300: https://www.bmw.com/en-au/shop/ls/dp/Base_CarPlay_au

Carplay only uses Bluetooth for the initial pairing process. Wi-Fi is used for all actual data.

mikapen

Your link is 2019 information. The $300 one time fee was dropped for USA in 2020 I think, but I see your Aussie page is 2023.

​​​​​​I don't know about WiFi in BMWs. I don't have WiFi in the GLE and my Android Auto works fine.
I'll disable BT and see if it works as you say. I'll also disable WiFi and check both avenues.

I automatically connect to the car via BT when I enter (if I enable the. BT setting) and it bypasses AA. I think.
However it works, all my streaming apps and music stored on the phone work without AA. They don't without BT, and I don't think it's just a handshake.

Let the investigation begin!

I'll see if I can find my sources, but they appeared during / right after the recent CES show.
I guess it's appropriate now to introduce new cars at an Electronics show, instead of an Auto show.

PandaSPUR

It's not dependent on the car, Bluetooth for pairing and initial negotiation, then Wi-Fi for actual data transfer is how AA and Car Play both work.
Its a direct peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection, its not related to your car having a Wi-Fi hotspot or not.

EDIT: And yes, BMW got enough blowback in the US that it dropped a lot of these subscriptions and one-time fee upgrades. In the US they seem to only be doing it for new features going forward (like Iconic Sound for EVs) that were never offered as a option during purchases. It seems they did not get as much complaints from their customer base in Australia, so that Australia BMW site is basically an idea of what the worst case scenario might be.

Wolfman

Just confirming that wireless CarPlay uses Wifi (internal network) to stream Audio, not Bluetooth. It does handle lossless Audio, but only up to 16bit/48Khz

PandaSPUR

Actually I just realized something. mikapen's 2020 GLE is wired AA/Carplay only, so yes in that case it is correct that it doesnt use wifi at all.

With phone connected via BT and not wired AA, then audio will stream over BT and quality will depend on the codec that is supported by both the phone and the car.
With phone connected via BT and wired AA, audio will stream via the USB connection if you're playing music from an app within AA.
If connected with BT and wired AA, but youre not in the AA interface (i.e. playing music through MBUX directly) then I think that is when audio is streamed over BT.

The quality of the audio stream is another confusing mess. Supporting BT 5.2 or whatever version isn't the only consideration. Both the phone and the car have to support the same audio codec for you to get higher quality music.
SBC is the lowest quality and most universally accepted codec.
AptX is the next step up, and is pretty common in modern devices. There are also more advanced variants like AptX Low Latency, HD, and Adaptive, but those are less common.
LDAC is a codec by Sony that is closest to lossless quality and is used by non-Sony devices too

Then there are more proprietary codecs, like Apple's AAC and Samsung's SSC that are only used by each brand's own devices.

I have no idea which codecs GLEs support.

mikapen

Well, I feel really stupid after realizing yesterday that I was talking about my wired connection, forgetting that I don't have wireless!

So although we were having the same conversation, we were talking about different things.

The only thing I was correct about was the way my Bluetooth works, which is the way I usually access my streaming and stored playlists. To me, BT is superior Android auto in almost every way.

BTW I'm pretty sure that MBUX began supporting BT5.2 with last fall's major OTA update. Before that, the sound quality was noticably poor. My 2020 GLEs BT was the old codec, with poor sound. Big difference, because I used wired Android auto to get acceptable sound before the update on my 21 53.
​​​​
​​​​​​It's been a really long time since I've plugged my phone in and used AAuto, since I think Google Maps / Waze are falling behind MB's "HERE."
I'm really tired of being rerouted to the wrong place, and alerted every time I approached a railroad crossing.

So, for my use, not liking aa's apps and preferring my saved music library over streaming, AA is virtually worthless.

I guess, under the Use it or Lose it principle, I lost it! AA that is....

Wolfman

I can't speak to AA but in the wired version of CarPlay Bluetooth is not used for audio. It's actually using LPCM via USB->IP->Comm Plugin->Audio

Wired or wireless, the other variable is the streaming of lossless audio via cellular networks. Lots of data needed and for that reason there is no support for hi-res lossless.

wildta

Google Maps and Waze are tracking cars by GPS coordinates and not cell towers. Those coordinates are relayed to their servers where I'm sure algorithms are processing those bits of info to determine green, yellow, orange, or red traffic speeds. Just want to mention that the traffic and rerouting is pretty accurate because of this.

I don't have much experience with Here but I always welcome a competitor because that's how we get better products in the end. Where would Mercedes be without a BMW competitor?

mikapen

BMW and Mercedes were in the Euro consortium that started HERE, and they've been using it since the mid teens. Now almost all manufacturers Worldwide use it. See my link above.

I just thought that Google didn't have much GPS info and relied on AI to approximate. They're #1 in AI. Thanks for the clarification.
​​​​​​
HERE uses Car2X, which receives data from adjacent cars, but more from (Fed required) traffic sensing devices like the pavement-embedded strips.

Just to compare, last year I dash-mounted my phone with Waze, while watching HERE on the car NAV.
WAZE was inaccurate about traffic jams that I could see in the distance, while HERE seemed to react in about a minute or five. WAZE seemed oblivious.
I did that for a week, one of the reasons i stopped using AA.

IMO AA or Carplay would be good if the navigator operates it. Not the driver in traffic or on interesting roads. I'm the driver.

But after following these threads for a while, I can see why Wireless, and to a lesser extent Full Screen, makes a huge difference.
Depending on the car interface, I might actually use it!

Wolfman

Can you elaborate? Not sure I understand...