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Integration with BMW Motorrad Connect app

Hi... it would be great to integrate better with the BMW Motorrad Connected app.  I like to use its ride tracking and statistics features, as they include info about the bike (ABS/TC use, lean angle, etc). I have noticed that when I’m using Scenic, the BMW Connected app does not work. Or, strangely, it works sporadically! See attached. Here is my Scenic ride today...and here is what was recorded in the BMW app.

The app still thinks the motorcycle is way south of my home, at 78% fuel, when it’s sitting home with a full tank.

My connection is standard for this - phone and helmet connect to the BMW TFT display, as per the manual instructions. I need the phone to connect like this, for the BMW app to work, but something in the way Scenic works blocks it. Sometimes, as you can see. Whenever I can hear Scenic’s navigation talking to me, that’s when I think the BMW app is not connected. Strange.

Further info: See where my Scenic ride ended? That’s when I reached the highway and saved the ride.  I then shut down the iPhone screen, but not Scenic, and rode home. Still the BMW app remained blocked since its own checkered flag on the south coast.

When I do not use Scenic, my BMW app records fine. By the way, the BMW app offers some  Rever integration, such as a “save to Rever” feature.

It would be awesome to have some Scenic - BMW Connected integration, or at least no interference.

Vielen dank!

 

I don't believe this is a Scenic problem. It's impossible for one app to influence behaviour of other apps. This is a security measure enforced by Apple. I also doubt it is related to the connection with your BMW TFT display. What could be the reason though, is that the BMW Connect app does not have 'always' location access. If that's the case the BMW Connect app will only be able to track location when it's in the foreground.

Further integrating of the two apps... or better yet... have Scenic integrate directly with the BMW TFT display... would require BMW to open up their infrastructure to Scenic.

Something similar is possible though using the WunderLINQ. Have a look here for more info on that: https://scenic.app/knowledge-base/wunderlinq-integration/

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dasherpr
If you're enjoying Scenic and are happy with the support, please leave a nice rating in the App Store. It would mean a lot to me ❤️

Thank you, Guido, for taking the time to give a thoughtful answer.
I checked, and my BMW Connected app is Always On for GPS tracking.
When I’m riding without Scenic, the BMW Connected app has no issues. When Scenic is on, sometimes (not always), the Navigation function on the TFT display (it has a simple turn by turn navigator built in) is grayed out.
My only conclusion was therefore that something in either the iPhone or BMW’s app detects another navigation program using the iPhone and switches off the BMW app tracking. Which is too bad, because of all the nice machine stats I like to see ( such as ABS/TC usage on specific places, lean angles, etc).
Thank you anyway.
Next ride I will try to do this - actively launch the BMW app before launching Scenic, then see what happens.

Thank you for the LINQ suggestion. I have been looking at this. Quick question - does it only work if the bike has a connected cradle? My R1250GS (I call her the cow) came with the cradle enabled... but I removed it, to make space on the crossbar for my iPhone!

Quote from dasherpr on November 30, 2020, 04:56

Thank you, Guido, for taking the time to give a thoughtful answer.
I checked, and my BMW Connected app is Always On for GPS tracking.
When I’m riding without Scenic, the BMW Connected app has no issues. When Scenic is on, sometimes (not always), the Navigation function on the TFT display (it has a simple turn by turn navigator built in) is grayed out.
My only conclusion was therefore that something in either the iPhone or BMW’s app detects another navigation program using the iPhone and switches off the BMW app tracking. Which is too bad, because of all the nice machine stats I like to see ( such as ABS/TC usage on specific places, lean angles, etc).
Thank you anyway.
Next ride I will try to do this - actively launch the BMW app before launching Scenic, then see what happens.

Ok. This is very strange indeed. It sounds like Scenic is indeed blocking communication between the Connect app and the TFT.

I’m not very familiar with how it works on the BMW. It seems my KTM TFT works similar though. Also have to connect headphones and iPhone to the TFT. Sound is passed through the TFT to the headphones. And I can use the KTM app for navigation (which then is able to make the TFT display some basic nav instructions). I did not try running Scenic and the KTM app simultaneously, but will give that a try.

Have you tried with other navigations apps as well?

If you're enjoying Scenic and are happy with the support, please leave a nice rating in the App Store. It would mean a lot to me ❤️
Quote from dasherpr on November 30, 2020, 04:58

Thank you for the LINQ suggestion. I have been looking at this. Quick question - does it only work if the bike has a connected cradle? My R1250GS (I call her the cow) came with the cradle enabled... but I removed it, to make space on the crossbar for my iPhone!

You would need the cradle yes. The WunderLINQ is a small box that clicks in the place where the nav unit would go. The black box also has a Bluetooth transponder to connect to your phone. So basically this black box translates signals from the nav cradle (including the wheel input) to Bluetooth and sends it to your phone.

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dasherpr
If you're enjoying Scenic and are happy with the support, please leave a nice rating in the App Store. It would mean a lot to me ❤️
Quote from Guido on November 30, 2020, 05:49
Quote from dasherpr on November 30, 2020, 04:56

I’m not very familiar with how it works on the BMW. It seems my KTM TFT works similar though. Also have to connect headphones and iPhone to the TFT. Sound is passed through the TFT to the headphones. And I can use the KTM app for navigation (which then is able to make the TFT display some basic nav instructions). I did not try running Scenic and the KTM app simultaneously, but will give that a try.

Have you tried with other navigations apps as well?

Thanks again. Will try another nav app, although I don't like any others, except Google Maps, which only works point to point, anyway. I've tried Rever and given up on it, although they've been good at integrating with others (such as Apple CarPlay, and the BMW Connected app). Will keep you posted.

Yeah. Google Maps will be fine. Jus to see if that also interferes with the BMW app.

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dasherpr
If you're enjoying Scenic and are happy with the support, please leave a nice rating in the App Store. It would mean a lot to me ❤️

Hi Guido...

I tried it Sunday. First segment, I rode a Scenic-planned trip. The BMW app once again only tracked a few snips of it. Interesting insight is that the voice navigation instructions from the Scenic app came in and out. When voice is gone, it seems that’s when there’s interference with the BMW app.
On the way back I used Google maps to take me home. Similar situation. The BMW app only tracked me 100% when I stopped and used it to take me home, although Google maps was still giving me instructions so I removed route guidance from the BMW app. No matter, the BMW app tracked me fully.
So there does seem to be interference, but it seems not to be exclusive to Scenic. Am writing the BMW app developers... let’s see what they say. If they answer, I’ll post here.
By the way, I have offline maps downloaded in Scenic, BMW app and Google.

Hello again, Guido, I went on a ride and purposely did NOT use Scenic, or Google maps. I just used the bike as normal. At the end of the ride, I noticed the BMW Connected App had tracked every bit of the ride, perfectly.  Conclusion - there does seem to be interference when using Scenic.

Not sure if there's much you can do about this, but I thought I'd report back anyway.

Thank you!

Hi again, Guido. Went out yesterday. Did a Scenic-planned route first. Sure enough, the BMW Connected app's tracking was NOT working... while the Scenic app's audio turn-by-turn instructions were working! After a little while, the Scenic app's audio stopped... and from that point on, the BMW Connected app tracked my ride, too. Thinking back, there are many times when the Scenic app's audio turn-by-turn just... stops talking. This could be a bug, no? And, apparently, it has something to do with the BMW Connected app's interference. On the way back, I closed the Scenic app, and rode home on routes I know, and the BMW Connected app (and TFT simple nav) worked perfectly.

It could be a bug in Scenic of course. Although I have not heard any other feedback regarding voice dropping out recently. Does this also happen when you’re not using the BMW connect app?

I suspect that the BMW connect app and Scenic are “fighting” for the Bluetooth connection to your bike and that this somehow is also related to he tracking feature of the BMW connect app. In other words that the BMW connect app only tracks when it “wins” the fight for the connection.

How is your connection setup now? I assume that you connect your phone to your bike TFT and also your headset to your bike (so sound and audio volume control and skipping next/prev track can be doen by the ‘wheel’), right?

I can investigate further but if this also happens with other navigation apps this is something that needs to be addressed by the BMW connect app I’m afraid.

I don’t know what headset you have but perhaps it’s possible to connect the phone directly through the headset (so not via the bike TFT)? You’ll loose the audio control features with the ‘wheel’ but perhaps your headset has some controls for it on your helmet (or even voice control?)?

 

If you're enjoying Scenic and are happy with the support, please leave a nice rating in the App Store. It would mean a lot to me ❤️

Hi.  The BMW Connected app isn't something I consciously use. It's always on, when the phone is connected to the TFT.

My set up is, phone is connected to TFT, and separately my Sena headset is connected to the TFT.  Connecting the phone to the headset would, of course,  bypass the TFT, but would also render the BMW Connected app useless, and I really like to check my rides on it (see lean angles, use of ABS/TC, max rpm, max speed, and other cool features).

I reached out to BMW and the app's product manager answered initially (then I never heard from him again). Their theory is that before starting the bike's engine, I should just hit the button for the electrical system to wake, and wait about 45 seconds-1 minute for all the TFT's systems to connect to the phone and the helmet, and THEN to start the engine. I tried that and as I suspected, it makes no difference. I also kindly explained to him that I ride with a lot of KTM guys, and that if they knew that my BMW GS requires all this fuss to get going, they would bully me even more than they already do! I guess humor isn't part of the BMW culture, because I never heard back from him!

Anyway, he was focusing on their software having a firm connection with the phone, but as we have seen, that connection gets easily interrupted by using other nav software.

Oh, the joys of modern tech! All these things "we absolutely need" (including tire pressure monitoring, etc.) that as short as 5 years ago we did without...

I have a KTM 😁

I think KTM and BMW have the same TFT provider and connectivity. It’s the Bosch MySpin. KTM also has their own app, but not for tracking nor does it receive data from the bike. It’s only nav which can then show simple turn arrows on the TFT. I’ll try if I can run the KTM and Scenic app at the same time. If I can reproduce the problem I might be able to find a solution.

Meanwhile there is perhaps two things you could try, but I’m not sure it’s possible or if it will work.

Connect your phone to both your TFT and Sena directly (if possible?) And then set Scenic’s Voice Ouput to ‘as phone call’ (Settings > Sound & Haptics > Voice Ouput). That will build up a HFP Bluetooth connection (with the SENA as I don’t believe the the TFT supports HFP connections) in stead of the ‘normal’ Bluetooth connection (with your TFT) which I suspect is also being used by the BMW app.

If that doesn’t work, you could try to have Scenic navigate without voice. You can mute the voice through the ‘big button’ menu.

If you're enjoying Scenic and are happy with the support, please leave a nice rating in the App Store. It would mean a lot to me ❤️

You have a KTM? I'm so sorry to hear that! 😉

Great tips. Unfortunately, yesterday was my last ride for the year, so I'll have to try these things on the first or second weekend of January. Will keep reporting, though!

Thank you for your quick replies, and have a great Christmas, staying healthy and safe.

Haha. Thank you 😁. And a merry Xmas to you too.

If you're enjoying Scenic and are happy with the support, please leave a nice rating in the App Store. It would mean a lot to me ❤️

Hi, just to chip in (with my 2 cts 😉 ) ... have been cases when riding with Scenic, the BMW app (w/out navi) and they play nice. Even when wanting to cheat on the final stretch to the hotel, and starting Apple Maps for navi (and leaving Scenic active in the background w/navi instructions) it all works out: need to pay attention which navi voice I'll follow though 😉

Phone and helmet (Schubert C4) connected to the TFT, and an iPhone on iOS 13. Haven't the chance to check on iOS 14 ...