Why do people use the Connect app? I don’t.

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Spareparts

Spareparts

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Another question to be asked: does anyone really prefer the BMW Connected app for navigation? I know I don’t: not enough enformation provided, and it is a really clunky interface. I mention Nav, as once your phone is bluetooth connected to the bike, you can control music easily via the wunderwheel anyways.

My gloves have touchscreen fabric built in to the fingertips that enable me to operate the phone easily. So operating the phone using my fingers is as easy (arguably easier) than having to navigate with the wunderwheel through the myriad of menus which also take the eye off the road.

I still like the range of information provided by the Nav6 at a glance when you set it up with 16 fields of data.

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Edit: Moved from a thread about the Garmin Connect cradle.
 
PitaNaanRoti said:
But the TFT gives you more or less as much information as the Nav now anyway.
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Not at a glance it doesn’t, and I like having the info *there* without having to scroll, navigate theough menus, or intentionally self-select to inform. I wish BMW would update their Connected App, although I appreciate that there is only so much info you can get on the screen at a point in time.
 
Spareparts said:
Another question to be asked: does anyone really prefer the BMW Connected app for navigation? I know I don’t: not enough enformation provided, and it is a really clunky interface. I mention Nav, as once your phone is bluetooth connected to the bike, you can control music easily via the wunderwheel anyways.

My gloves have touchscreen fabric built in to the fingertips that enable me to operate the phone easily. So operating the phone using my fingers is as easy (arguably easier) than having to navigate with the wunderwheel through the myriad of menus which also take the eye off the road.

I still like the range of information provided by the Nav6 at a glance when you set it up with 16 fields of data.
Click to expand...

If you are happy then you should continue using whatever you want. There is little reason posting here (in the BMW Connect cradle thread) if you don't want to use the connected app, I love it and think that there is no reason to have a GPS on my bike with this cradle.
 
Spareparts said:
I still like the range of information provided by the Nav6 at a glance when you set it up with 16 fields of data.
Click to expand...

I also like the info but then I ask myself do I really need it? I haven't navigated using the app yet so not sure how that will work. I don't have a tft screen model so I've had less info to look at. I do like how it charges wirelessly and it feels substantial.

The lack of off road navigation is an issue that I will have to live with but I think I can get round it with pocket earth.

A lot depends how people use there navigation devices. I like to build routes on basecamp and send them to the device, I don't want the device to modify the route in any way, when I used a nav 6 I would have "off-route" set as prompted, can you do this with the connect? That way if I went off route I would just head towards the magnets brick road.

I also use it like a normal gps, just direct me to my destination either as quick as possible or as fun as possible.

Then I have the building of off-road routes, this is where the connect fails but a swap to pocket earth may cure that. When off road I don't have voice directions and tend just to follow the track line.

I still have a lot of experimenting to do with music etc as I previously used the sdcard in the nav for music, leaving more space on my phone for photos etc.

Just have to get out and ride to try it I suppose.
 
Just a footnote, found an app on iOS called off road, think it's an Arabic app designed for off road 4x4s but seems to keep the tracks the same as basecamp makes them.
 
So far I have only used the connect app to get to locations I know well as a way of getting used to it. Post code search works well, map search is simple just zoom into where you want to go and press on the location, traffic has been accurate and it’s been simple to switch between nav and tft. Only bit so far I don’t like and have not managed to change is when approaching junctions the tft display switches to nav as well, so you have it on the phone screen and the tft at the same time. I personally would prefer it to not change the tft as I like to keep speed display on the tft. Connectivity between iPhone 12, pactalk bold and tft has been flawless.

Connect nav has taken a large step forward from when I first tried it. Although I haven’t tried to set out at multiple stop 150 mile ride yet.
 
Aggers said:
So far I have only used the connect app to get to locations I know well as a way of getting used to it. Post code search works well, map search is simple just zoom into where you want to go and press on the location, traffic has been accurate and it’s been simple to switch between nav and tft. Only bit so far I don’t like and have not managed to change is when approaching junctions the tft display switches to nav as well, so you have it on the phone screen and the tft at the same time. I personally would prefer it to not change the tft as I like to keep speed display on the tft. Connectivity between iPhone 12, pactalk bold and tft has been flawless.

Connect nav has taken a large step forward from when I first tried it. Although I haven’t tried to set out at multiple stop 150 mile ride yet.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I will go ahead and purchase one early in the New Year. For multiple stops I plan using Google maps on my MacBook for each section then use https://mapstogpx.com/ to create a GPX sending each one suitably labelled to my phone on Whats App. Its then a simple one click on the file in Whats App which automatically opens in the Connect App to be saved for later use. That said often I don't bother, stopping en route as needed and just continuing when ready, which so far has worked equally well. Happy New Year.
 
Has anyone seen anything from BMW saying the ConnectedRide app will always be free, with no subscription needed. Call me a cynic, but I'm wondering whether in a year's time, once they've sold lots of cradles, BMW might announce a subscription fee of £xx per month to continue using the app.
 
DickDastardly said:
Has anyone seen anything from BMW saying the ConnectedRide app will always be free, with no subscription needed. Call me a cynic, but I'm wondering whether in a year's time, once they've sold lots of cradles, BMW might announce a subscription fee of £xx per month to continue using the app.
Click to expand...

Yeah that would be ok though.
 
DickDastardly said:
Has anyone seen anything from BMW saying the ConnectedRide app will always be free, with no subscription needed. Call me a cynic, but I'm wondering whether in a year's time, once they've sold lots of cradles, BMW might announce a subscription fee of £xx per month to continue using the app.
Click to expand...

Cross that bridge if an when you come to it.

Me? I doubt it, not least as BMW can use the app to (possibly) draw information about the bikes and / or to spam the owner with adverts.
 
DickDastardly said:
Has anyone seen anything from BMW saying the ConnectedRide app will always be free, with no subscription needed. Call me a cynic, but I'm wondering whether in a year's time, once they've sold lots of cradles, BMW might announce a subscription fee of £xx per month to continue using the app.
Click to expand...

Wapping said:
Cross that bridge if an when you come to it.

Me? I doubt it, not least as BMW can use the app to (possibly) draw information about the bikes and / or to spam the owner with adverts.
Click to expand...

I see that MyRoute levy an annual charge for their MyRoute App (MRA) ‘Navigation’ which doesn’t surprise me, as they also levy a charge if you want to use the full functionality of the MRA app, too. In a similar way, Kurviger and Pocket Earth both charge for their ‘Pro’ or fuller functioning app versions. But, BMW is not an app producer per-se, they are a vehicle manufacturer, so their cost base is very much different, the app being very tiny peanuts on BMW’s balance sheet compared with the rest of the business.

Does BMW care if the app department (assuming it is even in-house) makes a loss? Probably not. What they will care about though is if it fails to function reliably, as that spoils the consumer ‘experience’ and reflects badly on the brand as a whole. What is perhaps most relevant is that BMW have gone their own way with the app, pigging backing off TomTom or whoever for mapping and probably other GPS centric intellectual knowledge. They could of course have gone down the Apple / Google route but that might have been seen as a dilution of the BMW brand as a whole. Better, in their world, to plough your own furrow and hope (or have faith) that it will work, then provide it ‘free’.

Of course it’s not ‘free’ at all, as to use its functionality, the app has to be paired with a suitable (expensive) BMW motorcycle.
 
I think because their wonder wheel is on the whole a success and used by the majority of riders, getting the wheel to control third party apps would be a challenge.
I had an email from the connect app department confirming they are using Tom Tom mapping which is why there is no off road mapping. The email said



Unfortunately at the moment the Connected App does not support off road navigation. But not because we do not want to, but because the current maps from TomTom do not support such a navigation. Thank you for understanding in this matter.


Kind Regards,

Steffen Kraft


Getting back to the app and payment, KTM charge a one off payment of £8 to connect to their bikes. I think Ducati have their own dedicated app as well, and now Husqvarna with just Honda using Apple car play.

I paid a one off payment to pocket earth and would be happy to pay a one off to bmw but not a subscription. Personally I don't think they will charge but only time will tell.

I think they do care about reliability like you say, this is why they have released the cradle and are stepping away from garmin and dedicated navs due to the Nav6s reputation for unreliability. Whether they will return to a dedicated gps remains to be seen but I think they will have to have something that navigates off road if they still want to advertise the GS as an adventure bike, whether that will be a stand alone device or a different mapping system remains to be seen.
 
All good points.

As Berin found in his pretty exhaustive review of lots of different devices and app’s, there are very few that cater properly for true off-road usuage. I guess there is not the demand and / or bods who go off across the fields, even on recognised paths (as opposed to deserts) want something a bit stronger than their phone in case of a mishap. Equally, they might well want a different type of mapping, more akin to an Ordnance Survey map, perhaps?

Despite biting the bullet and putting down a deposit on a 2022 1600, with its large TFT screen, with no easy way to use a standalone GPS device, I am still wondering if I have done the right thing. Though my experience so far with the app’s (they were a total unknown to me) and the phone (again an unknown, at least as far as being a GPS type device) has - so far at least - been positive.



And yup, the whirly wheel is great…. For lots of things.
 
GB. said:
I think because their wonder wheel is on the whole a success and used by the majority of riders, getting the wheel to control third party apps would be a challenge.
Click to expand...

The WunderLinq system supports third party app use of the wonder wheel, including Scenic, Kurviger, Maps.Me and OsmAnd, so it's definitely possible but I suspect BMW won't want to open itself up to having to maintain relationships with lots of different third parties.

GB. said:
I think they do care about reliability like you say, this is why they have released the cradle and are stepping away from garmin and dedicated navs due to the Nav6s reputation for unreliability. Whether they will return to a dedicated gps remains to be seen but I think they will have to have something that navigates off road if they still want to advertise the GS as an adventure bike, whether that will be a stand alone device or a different mapping system remains to be seen.
Click to expand...

Yes, I think you're right about the move away from Garmin being about reliability. Garmin has really messed up for a number of years, and it doesn't do BMW's reputation any good at all, so it makes sense to dump them and take more control. I think in future we might see BMW adding Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to its bikes, as Honda and others have done, so that any app that supports CarPlay/Android Auto can be displayed and controlled on a TFT screen using technology that Apple and Android have already developed.
 
DickDastardly said:
The WunderLinq system supports third party app use of the wonder wheel, including Scenic, Kurviger, Maps.Me and OsmAnd, so it's definitely possible but I suspect BMW won't want to open itself up to having to maintain relationships with lots of different third parties.



Yes, I think you're right about the move away from Garmin being about reliability. Garmin has really messed up for a number of years, and it doesn't do BMW's reputation any good at all, so it makes sense to dump them and take more control. I think in future we might see BMW adding Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to its bikes, as Honda and others have done, so that any app that supports CarPlay/Android Auto can be displayed and controlled on a TFT screen using technology that Apple and Android have already developed.
Click to expand...

I think the wunderling looks cumbersome compared to connect cradle, I also like the cradles wireless charging facility, I struggled to find the wireless option when I looked into the wunderling version.
When it comes to off road navigation garmin rules in this department, no other company offers more units. I still can’t believe bmw did not use the xt platform for a new nav unit.
 
The title of this thread is "Why do people use the Connect app? I don’t."
I would ask why do people buy a GS for just road use, I didn't. I bought an RS.
It is all personal choice, I love the connected app and manage to navigate all around France and parts of Europe with it. Now that I have the connected cradle it will be even better.
 
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