[uga6]

Hi there!

I already researched a lot. But not all my questions could be answered.

My goal: I would like to have Spotify available constantly in my iDrive menue. And I do not want to always plug in my iPhone and start the app on my phone.

Possible solution: I want to buy an old iPhone 5 and leave it constantly connected in the armrest.

Issues: I could read in other posts that this does not work perfectly fine because iDrive seems to loose the connection to the iPhone/Spotify when the car is parked for some time. And therefore the iPhone needs to be unlocked and the Spotify app started again.

Did anybody find a solution that works fine? Possibly with a jailbreak iPhone?

[jrod33084]

Originally Posted by uga6

Hi there!

I already researched a lot. But not all my questions could be answered.

My goal: I would like to have Spotify available constantly in my iDrive menue. And I do not want to always plug in my iPhone and start the app on my phone.

Possible solution: I want to buy an old iPhone 5 and leave it constantly connected in the armrest.

Issues: I could read in other posts that this does not work perfectly fine because iDrive seems to loose the connection to the iPhone/Spotify when the car is parked for some time. And therefore the iPhone needs to be unlocked and the Spotify app started again.

Did anybody find a solution that works fine? Possibly with a jailbreak iPhone?

+1
This also drives me crazy. Honestly I don't think there is going to be any work around for this. But I could be wrong.
I have the Spotify app saved to one of my radio channel.. I wild love to be able to just hit that button and it open Spotify on its own. Even plugging in the phone is manageable. I just hate having to open my phone and then open the app just to listen.

[Osmansky]

Originally Posted by jrod33084

+1
This also drives me crazy. Honestly I don't think there is going to be any work around for this. But I could be wrong.
I have the Spotify app saved to one of my radio channel.. I wild love to be able to just hit that button and it open Spotify on its own. Even plugging in the phone is manageable. I just hate having to open my phone and then open the app just to listen.

I have the same setup.

I have an old iPhone that is always connected in the armrest and everytime I enter the car I have to launch the app.

A possible solution is to have a jailbroken iPhone and installing "Activator" a cydia app that automates specific actions on iPhone

Once you have activator you can configure it as when the phone detects electric charge upon ignition it automatically launches Spotify app

[jrod33084]

Originally Posted by Osmansky

I have the same setup.

I have an old iPhone that is always connected in the armrest and everytime I enter the car I have to launch the app.

A possible solution is to have a jailbroken iPhone and installing "Activator" a cydia app that automates specific actions on iPhone

Once you have activator you can configure it as when the phone detects electric charge upon ignition it automatically launches Spotify app

That's a great idea! I may have to look into that. Plugging it in doesn't bother because I'm always doing that anyways for charging. Is this how you have yours set up?

[Osmansky]

Originally Posted by jrod33084

That's a great idea! I may have to look into that. Plugging it in doesn't bother because I'm always doing that anyways for charging. Is this how you have yours set up?

Actually I have a separate dedicated iPhone with a separate sim card that is always connected to the car even if i am not in the car

[big stu]

i signed up for online entertainment to try it. i picked deezer and what it does is you download music to your phone and plug it in and your music is downloaded to car so you dont need to have your phone pluggedin and you still get your album art.. this is with pro nav 2013

[badbread]

I have an old iPhone always connected in the armrest. Works great with the exception of having to unlock the phone every time I go somewhere. I haven't figured out a way to keep the phone from locking itself.

[Carlos_J]

New on here & came across this thread....
What if you guys set your iPhones Auto-Lock to Never (Settings`Display & Brightness) & then turn the brightness right down to save the battery when your not charging it.
I've done that during a presentation before only to forget to reverse it & find a dead iPhone. but even leaving over night should keep enough battery power, maybe turn off bluetooth as well if not using as a phone.

Hows that sound?

[deepghosh]

Just wondering if anyone ever figured out a workaround for this

[BimmerMad]

Originally Posted by big stu

i signed up for online entertainment to try it. i picked deezer and what it does is you download music to your phone and plug it in and your music is downloaded to car so you dont need to have your phone pluggedin and you still get your album art.. this is with pro nav 2013

Why would you plug in your phone if you have Online Entertainment?

[jrod33084]

The idea that was given by Osmansky earlier is about the best idea I can come up with. It would work just fine as long as the tweak called Activator he mentioned is working correctly. I tried it and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

[big stu]

it uploads the songs from your phone quicker than waiting on car downloading them. you only need it plugged in for 5 mins

[fndrh1st]

there was a spotify update this week that makes almost all the functions work much better! The images actually load, even when on bluetooth, and i dont have to open the app (as many times a day) as before, but you do still have to open it.

[Gaffer]

I do this as well. Old iPhone 4S with Spotify permanently connected into the armrest but has no simcard inside. This is tethered to my actual phone (iPhone 6S+) get the data connection to stream Spotify.
After initial setup, I have to do this:

1) Approach car and unlock
2) Ensure 6S+ is in the "Personal Hotspot" menu and both WiFi and BT are on.
3) After a second or so the blue bar appears on 6S+ indicating a connection to the 4S inside.
4) Enter car and unlock 4S, then open the Spotify app (or swipe to it)
5) Start driving - usually takes a minute or so to appear in the BMW Media menu


^^^ Convoluted but allows my actual phone (6S+) to remain in my pocket or bag and leaves an old phone as my Jukebox.

[gomichaelkgo]

I have a solution similar to what you seek.

iPhone 4s jailbroken and permanently connected to USB with these mods:
lock screen is bypassed
when power is applied to the charging port, Spotify is started with a macro

It usually works. I have these gripes:
There is a race condition between IDrive booting and Spotify starting. If the wrong one starts first, you have to quit and restart Spotify (this happens once every two weeks or so).

Spotify will never update content while it's running. You have to quit and restart to get these things: new releases each Friday, any song you added to a playlist from a different device, or any changes to dynamic playlists.

All in all, it's less hassle than plugging it in every time, but not hassle-free enough to pass the wife test.

[jrod33084]

Yea that's about the best solution I can come up with. Wives are never satisfied haha

[utjeffc]

Originally Posted by gomichaelkgo

I have a solution similar to what you seek.

iPhone 4s jailbroken and permanently connected to USB with these mods:
lock screen is bypassed
when power is applied to the charging port, Spotify is started with a macro

It usually works. I have these gripes:
There is a race condition between IDrive booting and Spotify starting. If the wrong one starts first, you have to quit and restart Spotify (this happens once every two weeks or so).

Spotify will never update content while it's running. You have to quit and restart to get these things: new releases each Friday, any song you added to a playlist from a different device, or any changes to dynamic playlists.

All in all, it's less hassle than plugging it in every time, but not hassle-free enough to pass the wife test.

Perhaps you could set up a macro to auto-reset the phone once a week, so that content refreshes when the app is opened after a fresh reboot.

[Doyvidlah]

Which generation iPhone/iPod touch do you recommend for this? Are there any issues with speed or crashing while using the iPhone 4S? It looks like Spotify requires iOS 8.

I'm just looking to buy something used..

Thanks!

[Osmansky]

Originally Posted by gomichaelkgo

I have a solution similar to what you seek.

iPhone 4s jailbroken and permanently connected to USB with these mods:
lock screen is bypassed
when power is applied to the charging port, Spotify is started with a macro

It usually works. I have these gripes:
There is a race condition between IDrive booting and Spotify starting. If the wrong one starts first, you have to quit and restart Spotify (this happens once every two weeks or so).

Spotify will never update content while it's running. You have to quit and restart to get these things: new releases each Friday, any song you added to a playlist from a different device, or any changes to dynamic playlists.

All in all, it's less hassle than plugging it in every time, but not hassle-free enough to pass the wife test.

Done the same and is working perfectly. My only issue so far is to get lock screen bypassed. The thing is i have the iPhone pin protected as it has my work mail and it is mandatory to have pin code. So far all the cydia tweaks i found cant get lock screen bypassed as long as it has pin code.

Any luck getting around that?

[jrod33084]

Yea that's my problem too with the lock screen.

[deepghosh]

Originally Posted by gomichaelkgo

I have a solution similar to what you seek.

iPhone 4s jailbroken and permanently connected to USB with these mods:
lock screen is bypassed
when power is applied to the charging port, Spotify is started with a macro

Can you explain how you bypassed the lock screen and how you use the macro?

[rjoelshipp]

I am looking for a solution as well. I hate having to open my phone , open Spotify, tap the play button and hope that all happens in the correct order so that my album art and everything will display correctly. I swear, it really annoys me.