Playing Music from Android via USB - library not loading

[rabster]

Has anyone else managed to load their music library from their Android phone? I can connect via Bluetooth no problems but it only seems to play whatever playlist is active on the phone at that time and doesn't allow searching. So I thought to try out the USB function but after spending a few minutes 'reading' it only comes back with two songs, neither of which are in my normal music library :evil:

Am I missing something? Someone please help me!!

 

[GodFollower]

Which radio do you have?

Big screen or small screen basically, tells you which one you have

 

[rabster]

Which radio do you have?

Big screen or small screen basically, tells you which one you have

I've got the standard small screen radio. Gotta say that the owners manuals both the paper version and the built-in version are pretty pants. They explain the obvious stuff well enough but they're very vague for anything more than the highest level of detail.

 

[rtanov]

I also wasn't able to read much when connecting the phone (android) to the USB. I ended up uploading the songs. I have both versions on my two i3s - one has the tech package, the other does not. On the one with I had to put the music on flash drive and copy it to the i3 HD - I could not make it read it from the phone. And while copying it seems that the user does not have much control on what to get copied - it is not very user friendly. In the car without the tech package I just took a 32 GB SD card I had laying around and put the music on it and it is plugged into the USB all the time. Works well except that there seems to be a bug - the random function has its "favorite" songs - occasionally it will start playing the same song sequence.

 

[jadnashuanh]

Ensure that you have the latest firmware in the car. YOu can check with your VIN and find out at http://www.bmw.com/com/en/owners/connected_drive_services/mobile_devices/bluetooth_software_update.html

You can update both the music functionality and phone functions in your car...other than map updates, the only user data BMW allows you to easily change.

 

[rabster]

Update:

I've tried so many different things and I've finally given up on trying to make the Android work properly with the I3.
It kinda works with Bluetooth but the playlists aren't available, you cant search, and you are restricted to the music on the current playlist selected on the phone. Overall, a pretty naff solution. As for Android over the USB, that's just a non-starter. Don't bother trying; it will make you angry and make you go grey very quickly.

So what else did I try?

1. USB Dongle - got millions of the damned things kicking around the house, so I loaded some tracks onto it, plugged it in........and nothing. it could read the device but not see the music. Didn't waste any more time on this one as really, its not the best solution overall due to lack of imported playlists, etc. FAIL
2. Lets dig out that old iPod my wife bought me about 5 years ago... Didn't work at all. I loaded the music onto it but the I3 just sat there 'reading' for 10 mins until I gave up. There's no BT on this ipod so that was a non-starter. FAIL
3. OK, so I wonder if a modern iphone works better than a modern Android? Absolutely it does! I borrowed my sons iphone 6 and it worked really nicely over the USB link and I could search, view the playlists, etc. PASS!
4. So that's great but I converted to Android a few years ago and really don't want to go back to iPhone again. Luckily my son had an old iPhone in the drawer - not got a clue what Gen it is but its OLD! Plug it into the USB and hey presto, it works just as well as the modern iphone 6. PASS

What I've learnt:
1. The BT works ok on all platforms but its not very user-friendly
2. The USB only seems to work properly on the IOS platform
3. If the USB does indeed work on Android platform then its damned well not easy to work out. I'm not a mobile geek but I'm technically pretty clued up and I couldn't work it out.
4. The USB dongle probably works ok but only on a restricted list of audio formats. I don't have time to be converting formats...

My solution is that I'm going to connect my Android via BT for the phone features and keep the old iphone in the car connected to the USB for audio. Seems like the best overall solution for us Android users.

Happy listening everyone

 

[jadnashuanh]

If you haven't checked the bmw website for the latest entertainment/phone software, do so, and verify you have the latest software running in your i3. You'll need the last 7-characters of your VIN for it to check. This has made a lot of difference for some people.