[spielnicht]

It's fair to say that BMW definitely favors Apple compatibility with the iDrive over Android. Granted, there is only one OEM for iOS, whereas you have dozens for Android, so I can imagine it would be a nightmare to work with all OEMs.

Anyway, I'm in the market for a new Android phone and want to make sure the one I get supports fast forward and rewind of music over Bluetooth. My wife's current iPhone X (and outgoing iPhone 6) has no issues with that. My experience with Android is that it's you and your luck.

For those with newer models of Android, can you report your experience with regard to using the car's physical buttons to fast forward and rewind music over Bluetooth (and potentially album art now that Android 8 supports AVRCP 1.6).

I've already tested the Sony Xperia XZ 2 and it does not support either. Ironically, my outgoing Xperia XZ1 did support fast forward/rewind.

E.g.
Pixel 2/XL
Samsung Galaxy 9/9 Plus
OnePlus 6
LG G7
etc.

[ReturnedExpat]

So, according this page, there exists the ability to have a fast forward and rewind button from a bluetooth device. According to this article from Android Central though, apparently bluetooth controls in Android are a hot hot mess. What appears to be more important than the device (since most, if not all, Android devices are interpreting the key event identically) is how the app treats that key event.

I think that your best bet here is to first run some debugging software to see what the keypress from the car is coming through as. Also, try a variety of music apps as well.

I have never been able to get my music or podcast apps to properly respond to fast forward myself, but I haven't gotten to into it. Perhaps with Tasker or similar apps it's possible to make it happen. I'll do some more reading though and get back to you if I find anything.

[Sunnyb11]

What OS is your android device running?

[spielnicht]

Good reference. I'm gonna look at how I can debug this if I can't get it work still. It's just odd that same version of Android (8) but different OEMs handle this differently. I tried out my friend's Essential PH-1 and no go.

In any regard, I'm gonna order a Pixel 2 XL, hoping that by it being "the" purest Android device, it would have the best shot of being compatible.

Fingers crossed.

Originally Posted by ReturnedExpat

So, according this page, there exists the ability to have a fast forward and rewind button from a bluetooth device. According to this article from Android Central though, apparently bluetooth controls in Android are a hot hot mess. What appears to be more important than the device (since most, if not all, Android devices are interpreting the key event identically) is how the app treats that key event.

I think that your best bet here is to first run some debugging software to see what the keypress from the car is coming through as. Also, try a variety of music apps as well.

I have never been able to get my music or podcast apps to properly respond to fast forward myself, but I haven't gotten to into it. Perhaps with Tasker or similar apps it's possible to make it happen. I'll do some more reading though and get back to you if I find anything.

In every test it was version 8.

Originally Posted by Sunnyb11

What OS is your android device running?

[HarinderG]

Originally Posted by spielnicht

For those with newer models of Android, can you report your experience with regard to using the car's physical buttons to fast forward and rewind music over Bluetooth (and potentially album art now that Android 8 supports AVRCP 1.6).

I have a Galaxy s8+ with Android 8.0, and never have been able to get album art to show up. I think I'm going to jump ship over to the iPhones because I miss seeing my album art

[spielnicht]

I ended up with the Pixel 2XL and music playback over Bluetooth has definitely been hit or miss. Some days it just works, but on others it requires some steps to get it go work. Not ideal by any means, but I've learned to live with it. What annoys me is that it just works (and flawlessly) on my wife's MB. Music seek is also not supported on the Pixel 2.

And yes, album art will basically never work with any Android phone because it seems like BMW has to make some update to the system to recognize it on the phone now that Android has proper support for AVRCP 1.6.

[EL Jeffe 5]

Sorry only thing I can think of when I notice this post Tosh.O and this kid