For the last year or two, I've been working on reverse engineering the BMW Connected Apps protocol, which is used to add functionality to the car's dashboard from the phone app. I really like Connected Apps, and how they have much tighter integration into the car features than other cars' remote display technologies, and so I've built my own Android app that uses this protocol to add more phone music sources and show phone notifications in the car.
As an example, this app exposes Plex and DSub music libraries so that you can browse around them in the IDrive interface, and easily switch between other music apps on the phone. I also have phone notifications showing up in the car, including popups when they arrive and the ability to Mark as Read and a few other notification actions.
Any BMW or Mini after 2015 with the navigation option (which should include Connected Apps functionality) should be compatible. The main requirement is that your car's Bluetooth menu has the Apps option, or that your older ID4 car has the Connection Assistant menu.
So far I've been developing it against my 2016 Mini Cooper, and a friend has gotten it working in a 2015 BMW i3 and another friend has it working in his 2019 3-series. I'm hoping to find more users to test it out to make sure it has a bug-free 1.0 release. I also hope that this app may be useful in daily driving!
Please try it out, and let me know how you like it! GitHub or Google Play
Updates:
The project has changed a lot over the last 3 years, and is now much easier to use! Some of the previous connection advice is no longer necessary, and the app itself should guide you through any necessary setup steps. In particular:
As an example, this app exposes Plex and DSub music libraries so that you can browse around them in the IDrive interface, and easily switch between other music apps on the phone. I also have phone notifications showing up in the car, including popups when they arrive and the ability to Mark as Read and a few other notification actions.
Any BMW or Mini after 2015 with the navigation option (which should include Connected Apps functionality) should be compatible. The main requirement is that your car's Bluetooth menu has the Apps option, or that your older ID4 car has the Connection Assistant menu.
So far I've been developing it against my 2016 Mini Cooper, and a friend has gotten it working in a 2015 BMW i3 and another friend has it working in his 2019 3-series. I'm hoping to find more users to test it out to make sure it has a bug-free 1.0 release. I also hope that this app may be useful in daily driving!
Please try it out, and let me know how you like it! GitHub or Google Play
Updates:
The project has changed a lot over the last 3 years, and is now much easier to use! Some of the previous connection advice is no longer necessary, and the app itself should guide you through any necessary setup steps. In particular:
- Downgrading Spotify is no longer necessary, the app now includes API access to control all versions of Spotify (as of 1.2.1). Relatedly, Spotify no longer needs to be started manually.
- Connected Classic no longer needs to be installed, you only need the main Connected app installed (as of 1.2.2)
- The app now detects the proper audio context mode to use, and the user no longer needs to decide which mode to use (as of 1.2.2)
- MyBMW is supported (as of 1.3)