Fix on the way for iPhone Audi Connect issue for existing owners

[ndiye]

Just thought I'd share some information that's new. As some of you will know you cannot connect an iPhone to your car via Rsap Bluetooth and inserting a sim disables bluetooth for regular bluetooth->car call connectivity. Well after much to and fro between myself and Audi Uk/Audi Germany over an even more protracted amount of time, a fix is on the way and is at an advanced stage of development. I managed to get some details and it will be in the form of a specially adapted cable that allows the handset iPhone to share its data connection with the car while at the same time supporting bluetooth connectivity to the vehicle as per usual. So not the best fix, but a fix all the same. The fix should be available in the coming months, the projection I was given that of approximately 3 months, almost certainly before the years end.
So definitely no dual mode built in module for us unfortunately. . . . . . . . .
This is information I have mined from Audi and the sources were very confident in the manner this was conveyed so I am very hopeful and thought I'd share this . . . . . . lets see when this happens.

[Wuffles]

Much the same as my Pioneer radio does (and has done for ages) in my van without any difficulty. I wonder how much they are planning to charge for the cable and whether they will have the presence of mind to allow lightning connections too as the old 30 pin is in deprecation.

[retired99]

If you're going to need to connect a cable why use BT at all?

Do you know if this is an Apple only solution or are there other variants for , e.g., Android or W8 phones?

[Whippy53]

Much the same as my Pioneer radio does (and has done for ages) in my van without any difficulty. I wonder how much they are planning to charge for the cable and whether they will have the presence of mind to allow lightning connections too as the old 30 pin is in deprecation.

Whats the weather like over there at the moment? Watch the traffic on Sat, one of the worst weekends of the year in France also be aware my friend;

"March 2013 : France introduces new invisible mobile speed cameras. 20 of these are now operating on board unmarked police cars, mostly on the main north-south motorways. Since recording speed from a moving vehicle is not quite a perfect art, there is a slight tolerance; but vehicles clocked at over 140 Km/h in a 130 stretch of motorway are liable to get pulled over. A hundred of the new cars should be in operation by 2014."

[Wuffles]

Whats the weather like over there at the moment? Watch the traffic on Sat, one of the worst weekends of the year in France also be aware my friend;

"March 2013 : France introduces new invisible mobile speed cameras. 20 of these are now operating on board unmarked police cars, mostly on the main north-south motorways. Since recording speed from a moving vehicle is not quite a perfect art, there is a slight tolerance; but vehicles clocked at over 140 Km/h in a 130 stretch of motorway are liable to get pulled over. A hundred of the new cars should be in operation by 2014."

It's been very nice. Heading back north early tomorrow morning to get a day by the pool in a hotel near St Malo before ferry on Sunday.

We don't generally speed on the motorways, but cheers for the heads-up. Next year's trip will probably be in the van if I've pulled my finger out and had it converted enough to use comfortably for 3 people. Depends on how quickly the A6 sells when we get back.

[ndiye]

If you're going to need to connect a cable why use BT at all?

Do you know if this is an Apple only solution or are there other variants for , e.g., Android or W8 phones?

From the many conversations I had its apparent that there is a considerable number of people complaining to Audi about the issue, and in my opinion its a number too large for Audi to disregard, and that is what's " inspired " them to put together a retrospective solution, now naturally the assumption is that the cross section of those users would show a range of phones are affected an thus Audi would develop the appropriate connectors/adaptors to make the fix . . . well . . .a fix. Cost was mentioned, around the £30 mark at which point my objection was they shouldn't expect any payment from me after all it is them rectifying a glaring their glaring oversight. The exchanges did get tense at times and harsh words were exchanged, I suppose that's why I got some answers. But in the end civility was once again restored and so it will remain . . . . unless . . . . lets wait and see.

[NHN]

Its pretty bloody crap IMHO, vag really are scraping the barrel with a so-called fix that utilises a cable.

Why the hell cant they just reprogram the firmware to suit to allow, it really is a cop out.

There are already systems in place to determine if the sim plugged in is data or phone/data iirc, they just need to fix the programming for these things within the mmi.

I was playing with a mates A5 a while back that had a 3G MMI upgrade & it has the ability to offer such a system, but fails miserably because of IMHO bad programming.

The cable solution is a big step backwards for most as that's the whole point, to leave in pocket, not mess about with cables anymore.

[Timothy Nathan]

As I said elsewhere, having been one of the loudest voices in the VAG vs iPhone debacle, and one of the harder workers for a fix, I gave up and bought a second hand Galaxy S2 from eBay.

This was a very, very good decision. It is at least as good as an iPhone; in some ways a bit better, in others not quite so good, but it is very much in the same ballpark.

Also, it has very much the same apps and connectivity as the iPhone. I had been concerned that having an iPad sort of locked me into the iPhone, but that is just not right. In all meaningful ways, the communications between the Samsung and the rest of my cyber world, including iPad, Exchange Server and PC, are unaffected.

But the real joy of it is that I get into the car....AND IT JUST BLOODY WORKS!!!

I cannot tell you how much of a relief that it.

One word of caution...if you get an S2 it will probably still be on Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread. If you update online you will get 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. rSAP does not work on 4.0. You need to go to Samsung KIES and get 4.1 Jelly Bean. It's no problem and takes no more than 5 minutes, but you do need to be aware.

I very strongly recommend all VAG owners to lower their blood pressure and increase their free time by just getting a Samsung Galaxy and breathing deeply.

rSAP is available on other Android phone using this product, but my view is that that just introduces another link in the troubleshooting chain, and is unnecessary when the Galaxy is a perfectly good phone.

[NHN]

Couldn't agree more tbh, I've had Galaxy S, S2 & now the S3, got fedup with Iphone eco system locked in, JB's to use features etc, I still have some I devices purely for testing on clients cars when the need arises, but for now I'm staying with droid, although IOS7 looks different, we'll see, seems Tim Cook maybe a little less arrogant than his predecessor, so maybe he will help the needs of the many

I will say go to sammobile.com & or xda & install 4.2.2 as this is better than 4.1 by a mile, not official release, but the latest official Samsung beta is very stable, only negative thing is the loss of the led light toggle widget, bt this will reappear in release one would imagine.

[Timothy Nathan]

I spoke to Samsung Technical Support and they said that 4.1 was the latest supported for the S2. Are you you sure that your 4.2.2 isn't on the S3?

But any which way, I am a believer in having as few reasons as possible for Support desks to be able to tell you to disappear, so I would prefer to have a supported version they will talk to me about than a rather better version they won't.

I have 4.3 on the Nexus 7, and it is, indeed, a little better than 4.1 on the S2, but I would describe the differences as rather superficial and trivial.

Could you draw my attention to a couple of killer aspects of 4.2.2 which would make me want to want it in place of 4.1?