MMI Plus Artwork Annoyances

[austinpass]

So I bought my first Audi back in March. It's an Avant Black Edition TDi Ultra with a few extras, namely Technology Pack, Heated Seats, Electric Mirrors, 20" Diamond Cut alloys and a de-badge.

Overall I'm delighted with the car, it looks smart (see pic) and is a pleasure to drive.

I'm pleased I went for the Tech Pack with the MMI Plus, as the low-res screen on the standard kit looked very last-decade in the demonstrators I tried. That said, there are some annoyances - some are related to artwork, some to the way it moves between tracks.

I have an iPhone 6S (fully updated), connected via the USB cable that came with the car. Initially I was using Spotify as I'm a long time fan of the platform but found that it was hit-and-miss at displaying the artwork of whatever track I was playing. Chalking this up to Spotify, I gritted my teeth and jumped ship to Apple Music, figuring that as this was Apple's blessed platform it stood the best chance of compatibility. I'm somewhat disappointed with the results.

The behaviour I see is this:
I create a Playlist on Apple Music. Set the playlist to download to device (negating connectivity issues?)
I plug my phone into the car, dial in the playlist and begin playing the tracks.
Some display their artwork correctly, others display a cheesy "Genre" default artwork (assuming this comes from MMI?), others still display the blank "musical note" placeholder. All tracks play correctly though.
If I choose a favourite track and generate a radio station based on this track it will display artwork for tracks 99% of the time. Some pretty obscure stuff too! Occasionally misses one and I get the "musical note" placeholder. However, when playing this Apple Music radio, if I press the next track button, it begins playing the first track in my iTunes library (alphabetically selected). So annoying! Means I can't skip tracks I don't like or have to fumble for the phone to do it itself, tricky and dangerous when it's embedded in the armrest.

All artwork displays on the iPhone screen itself. Tried my phone in a friend's BMW and iDrive displays artwork for the playlist flawlessly, much to my annoyance.

Does anybody else have these problems, or a suggestion for what I might do to fix it?

Sorry for a long moany first post - I'll pop around some other threads to contribute now, honest!

-Austin.

 

[PeteBSK]

@austinpass welcome to the group and congrats on the new motor. I'm afraid I don't have an answer, but can confirm that I see exactly the same results on my A6 from last May (2015)...
My setup is:
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4 connected to Audi via WiFi
- SIM in above device used in rSAP mode for connectivity (Sadly something that's not possible with Apple iOS)
- Spotify plays music tracks (audibly) perfectly
- Track artwork always displayed on Samsung Spotify app on device
- Track artwork _sometimes_ displayed on MMI Plus (just like yours) correctly, other times with an awful/cheesy - exactly as you describe! - Genre picture

 

[austinpass]

Thanks for the confirmation, Pete.

I can live without the rSAP (although I'd prefer it) - I just bought a data contract SIM to shove in the car. Interesting that it's not simply an Apple issue as well.

Here's a question - how often do Audi update the MMI software? I hit the "check for updates" button in Audi Connect occasionally, but never get anywhere with it. Is it something that they do during service? Ever? ;-)

The system seems very responsive, so the hardware ought to be able to provide more functionality. What are the chances of an official Spotify app? Or Apple CarPlay? I suspect I know the answer to that already, but we can always hope, right?

 

[PeteBSK]

Agreed agreed and .... agreed. This is my one big problem with Audi - and to be fair, most other auto manufacturers out there... the technology is Sooooo far behind what's actually achievable, it's shocking - but just a result of their "traditional" car manufacturing lifecycles. I've started to hanker after a Tesla... which I know is heresy to speak of such things on these hallowed forums, but as well as being a rather exceptionally fast (and spritely for the weight!) all electric car, the Tesla is _fully_ updateable over the air... I have two colleagues with them and they have updates waiting for them on a Monday morning, complete with video tutorials for what's changed! I know that some will say, "aaah yes but what if there are problems?"is it safe etc...- but that's what testing is for right? Audi and it's closest competitors need to step up their game and fast. Tesla is a game changer in more ways than just it's all electric chassis. I love my A6, the design, the drive, it's awesome... but the tech inside is embarrassingly outdated when you really scrutinise it... and as you've put here... asking for a simple thing like consistency in showing album art that's available on the phone is really not rocket science.