UVO / Android Auto Annoyances

[Jason]

Recently took the dive into a Stinger GT2 after 4 years with a BMW 428xi. So much to love with the Stinger performance, styling, and features over the BMW - however the UVO system really could use some work IMO.

It may seem trivial, but my biggest gripe is that when streaming from Bluetooth (Galaxy S7 w/ Spotify) none of the album art displays and just shows the boring BT logo with a never ending moving line at the bottom. It looks very outdated IMO (along with the rest of the UVO system). Does anyone else have this issue?

Using Android Auto seemed like a good work around, however using the cable to connect to AA seems completely unnecessary and clunky. Also getting mostly locked out of the phone to actually read messages (since they aren't displayed on screen) or access apps not available via AA (while not driving of course) is incredibly annoying. I had the idea of connecting an old unregistered Galaxy S7 permanently via the USB for AA and connect to my phones hot spot, but that prevents making calls on my actual phone since AA takes over BT (why when it's plugged in?!).

Tried connecting the UVO to phone hotspot as well, but all that seems to get is traffic information and UVO services which are kind of pointless. Hoping Kia makes it so AA works over WiFi soon which will solve most of the issues. Oh, and don't get me started about the lack of remote features for the Stinger which are available in Canada (which I can literally see on my way to work). Sadly didn't even think about buying the car in Canada until it was too late!

Sorry for what seems like a trivial rant, hopefully KIA will address these issues with upcoming UVO updates (which, apparently, can't be done over WiFi - rant!). Thanks for listening!

 

[Berzerker]

It may seem trivial, but my biggest gripe is that when streaming from Bluetooth (Galaxy S7 w/ Spotify) none of the album art displays and just shows the boring BT logo with a never ending moving line at the bottom. It looks very outdated IMO (along with the rest of the UVO system). Does anyone else have this issue?

Bluetooth limitation with Android. Surprised you're annoyed by this enough to mention it an issue when iDrive is the exact same. I remember my 2014 428i would at least just show some metadata in the split view, but the 440i I had took it a step further in the wrong direction and showed a blank album with a poorly placed artist tag overlay in it, while showing the title and no song progress bar.

Using Android Auto seemed like a good work around, however using the cable to connect to AA seems completely unnecessary and clunky. Also getting mostly locked out of the phone to actually read messages (since they aren't displayed on screen) or access apps not available via AA (while not driving of course) is incredibly annoying. I had the idea of connecting an old unregistered Galaxy S7 permanently via the USB for AA and connect to my phones hot spot, but that prevents making calls on my actual phone since AA takes over BT (why when it's plugged in?!).

It's supposed to be a replacement for your infotainment system. You shouldn't be using the phone/apps/texting while driving without the use of it anyway. Most of the functionality is accessible through Google Assistant which takes over the voice button while in AA. Every infotainment system disconnects bluetooth when a USB phone is plugged in, even in built-in infotainment systems. Again, surprised you're annoyed with this when BMW refuses to even build in Android Auto support in the first place.

Tried connecting the UVO to phone hotspot as well, but all that seems to get is traffic information and UVO services which are kind of pointless. Hoping Kia makes it so AA works over WiFi soon which will solve most of the issues. Oh, and don't get me started about the lack of remote features for the Stinger which are available in Canada (which I can literally see on my way to work). Sadly didn't even think about buying the car in Canada until it was too late!

I use the UVO-to-hotspot connection for the local google search functionality. Great for finding phone numbers, directions, and open/close hours directly through the built-in infotainment. I honestly don't care about the remote unlock/start features as I'm always near my car when it's going to be open/driven anyway lol.

Overall: I highly suggest you buy a USB drive for your music and leave it plugged in. You have the added luxury of an extra charging port, so ports being "taken up" are not an issue. I also suggest you get something that can plug into the OBD-II port that generates a wifi hotspot. That way, your car will always be connected when it starts up (takes about 15-20s for it to find the hotspot and connect) and your music will, as long as it's ID3 tagged properly, show proper album art, song info and time progress. Also, the built-in music browser is quick and fine, and skipping songs/going back is much faster than over Bluetooth. I honestly haven't found a need for AA or CarPlay since I've utilized this setup, and it's been great so far.

For the OBD-II device, I have a T-Mobile SyncUP Drive that's plugged in 24/7 using a flat extension cable that I have hidden in the fuse box. It does cost $15/mo extra for the service, but I think it's very worth it for what it provides.

Happy to answer any other questions or help with logistics.

 

[Jason]

Bluetooth limitation with Android. Surprised you're annoyed by this enough to mention it an issue when iDrive is the exact same. I remember my 2014 428i would at least just show some metadata in the split view, but the 440i I had took it a step further in the wrong direction and showed a blank album with a poorly placed artist tag overlay in it, while showing the title and no song progress bar.

That's really weird, it definitely worked on my 428xi. Actually some phone software update broke the album art but was fixed with a BMW update in 2015 which is why I recall it working.

It's supposed to be a replacement for your infotainment system. You shouldn't be using the phone/apps/texting while driving without the use of it anyway. Most of the functionality is accessible through Google Assistant which takes over the voice button while in AA. Every infotainment system disconnects bluetooth when a USB phone is plugged in, even in built-in infotainment systems. Again, surprised you're annoyed with this when BMW refuses to even build in Android Auto support in the first place.

It actually doesn't disconnect the Bluetooth, it takes over the Bluetooth. If you try and disconnect the BT the phone will automatically reconnect it. Hoping KIA enables Android Auto over WiFi soon thou since its built into the UVO system and would eliminate the need for the USB cable.

Thanks for the tip with the ORB-II device and T-Mobile, with the hot spot on my phone it covers many of those features but I'll definitely check it out.

 

[ShrekSquatch]

Had similar complaints about my Golf R. Found a happy medium with running Android Auto, but still having my phone in a mount easily accessible. I use "Notification Shortcuts", which lets me run apps from the notification pulldown, even when in AA. Combine that with "Appdialer Pro", and you can easily start any app while still having AA do its thing with Waze and Spotify. I basically just use it for texts at traffic lights (no I don't text and drive persay...), but sometimes you need access to other things. When on road trips, I'll actually have google maps on AA and waze on the phone screen.

And the S7 is not the best phone for AA unfortunately. I'm currently using an S7 Edge as I sold my S8+ in anticipation of the S9+ (next week baby!). Forgot how slow it makes AA. Ran so much smoother with the S8+... Counting the minutes until I get rid of this clunker.

 

[Jason]

Had similar complaints about my Golf R. Found a happy medium with running Android Auto, but still having my phone in a mount easily accessible. I use "Notification Shortcuts", which lets me run apps from the notification pulldown, even when in AA. Combine that with "Appdialer Pro", and you can easily start any app while still having AA do its thing with Waze and Spotify. I basically just use it for texts at traffic lights (no I don't text and drive persay...), but sometimes you need access to other things. When on road trips, I'll actually have google maps on AA and waze on the phone screen.

And the S7 is not the best phone for AA unfortunately. I'm currently using an S7 Edge as I sold my S8+ in anticipation of the S9+ (next week baby!). Forgot how slow it makes AA. Ran so much smoother with the S8+... Counting the minutes until I get rid of this clunker.

I have the S9 ordered as well, can't wait! Curious, do you run Waze in the background ala AA to get police alerts and such? I tried it once and Waze just hung up when I switched to Spotify. Probably a dying S7 issue. Thanks for the Appdialer Pro tip, installing it as I type!

 

[ShrekSquatch]

I have the S9 ordered as well, can't wait! Curious, do you run Waze in the background ala AA to get police alerts and such? I tried it once and Waze just hung up when I switched to Spotify. Probably a dying S7 issue. Thanks for the Appdialer Pro tip, installing it as I type!

Not in background, keep that on the head unit screen pretty much 100% of the time. To be honest, Waze on the phone display is a wee bit better. Sometimes I run Waze on the phone and leave Spotify on the head unit. but that takes a couple extra clicks to get running, not as quick and easy as just plugging in, starting Waze, and running.

 

[Clearly Canadian]

Question about Waze: will it notify you of speed traps even though you’re not technically using it to navigate? (Eg daily commute)

Also does it work well in Canada?

 

[Berzerker]

That's really weird, it definitely worked on my 428xi. Actually some phone software update broke the album art but was fixed with a BMW update in 2015 which is why I recall it working.

It actually doesn't disconnect the Bluetooth, it takes over the Bluetooth. If you try and disconnect the BT the phone will automatically reconnect it. Hoping KIA enables Android Auto over WiFi soon thou since its built into the UVO system and would eliminate the need for the USB cable.

Thanks for the tip with the ORB-II device and T-Mobile, with the hot spot on my phone it covers many of those features but I'll definitely check it out.

In both iDrive 4.0 (2014) and iDrive 5.0 (2017) and across *many* Android phones, S6, S7, V20, V30, Pixel, Nexus 6P, etcetcetc, I've *never* had album art working for either infotainment...and not even for *any* infotainment I've been in. It's not part of the AVRCP spec, so I don't know how you had it working over Bluetooth.

Wireless AA/CarPlay will most likely require a retrofit as they will require WiFi Direct, which the car doesn't currently support. Hopefully it won't be too expensive.

I suggested the SyncUP Drive specifically so you don't have to use the hotspot on your phone, though.