MyNextbase IOS App & Apple Car Play - oops!

[M A R K]

Thinking this one through you end up with the statement "well of course it won't work" but it took some figuring out

So the new IoS app is out. Fantastic!

The problem is that it is incompatible with Apple Car Play or to be more precise it cannot coexist with Car Play.

So the Nextbase app creates a bluetooth connection with the camera however if you want to transfer files or use live view etc then it fire up a wifi connection (the app refers to it as a High Speed Connection) to make the transfer.

Apple Car Play uses Bluetooth to connect to the car and then also sets up a wifi connection with the car for all the high bandwidth stuff. Can you see where this is going.

Whilst an iPhone can have multiple bluetooth connections at the same time, it cannot have multiple wifi connections.

So the Nextbase app tries to make a connection to the camera. The phone prompts you and if you say yes, you find yourself connected with the ability to view and download files but only for a few seconds before the connection drops.

The reason is that when it makes the connection to the camera, the wifi Car Play connection is dropped. Music stops playing, maps or Waze etc stops playing and Car Play stops working. But Apple have set thing up so that the phone tries to reconnect to the car and when it does, the connection to the camera is dropped!

To disable Car Play either on the car or the phone is easier said than done. In the car (well on BMW systems anyway) requires you to delve into many sub menus and then once you have done that, to reconnect means you need to set the phone up from scratch each time!

I don't believe there is an easy fix here for Nextbase to perform. This is not a bug on their part or a fault but just that you have 2 systems trying to do the same thing at the same time.

So if you run with Apple Car play, the app is going to deliver very limited functionality. Grrrr

 

[Pmaloney]

Just downloaded the app and paired it, working on a video showing the process.
Noticed that the SOS features aren't available for configuration yet, says waiting for a future version of the app.
Also noticed live view only shows the front facing camera but not sure if there are some settings I haven't found yet.
Thanks for the info on car play, although I don't have that in my car yet the car does connect over personal hotspot for a data connection so suspect that may break as well. Need to figure out if I can just use bluetooth for the dashcam and only use wi-fi on demand.

 

[M A R K]

Just downloaded the app and paired it, working on a video showing the process.
Noticed that the SOS features aren't available for configuration yet, says waiting for a future version of the app.
Also noticed live view only shows the front facing camera but not sure if there are some settings I haven't found yet.
Thanks for the info on car play, although I don't have that in my car yet the car does connect over personal hotspot for a data connection so suspect that may break as well. Need to figure out if I can just use bluetooth for the dashcam and only use wi-fi on demand.

I believe the WiFi is “on demand” so you may be fine. The Car Play issue is just a perfect storm of 2 different systems trying to do exactly the same thing.
I have no idea if Android Auto will have the same issues because BMW cars don’t support it. I am sure somebody here can probably confirm but knowing how hackable Android is, there is probably a way around it.

 

[Pmaloney]

Thanks Mark, will probably find out on my morning commute.

 

[Kremmen]

Phones linking to 2 devices at the same time is an age old problem. Not something that has just cropped up.

My phone can connect to my cars headunit for HFT, it can also connect to my Garmin, but not both at the same time.

 

[M A R K]

Phones linking to 2 devices at the same time is an age old problem. Not something that has just cropped up.

My phone can connect to my cars headunit for HFT, it can also connect to my Garmin, but not both at the same time.

Agreed but in this case it is making a Bluetooth connection AND a WiFi connection.
Multiple Bluetooth connections are not a problem and as you say have been around for years but multiple WiFi is not possible today on a phone

 

[RottenFoxBreath]

Wifi Direct allows multiple connections.
I've seen that on my Android phone, when connected to the home network(I'm parked outside my house), and also it maintains a high speed connection to the 522.
The normal wifi icon is in the notification panel, and also what looks like a faint wifi icon there also.
I managed to download the 522 manual, search for Alexa help, and had the app open connected to the camera, with the Nextbase app, all without a data connection.

 

[M A R K]

Wifi Direct allows multiple connections.
I've seen that on my Android phone, when connected to the home network(I'm parked outside my house), and also it maintains a high speed connection to the 522.
The normal wifi icon is in the notification panel, and also what looks like a faint wifi icon there also.
I managed to download the 522 manual, search for Alexa help, and had the app open connected to the camera, with the Nextbase app, all without a data connection.

I am guessing multiple wifi connections are an Android thing then but would need 2 radios to work due to how the standard is written. I try and avoid Android phones (except for my 2nd work phone which is a total PoS) so you are probably more knowledgable than I on that front

And yes you can connect to the camera over just bluetooth (and yes Bluetooth can have many simultaneous connections) but the second you try and access anything where the app decides it needs a "high speed connection" it all just falls apart. First killing the Car Play connection before then reconnecting the Car Play and disconnecting the camera.

 

[RottenFoxBreath]

Apple call it Multipeer Connectivity, and they don't play ball with wifi direct, they should, but as usual, don't.

Apple do not play nice with Wi-Fi Direct, not the same way that Android does.
The Multipeer Connectivity Framework that Apple provides combines both BLE and WiFi Direct together and will only work with Apple devices and not any device that is using Wi-Fi Direct.

 

[M A R K]

Apple call it Multipeer Connectivity, and they don't play ball with wifi direct, they should, but as usual, don't.

Apple do not play nice with Wi-Fi Direct, not the same way that Android does.
The Multipeer Connectivity Framework that Apple provides combines both BLE and WiFi Direct together and will only work with Apple devices and not any device that is using Wi-Fi Direct.

You have set out the problem much better than I did

As I said earlier, I am not sure this is a problem Nextbase themselves can fix but it does force you to choose between using Car play or the Nextbase App. For me, Car Play is much more valuable.