Bluetooth external controller on ios

[Con Hennekens]

@Carl-Flint, That's great! Now it would be good to know if external controllers still work if you have your phone screen off inside your pocket

[cerfskysky.com]

@Con-Hennekens
I will have to buy a Silverfox and then I will let you know There must be someone out there already who has tried it and knows the answer!

[Nick Carthew]

@Carl-Flint said in Bluetooth external controller on ios:

@Nick-Carthew
Hi Nick, please could you pose the question to one of the other guys of the MyRouteApp team who have the Silverfox controller. Thanks Carl

The SilverFox or any other Bluetooth controller will have little effect on the CarPlay or AndroidAuto screen. You may be able to skip a route point but most of the other functions that can be used to control your phone screen like accessing the menu or zooming will not work.

[cerfskysky.com]

@Nick-Carthew

Nick thanks for your reply. I think you may have missed a post I made to @Con-Hennekens, where I mentioned that with my iPhone, I had tried in Navigation Next, using the zoom buttons, to zoom in and out on a route, to see if it came through to NN in CarPlay on my Carpuride display, and it does. This is just one function of course, but nevertheless a very useful one.

[Con Hennekens]

@Carl-Flint said in Bluetooth external controller on ios:

I think you may have missed a post I made to @Con-Hennekens, where I mentioned that with my iPhone, I had tried in Navigation Next, using the zoom buttons, to zoom in and out on a route, to see if it came through to NN in CarPlay on my Carpuride display, and it does.

Yes, but the question was about the Silverfox controller. I am a curious guy, so I went for it...

I am running the "Headunit Reloaded" app on my tablet, mimicking an AA device. I connected the BarButtons to my phone, and my phone to AA. The Silverfox and most other controllers are not much more than an external keyboard. Specific keypresses lead to an action in the App. Now what I see is the following:

• like you mentioned, zooming in and out in the app reflects to the same action in AA.
• Also pressing the zoom keys on the BarButton reflects to AA
• Also pressing the skip WP button works reflects to AA
• The problem arises when I bring another app in focus. The MRA app is no longer catching the keys, since the app is not in focus.
• therefore the keys do not activate anything in the app anymore, and therefor no actions will reflect to AA
• The same is happening when I put the phone into standby, screen off, to put it in my pocket. No action on the BarButton will reflect to AA.

I think it is pretty safe to conclude that the Silverfox will show the same problem. As long as the MRA app is in focus on your phone, zooming and skipping through any controller will work. But it stops when you put your phone in your pocket.

[Corjan Meijerink]

Correct - we won’t support bluetooth controllers for external CarPlay / Android Auto devices.

Things working on your phone can indeed be reflected on those devices but that is more of a side effect rather than intended purpose

Why won’t we? Official CP / AA devices will have their own dedicated (bluetooth) controller attached to the car / bike itself.

Additional bluetooth controllers connected to your phone are linked to the app and will stop working when phone is locked / another app is open.

[cerfskysky.com]

@Con-Hennekens

Hi @Con-Hennekens, what you have done is very interesting. This is disappointing regarding the focus, for obviously having the screen off is a good way to reduce battery drain. So the implication when using a controller such as the Silverfox, is that the smartphone might need to be connected to a powerbank on long journeys to maintain app focus.

[Con Hennekens]

@Carl-Flint, In my view it is better to stop exploring the possibility to use a controller in combination with CP/AA devices. It will only lead to frustration and dangerous situations when things stop working. It is clear that it controls your phone, and not your CP/AA device.

[cerfskysky.com]

@Con-Hennekens
Agreed you make a valid point about not controlling the CP/AA device. I would settle for being able to zoom in and out on the map and to pan around to see an upcoming waypoint on the iPhone. Without a controller there is no way to do this safely while riding the bike and one might argue it is inviting danger by having the zoom in an out buttons as an option on the NN app, for to use them one has to take one's eyes off the route! To use them safely one has to stop of course.
I am not in favour of mounting the phone directly on the bike for security and avoidance of damage reasons. Why spend a lot of money on a smartphone and expose it to hazards. This the main reason why I like the CP device. I will just have to wait for a CP device to become more sophisticated or maybe I could just go all out and buy the Carpe Iter tablet and BMW controller, or maybe the next iteration of the Chigee!

[Con Hennekens]

@Carl-Flint said in Bluetooth external controller on ios:

Why spend a lot of money on a smartphone and expose it to hazards. This the main reason why I like the CP device.

Exactly for this reason I use a cheap Android rugged phone for navigation on my motorbike. My Pixel 8 Pro with terrific camera stays safely in my pocket. Still I can use the complete app, with controller if I want, without the restrictions Apple en Google impose in CP/AA