Audi Connect connection problems and flickering screen

[xtremist]

I’ve had my new A4 for a week now and I have a few questions regarding the phone connectivity.

I’m having difficulty getting my iPhone to connect to the car so I can use Audi Connect. I would prefer to use the data on my phone package, rather than use a separate sim card. I have registered on the car / my iPhone via MyAudi.

I have had it working once, but seem can’t seem to get it connecting again. I have set my phone as a wifi hotspot (ensuring the password is in capitals, as I can’t see how you enter lowercase letters within the car), but I can’t seem to figure out which connection option to select, can anyone help?

I have worked out that it doesn’t appear to work when the lightning cable is plugged in, as that seems to be the way you get CarPlay to work.

Does anyone else have an issue with the infotainment screen flickering?

Thanks in advance.

[tadziak]

I have many issues with the infotainment system which seems to be full of bugs. Sometimes connecting my iPhone doesn't activate the Carplay at all. When that happens it would stay like that until the end of the day (probably till the system restarts). Also when I listen to my music via bluetooth - sometimes instead of the song list - I see some "..." and the screen would flicker between the current song and the playlist. Audi connect I did not manage to activate at all so far...
I also find it annoying that you can't really just plug an iPhone to the USB for charging (without activating Carplay).

[MJC_OK]

This is something I really need to sit and have another look at, as I haven't touched it since I got mine about six weeks ago ... but it's really annoying me now. Constantly asking me to accept T&Cs and warning that I don't have a sim card installed. Something to do with the use of Google Maps I think?

I also have the issue with CarPlay often not coming on, or freezing/not doing anything when it does - thought I'd sorted this by 'forgetting' the old Audi MMI from my previous car in the bluetooth settings, but it's come back again :(

So no answers unfortunately, just solidarity

[xtremist]

Mine reminds me every day that I don't have a sim card inserted..... I just accept or cancel

Am I the only one with a screen that flickers? It's very noticeable when you have a map on the screen and it's daylight.

[MJC_OK]

Mine reminds me every day that I don't have a sim card inserted..... I just accept or cancel

Am I the only one with a screen that flickers? It's very noticeable when you have a map on the screen and it's daylight.

same here very annoying

I'm afraid (thankfully) that my screen doesn't flicker at all - you should definitely take it in to Audi to be looked at, and help yourself to pockets full of free biscuits and Alpen bars :D

[xtremist]

I'm afraid (thankfully) that my screen doesn't flicker at all - you should definitely take it in to Audi to be looked at, and help yourself to pockets full of free biscuits and Alpen bars :D

Just booked it in. They did mention that there is a software update as well, the car is only 2 weeks old, it's not boding well..... :confused:

[MJC_OK]

I'm surprised that software updates can't be done over the air now, with all this lovely fancy tech in the car - otherwise you could be waiting 18 months or whatever until you next take the car in for a service?

I used the MMI Bluetooth music player for the first time today (used CarPlay until now) - jeez they've made it complicated haven't they? Eventually got my phone playing music, but couldn't figure out how to skip/play/pause etc as the 'Functions' button has been removed :confused: The best I could do was select 'Play random track'

[xtremist]

I used the MMI Bluetooth music player for the first time today (used CarPlay until now) - jeez they've made it complicated haven't they? Eventually got my phone playing music, but couldn't figure out how to skip/play/pause etc as the 'Functions' button has been removed :confused: The best I could do was select 'Play random track'

Haven't worked that one out yet, I'ill have to let the daughter have a go, I'm sure she will suss it out in no time :biglaugh:

[xtremist]

I've just had the issue with the flickering MMI screen looked at by the local Audi dealer.

At the moment Audi are aware of the problem, but don't as yet they don't have a permanent solution. They have suggested that the screen brightness is turned to max, which should help eliminate the problem.

[inf0mike]

I've had my S Line just 7 days and I have noticed a flickering on the MMI display, especially noticeable in the maps. I will be calling the dealership to get it looked at next week.

It looks very much like an automatic brightness adjustment that is constantly trying to compensate for ambient light levels - if this is the case then a software update could fix the issue.

[AT.]

It looks very much like an automatic brightness adjustment that is constantly trying to compensate for ambient light levels - if this is the case then a software update could fix the issue.

I had the very same situation on my A6/4G earlier, and for first I thought it's a contact failure. However for now I almost forgot about it, because I changed the day/night settings to "daylight" in the MAP settings (A prefer Google Earth skin - there is no big difference between the day/night brightness in my car). And you are right, this problem occured ONLY in the map section, and never on other MMI pages.

IMHO, it can't be a light sensor or MMI problem in general, as I have no problems with the exterior lightings, so IMHO both the MMI and the light sensor are working fine. By the above, I suggest to try to select day or night, but not "auto" for map brightness. If this setting will eliminate the problem, than we can be sure that this flickering is a MMI software bug.

I could really appreciate even if you will share me your experience with the above idea, even if your car service will solve your problem.

[xtremist]

I find the daylight setting far too bright for night driving.

[AT.]

I find the daylight setting far too bright for night driving.

Then try the night settings. This idea is about to find, is the light sensor causes the flickering screen on the map, or not. If it's some light sensor problem, a fixed setting (day OR night) will eliminate the flickering.

[inf0mike]

I've had my S Line just 7 days and I have noticed a flickering on the MMI display, especially noticeable in the maps. I will be calling the dealership to get it looked at next week.

It looks very much like an automatic brightness adjustment that is constantly trying to compensate for ambient light levels - if this is the case then a software update could fix the issue.

My booked visit was today and I spent a good half hour discussing the issue and my own findings with the diagnostic engineer.

I was able to demonstrate the issue in a 100% repeatable way and can clearly see what the issue is but it will rely on Audi issuing a software update to resolve it.

The issue is related to auto brightness on the display in response to exterior light levels.

The weather was bright and sunny today so it is easy to reproduce:

In direct bright sunlight the MMI display ramps up to maximum brightness. If you then move the car into a more shaded area you will notice the display slowly lowering the brightness to compensate. The system seems to have a fixed number of brightness levels between lowest and highest, possibly 16 or 32 at best. The system appears to calculate what brightness to set the display at based on some formula from the sensor reading however, if the result of the calculation is between two of the brightness levels, it bounces between two of them giving the slight flickering. This can be exaggerated when driving along a road that is going in and out of shaded sections.

Most modern smartphones compensate brightness in a similar way however they have many more brightness levels, e.g. 256 or possibly more which is why they offer a nice gradual change.

The technician logged the issue in the Audi technical database system and discovered that the issue has been seen previously and that the cause has been identified as "incorrect software". The system also seemed to indicate that a software fix was in production but there is no estimate on when it will be available.

Additionally, the instrument cluster brightness setting (the retractable knob by the headlamp switch) also appears to have some bearing on the flickering MMI display as the lower you have the instrument cluster lighting in general, the more pronounced the flickering becomes.

No solution as yet but hopefully some useful / interesting information for someone who might be reading this.

[veltror]

Could be one of these

90J5 - software update for display, some displays are displaying stripes

96D5 - Lose cable loom
+ Software update

96D7 - airbag light – intermittently comes on

[mark.hutchinson]

Hi. A friend of mine bought a B9 A4 Sport saloon in April and has commented on a screen flicker a number of times (it's due fir 3 days at the dealer for a number of other problems). I have a B9 A4 Avant but have not seen this (yet...). I do have a bit of a problem with my iPod where I can't always get back to previous menus to choose another album, artist etc. (so end up having to keep listening to the best of ABBA as it always starts with the first album!). I haven't found a pattern to it.

I also have an issue with the LED lighting control which sometimes is blank on the light colour choice screen. Only turning the car off and on again brings it back.

[ILikeJam]

I've just spent my lunch hour really playing with the MMI properly for the first time. I noticed a very faint flicker when CarPlay activated and it was sitting on the Apple home screen. It's like that in all the other menus as well but it's barely noticeable in them. Is this what everyone else has noticed? It's so faint that I had to rub my eyes a few times to check that it was actually happening and not just me!

The other thing I've noticed is that CarPlay doesn't always start up automatically and sometimes I have to go into the Connections menu and manually select my iPhone against the Audi Smartphone option.

Has anyone bought a SIM card for the car? How much data do you find it's using? Where the fork is the card slot?!

[iambu]

SIM card slot is in the glovebox (open it and look at the top of it), along with SD card slots

[jimihat]

Hi All.
My A4 2.0 TFSI S-Line is due on 1st September.
Does the car get data from your phone automatically or is it advantageous to use a SIM card in the car? I'm happy to use my phone for data but not if I have to faff around with anything every time I get in the car.
Also, has anyone had any issues with SD car audio? is there any particular format/order that the folders/files have to be in? I've got a 64GB Transcend SD card that I'm hoping to use.
Finally, does anyone use Waze on their phone? if so I'm wondering if it works via Carplay. I often use it when I know traffic delays are likely and find it really useful but cant find any mention of it in relation to Carplay.
Thanks
Jim

[spellsinger]

Hi All.
My A4 2.0 TFSI S-Line is due on 1st September.
Does the car get data from your phone automatically or is it advantageous to use a SIM card in the car? I'm happy to use my phone for data but not if I have to faff around with anything every time I get in the car.
Also, has anyone had any issues with SD car audio? is there any particular format/order that the folders/files have to be in? I've got a 64GB Transcend SD card that I'm hoping to use.
Finally, does anyone use Waze on their phone? if so I'm wondering if it works via Carplay. I often use it when I know traffic delays are likely and find it really useful but cant find any mention of it in relation to Carplay.
Thanks Jim

Regarding Data SIM/Phone in the car, you can set up defaults for various of the online content, so have the phone do one thing and SIM doing something else (easier to see than explain!) - yes it is probably more convenient to have the SIM in the car all the time, also in my case I don't have a huge data allowance on the phone so using a (PAYG) data sim means no nasty payment shocks - different users may have different priorities (and Data plans).

SD card use is ok, the biggest downside is that it won't do "gapless" playback, so concerts, classical music & Pink Floyd for instance will have small breaks in the sound. I can't help with organizing as I only used a simple file structure, by the way it plays lossless FLAC files without issue, it is simple enough to set up a few albums/songs and see if they work though - then fill the card later.

Don't use Waze, sorry

Regards

Mike

[jimihat]

Thanks Mike, that's all very useful. I have a work phone with no data limits so might give it a whirl and then revert to a PAYG sim if I have issues. Great news that it will play FLAC from an SD card!

[bosduif82]

Hi All.
My A4 2.0 TFSI S-Line is due on 1st September.
Does the car get data from your phone automatically or is it advantageous to use a SIM card in the car? I'm happy to use my phone for data but not if I have to faff around with anything every time I get in the car.
Also, has anyone had any issues with SD car audio? is there any particular format/order that the folders/files have to be in? I've got a 64GB Transcend SD card that I'm hoping to use.
Finally, does anyone use Waze on their phone? if so I'm wondering if it works via Carplay. I often use it when I know traffic delays are likely and find it really useful but cant find any mention of it in relation to Carplay.
Thanks
Jim

I have an automated script on my iPhone (only when it's jailbroken) that enables the hotspot when the phone connects to Bluetooth. It works great, I can keep it in my pocket and both the Bluetooth and MMI will connect. So it is possible to automate the functionality, but some work like jailbreaking needs to be done in order for it to function.
This way the car will use my phone data at all times.

No SD card issues.
My music is a straight copy/paste from my music folder on my Mac and MMI displays it as such. Artist/album/songs

I don't use waze. But on carplay you have apple maps, which should be about as good as Google maps in predicting traffic and proposing alternative routes.
Thanks to the data connection with MMI i use the Google traffic info, which works a charm.
AFAIK there's no Waze app for carplay currently.



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