Built In Apple Music Finally Usable!

[jvincent]

I absolutely love the idea of the built in Apple Music app, but it has never been reliable. In fact, it seemed to work only about 2% of the time and that's being generous. Got way too familiar with the first few bars of a song followed by "loading…" and/or "Please select a track from the list".

On an earlier thread, a member posted about the Wi-Fi Hotspot option improving Apple Music app performance. From the Porsche Connect Store:

The High Speed Package can be used for Wi-Fi-Hotspot, Apple Music, Apple Podcast and Online Radio.

Even though I have little use for the Hotspot, who doesn't want High Speed Data?

Now that I have the Hotspot option working, Apple Music is finally responsive and usable (as is the Podcast app). Is it worth $20 a month? Maybe. Depends on how long the high speed data lasts. For me, nice to see the PCM Apple Music app performing as promised.

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[DerekS]

I had no idea that package would improve the Apple services.

This might be a game changer and improve my hate/hate relationship with the radio.

 

[W1NGE]

To pay for the package should not be a requirement. Mine has worked perfectly since day 1 using the standard free LTE connection.

Hot spot for non connected devices and no other means of sharing a phone hot spot then perhaps a case can be made.

Feels like the provider Porsche uses in your area has a patchy service and the one you get with the optional data package is different / better.

Send the monthly bill to Porsche!

 

[B61]

I 2nd that.
i’mmusing it when CarPlay is lost and if doesn’t come back in a minute or two.
it works slower (loading next song), otherwise it’s reliable (i have solid LTE on my daily route).

 

[Pozuelo]

When using Apple Music from the car, it is a streaming service. When data flow is interrupted, if the buffer is small (looks like it), silence will follow. Then it has to wait to regain connectivity, and start playing after the buffer has its minimum loaded. So depending on connection speed and bandwidth available, this is variable. This is also why many times upon startup, there is a long pause.

 

[DerekS]

I agree that it shouldn't be a requirement, but I'm absolutely going to see if it improves my experience.

My symptoms with Apple Music all smell connectivity-related.

I'm giving it a try, it's free for the first month over FoD.

Now I'm waiting for the FoD to actually install...

 

[gnop1950]

I'll test this on my next drive. However, I usually just use CarPlay so I can use Waze, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Siri. So far I haven't had any issues with CarPlay except having to log out/on to the PCM after an OTA update to get CarPlay back.

 

[jvincent]

My symptoms with Apple Music all smell connectivity-related.

I'm giving it a try, it's free for the first month over FoD.

Now I'm waiting for the FoD to actually install...

I signed up Wednesday and things finally started working Friday. The initial result was losing Apple Music, Apple Podcast, and Online Radio (grayed out and no way to log in) and not having internet through the WiFi. I called customer support and in the end they got it working.

BTW, the Connect Store page says to turn on “Enable Internet access”. I have no such setting and the agent that fixed the issue says this no longer applies to Taycan. Also, not a typical FOD and doesn't install like one.

 

[Torv]

I absolutely love the idea of the built in Apple Music app, but it has never been reliable. In fact, it seemed to work only about 2% of the time and that's being generous. Got way too familiar with the first few bars of a song followed by "loading…" and/or "Please select a track from the list".

On an earlier thread, a member posted about the Wi-Fi Hotspot option improving Apple Music app performance. From the Porsche Connect Store:


Even though I have little use for the Hotspot, who doesn't want High Speed Data?

Now that I have the Hotspot option working, Apple Music is finally responsive and usable (as is the Podcast app). Is it worth $20 a month? Maybe. Depends on how long the high speed data lasts. For me, nice to see the PCM Apple Music app performing as promised.

Like you, I've experienced intermittent success with the Apple Music app in the PCM. It is truly and remarkably unreliable. Frustrated by this, I've had my dealer thoroughly examine the PCM, they performed a total reset of the PCM (something more comprehensive than the reset we can do) with still no improvement.

I thought that maybe the $20/mo subscription to Porsche’s wifi hotspot might help, so I engaged it and found no difference in the reliability of the Apple Music app. At first it seemed to make a difference, but I ultimately determined that it really didn't and I was being stubbornly optimistic in my search for a solution to a frustrating problem.

The one thing this experience confirmed is that the Apple Music in the PCM is based entirely on the strength of cellular coverage in your area regardless of whether or not you subscribe to Porsche’s wifi. The Porsche wifi is based upon Verizon here in the US. I have T-Mobile for my iPhone and I thought using two different cellular providers might help. It really didn't matter, so I canceled the Porsche wifi and learned to wait until the PCM latched onto a strong cellular signal for Apple Music to work somewhat reliably.

 

[jvincent]

Like you, I've experienced intermittent success with the Apple Music app in the PCM. It is truly and remarkably unreliable. Frustrated by this, I've had my dealer thoroughly examine the PCM, they performed a total reset of the PCM (something more comprehensive than the reset we can do) with still no improvement.

I thought that maybe the $20/mo subscription to Porsche’s wifi hotspot might help, so I engaged it and found no difference in the reliability of the Apple Music app. At first it seemed to make a difference, but I ultimately determined that it really didn't and I was being stubbornly optimistic in my search for a solution to a frustrating problem.

The one thing this experience confirmed is that the Apple Music in the PCM is based entirely on the strength of cellular coverage in your area regardless of whether or not you subscribe to Porsche’s wifi. The Porsche wifi is based upon Verizon here in the US. I have T-Mobile for my iPhone and I thought using two different cellular providers might help. It really didn't matter, so I canceled the Porsche wifi and learned to wait until the PCM latched onto a strong cellular signal for Apple Music to work somewhat reliably.

If I end up burning through my high speed data before the end of the month and having problems again, I'll be cancelling as well.

I've no doubt there's more to these issues though. I suspect there is an authentication hiccup/timeout that kills connectivity as well. Many times, logging out and then back in gave me a much better experience, but only temporarily.

 

[DerekS]

Well I enabled the Wifi hotspot feature - the Porsche Connect side of this is available and I checked the "internet access" box.

Guess what? It made things worse, at least temporarily

Apple Music and Podcasts are both grayed out, telling me to establish a data connection when I try to use them.

I tried connecting a device to the hotspot and it wouldn't work either.

My assessment at this point:

- Porsche side is active, but Verizon side is not
- Apple Music and Podcasts are pointing to the "new" (non-working) connection, which will presumably be faster once it's hot

We shall see.

 

[jvincent]

Well I enabled the Wifi hotspot feature - the Porsche Connect side of this is available and I checked the "internet access" box.

Guess what? It made things worse, at least temporarily

Apple Music and Podcasts are both grayed out, telling me to establish a data connection when I try to use them.

I tried connecting a device to the hotspot and it wouldn't work either.

My assessment at this point:

- Porsche side is active, but Verizon side is not
- Apple Music and Podcasts are pointing to the "new" (non-working) connection, which will presumably be faster once it's hot

We shall see.

So a consistent user experience! Same behavior I experienced, except my car has no enable internet access setting. Your assessment corresponds with my experience.

If it makes you feel any better, just went down to the garage and Apple Music starting playing from right where I left off before I could even get into D. Never, ever has that happened. I was giddy.

 

[DerekS]

So a consistent user experience! Same behavior I experienced, except my car has no enable internet access setting. Your assessment corresponds with my experience.

If it makes you feel any better, just went down to the garage and Apple Music starting playing from right where I left off before I could even get into D. Never, ever has that happened. I was giddy.

Well that is encouraging. I hope I don't have to deal with support to get the internet/Apple parts working. I did try rebooting the PCM, cycling profiles, etc. No go, so I figure I just have to wait on Verizon for now.

 

[satchurator]

Interesting. I wonder does this improve any other aspects of the connectivity, such as how long it takes for My Porsche and the car to sync up, sending timers etc?

For the default uplink, if there’s any throttling happening with the cellular data provider, or it’s using a lower service level of LTE, I can imagine that impacting other things.

@jvincent Subjectively, does anything else feel faster?

 

[jvincent]

@jvincent Subjectively, does anything else feel faster?

I would say no. Only the three functions mentioned on the Porsche Connect Store are seeing a usability increase. I would imagine the rest of the connectivity options are bottlenecked at the Porsche servers anyhow.

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