OREANDA-NEWS. BMW and MINI are integrating Life360 – a family app enjoying considerable global popularity – into their vehicles. 50 million families around the world already use Life360 to stay connected with their friends and relations.

Whether planning dinner together, meeting up with a car pool or wanting to make sure that the kids or grandparents have made it home safely, the Life360 app allows families and friends to communicate easily and bring each other quickly up to speed. After signing up to a new private “circle”, users can share their location and make phone calls or chat online. They can also choose to switch off the location-sharing function. It is also possible to create several groups, although members of different circles, such as close and extended family, can only view one another if they are also members of the same group.

The integration of Life360 into BMW ConnectedDrive and MINI Connected allows the car’s navigation system to guide the driver to a circle member’s current location directly through the app. Telephone conversations with group members can likewise be made directly from the application via the car’s audio system. All that’s required is a live Bluetooth connection between the phone and the car.

The Life360 app is certified for use in BMW and MINI cars with the Apple iPhone and can be downloaded free of charge from the Apple App Store.

BMW ConnectedDrive and MINI Connected: neatly integrated smartphone apps for a wide range of services and features.
The integration of smartphone apps into BMW and MINI cars enables BMW ConnectedDrive and MINI Connected to offer users a steadily and rapidly expanding range of services and features. The Apps for Automotive (A4A) interface developed by BMW allows BMW and MINI to seamlessly integrate smartphone apps from third-party suppliers into their cars. These applications are not simply shown in the car’s display – their functionality is integrated into the car with maximum usability and the smoothest possible control logic. These BMW-certified apps meet the same requirements in terms of safety and ease of use as every other vehicle function that is operated by the BMW iDrive Controller or MINI Controller and displayed in the BMW Control Display or MINI Centre Instrument.

The innovative A4A interface ensures that current and future models can be equipped with the latest apps at any time via BMW ConnectedDrive and MINI Connected, bringing exceptional flexibility to all BMW and MINI models and ensuring they keep pace with future developments. All that’s required are a connectivity platform – already provided by ConnectedDrive Services (with BMW apps) or MINI Connected – and a smartphone hooked up with the car via a snap-in adapter or USB cable.