Review: BRP Go! is going...going...GONE!!

[linguine]

Howdy do to all,

Firstly, I KNOW there is/are a thread(s) about BRP Connect and perhaps BRP Go!. But I don't want to hang this on a thread running many pages long. [Mods, feel free to move this post, however].

I have almost a decade of product support for all things Google, and I know a bit about tech and apps. I gotta say that BRP Go! and its progeny apps are the most arcane, clunky and kludgy I have ever encountered. The navigation apps/maps portion is balky at best, the music radio thing is from the era of hard drives and floppy discs, and AccuWeather is just so-so.

Using the screen control gimbal to get to the app you want is a 1st gen gamer stick. Even then, if you mispush the thing on the app you want, you might just get bounced back to square one. Doing any gimbal stuff in the dopey maps app will surely result being popped back to the main app screen. Restricting the maps app usage to anything but a "premium" account is a pure grift.

I have had direct communication with the app devs, and received pretty much of a brush off.

So off it came. BT via my trusty Pixel 7 Pro, Google Maps, Spotify downloads for offline use, is the name of my tune.

Your rants most welcomed...

 

[rustin921]

I just purchased an 2020 Spyder rt Limited, and wanted toi connect to the BRP app and display stuff on the Dash.

Well, to my surprise, an Android does not work, I get USB Malfunction, so I tried my wife's I Phone it connected.

I'm NOT going to get a I Phone, when there are items called Android Auto and Apple Car Play.

Rant concluded

 

[BajaRon]

Somehow, I am getting the feeling that you are a little disappointed with your 'Premium', BRP components!



They build these. You'd think they could build a radio and map app that worked.

 

[linguine]

Yeah.

BRP went the route of a proprietary app rather than paying fees to Apple or Google for Car Play or Auto. Some car mfrs tried that a few years back; all have capitulated, AFAIK. Well....maybe Rolls Royce holds out still...

 

[linguine]

Yeah, Ron. Fully agree.

Maybe BRP Go! and associated apps are big in Canada, or Germany, or elsewhere.

 

[RayBJ]

I too am a techno-weenie (retired). Entire career in tech support for hardware, software, & networking.
When I got my 2020 RT in 2020 I attempted to use the BRP Connect and gave up. As mentioned, the technology is barely 1 step above MS-DOS. Requiring both BT & USB plus poor app implementation in today's world is head-scratching.

 

[SLICE]

For 32Kout the door it should have come with apple car play.

 

[Motorcycledave]

Everyone out west calls it BRP DON'T CONNECT

 

[Fatcycledaddy]

maybe you tech guys are trying to hard.
I'm simple and it works well for me with music, phone calls, and GPS.
A few small glitches every now and then, but my computer and android has small glitches and need restarts also.

FOBO requires an Iphone to update them and I don't have one.....why would you make a product that can only use one brand of phone?

 

[Bfromla]

maybe you tech guys are trying to hard.
I'm simple and it works well for me with music, phone calls, and GPS.
A few small glitches every now and then, but my computer and android has small glitches and need restarts also.

FOBO requires an Iphone to update them and I don't have one.....why would you make a product that can only use one brand of phone?

opcorn: Maybe is more like BRP over complicated. Having the older dash & stand alone GPS worked fine K.I.S.S (Keep It Super Simple){other variations available} Just an opinion

 

[rustin921]

maybe you tech guys are trying to hard.
I'm simple and it works well for me with music, phone calls, and GPS.
A few small glitches every now and then, but my computer and android has small glitches and need restarts also.

FOBO requires an Iphone to update them and I don't have one.....why would you make a product that can only use one brand of phone?

If you got it to connect with an Android and BRP Go and Connect, how did you do it.

I cannot. I get USB malfunction when plugging in phone to the USB adapter.:banghead:

 

[EdMat]

Sometimes you only get what you pay for and sometimes less. For some reason i don't think BRP paid very much, and they still didn't get their moneys worth.

 

[GFrog]

I have never even tried to connect anything to my Spyder not used the radio. My Samsung Galaxy and my wife's, son's and I's helmet BT works just fine for all our needs.

I try to "NOT" use the push button menu system unless I really really have to.

Android Auto, Prime audio, Sirius XM and Google maps is all I use in my 21 Yukon.

I am really happy with that setup.

 

[linguine]

For 32Kout the door it should have come with apple car play.

For us Googler-types, Android Auto.

 

[linguine]

If you got it to connect with an Android and BRP Go and Connect, how did you do it.

I cannot. I get USB malfunction when plugging in phone to the USB adapter.:banghead:

On Android, you need to re-jigger the USB for Data [really, that is the default. See Settings App, then Search for USB

 

[ff73148]

Before I took delivery of my 22 RT Limited I bought a Garmin XT. I've never even considered BRP Connect.

 

[oldguyinTX]

This thread makes my really happy that I have a 2017 without all of that newfangled mumbo-jumbo that by all accounts was DOA in 2018, and now it's like a zombie apocalypse (The Last of Us?) that just keeps blowing up with no sign of ever getting any better.

 

[Flamewinger]

Familiarity with something makes it nice and easy to use. Garmin and TomTom have been around for years and it’s taken just as long to get to like it. Smartphone integration will take just as long to understand it because many can’t figure out how to work it. HD Connect, BMW’s TFT system plus other bike makers will come out with their own system and it all does the same thing.

It integrates a smartphone (which is more than just a phone) into the vehicle’s dash. It’s not really that hard and I find it easy to use. Love it. I know a few Goldwing owners that have the ACP but don’t use it for the same reason mentioned here.

Smartphone integration will soon become standard and if you can’t figure out how simple it is, it’ll be your loss.

The only other choice is to come up with your own system if you think you can do better. So best to get used to it cause it ain’t going away.

 

[Jesster72]

I've tried a couple of times, my biggest gripe is Go can just dump you whenever it feels like. At least that is the way it seems. My phone is a recent model, IOS is up-to-date, and apps are updated, but I will be riding happily along and then silence. Stop, shut down, reboot, and do the connection sequence. Not worth the headache for me.

My solution so far is a data blocker on the USB cable from the glove box, and bluetooth maps and music to the bike. Only thing I miss is phone calls to the Cardo, and those can wait until I stop anyway. If urgent, family knows how to get to me. I am interested in the stand-alone Apple Car Play monitors, if they can bluetooth to the bike, ONLY because a little bigger screen for maps would be nice. My eyes are telling me bigger picture would help!

Not really a rant, just telling how it is. Integrated Car Play would be the bee's knees for me. Maybe my next Spyder will have that.........

 

[Wmoater]

I have a 2017 and feel the same way, so Glad I didn’t get the 18! Dad when he upgraded his spyder had to go with the new BRP app. He uses Sena for his communications. He hates cell phones. We had to put a garmin on it for him. He loves his music and thats his biggest gripe. He needs his darn phone instead of iPod. We can’t BT his old iPod in because it can’t be updated so that’s useless. His biggest gripe is no matter where you keep that phone, inside or outside the bike in Arizona, it gets hot and shuts down. So the App is useless if the phone can’t work. It’s also useless if there’s no cell coverage which is from Arizona to Montana through the mountains and Also southern Arizona and New Mexico. No signal! He hates it. His only gripe about the new spyder is the stupid need for Cell phone. That will be mine too. I have no signal at my house and hate the cell phone. I use a track phone with no data. Cost me $4.99 a month and I can make a call or text if i need to. Thats all I need on the road. I’ll be screwed when I have to switch. The other gripe is most phones only update so far and then the app won’t work. So a perfectly good working phone that is 4 years old has to be thrown away and you are forced to buy an new $800+ phone every so many years. Why does life have to evolve around the phone?