MG iSmart lower your expectations

[Jaygee]

Picked up my trophy long range today. Well worth the 7month or so wait.
The app bound to the car no problem.
I am unable to update the status or connect to the car. I keep getting the spinning cog.

The above status message is from when I first bound the car. Checking the status check does not work either. I keep getting the following message.

Any ideas what’s happening?

Thanks

 

[Lambo51]

We've had our Trophy Connect long range for three weeks now. All good except we can't get logged on the app. It says it will send a verification code, but nothing arrives to my husband's Iphone.
Also we had a problem with the sat nav not working correctly. We could input a destination and it would load up, but then the screen froze. We were advised that if the settings were set to 'Dead Reckonings', it would not work. We disabled this, but experienced the same issue. It corrected itself overnight, thank goodness.

I had the same issue, I was expecting a 4 digit code to come to phone but never happened, then I decided to put my own code in. Hey presto it worked . Make sure you remember your 4 digit pin before inputting it

 

[TheArcher]

Car uses O2 from what I hear

That explains it.

 

[Lovemyev]

That explains it.

It's a multi sim if I remember correctly.

 

[hmadsen]

Picked up my trophy long range today. Well worth the 7month or so wait.
The app bound to the car no problem.
I am unable to update the status or connect to the car. I keep getting the spinning cog.
View attachment 9009
The above status message is from when I first bound the car. Checking the status check does not work either. I keep getting the following message.
View attachment 9010
Any ideas what’s happening?

Thanks

When i first open up my app it works perfect, but if the app is kept running in the background, the next time i start it up, i get similar results to what you are seeing.

The remedy for me is to just force close the app, and then reopen it, and then it works every time.

Have only had it stop working alltogether, one time, and then it was resolved by disconnecting the 12V battery lead for 10 minutes.

The app is lightyears better now, compared to before the May update, back then, it was VERY hit and miss, if the app would connect at all.

 

[idontknowcars]

Had my ZS EV for around a month now and never been able to turn the AC on from my phone. Comes up with this message every time “ remote control instruction failed, please try again later” Anyone got an ideas how to fix it?

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[Kithmo]

Had my ZS EV for around a month now and never been able to turn the AC on from my phone. Comes up with this message every time “ remote control instruction failed, please try again later” Anyone got an ideas how to fix it?

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I don't know for sure as I have the gen 1 ZS, but is it feasable that the AC functions may have to be left on when you last powered the car down to work remotely ?

 

[TonyP]

Sounds like a communication problem to me. Maybe the car has no cellular access where it is parked. Try operating the remote Aircon at another location.

 

[Lovemyev]

“ remote control instruction failed, please try again later”

You will receive this message each time you request a command when the App is not responding correctly, server outage I suspect.
You can as witness a "fail - request unsuccessful" message after you have entered your pass code.
I am assuming that other requests, like lock / unlock the car are working correctly.
Which one of the four buttons on the App are you selecting ?.
If you use the button marked as "A/C Blowing" it should commence "Auto" inside of the car.
Using the "A/C" button, will bring up another option on the right hand side of the screen ( to the right of "Vehicle Status" ) and is coloured in yellow and marked as "HVAC".
If you select this, it will allow you to select a desired internal temp inside of the cabin.
You set the required temp and it will ask for your four digit pass code.
If you get this far, ensure your requested interior temp has been set lower than the ambient temp.
Then you should receive a "success" message straight back, to notify you that it will run for ten minutes, then turn of the HVAC.
It is a pretty instant response, as long as the sever is working correctly.
When you are using this remote facility to run the HVAC from the App, it also triggers the rear tail lights will be displayed from the back of the car !.

 

[AK OK]

It does keep you logged in thankfully.
After login most of the other screens use the inbuilt system keyboard which is so strange.

Sounds like maybe the Android app has been "ported" from the iPhone version .

My kids school app is similar - e.g. weird use of on-screen navigational "back" arrows - if you use the android back key it spits you out & you have to login all over again

 

[MichaelJHunt]

I had the same issue, I was expecting a 4 digit code to come to phone but never happened, then I decided to put my own code in. Hey presto it worked . Make sure you remember your 4 digit pin before inputting it

The 4 digit code is your security code to confirm you are using the app and not someone else it’s your own personal PIN number that you assign.

 

[sgt4hed]

Apologies in advance this is a bit of a jovial whine about the MG iSmart app on Android.
I'm hoping it will low expectations sufficiently so that when you do use it you will be delighted that all of these issues are fixed.
I don't know if the Apple version is any better but I'm not hopeful.

Questions & Answers

Can you get battery status - Yes if you don't mind waiting 60 seconds or longer if it fails and you need to try again.

Can you lock/unlock the car - Yes

Can you turn on/off the AC, AC blowing and Front window defrost - Yes and the rear lights come on when it's dark
View attachment 6207

Is Mobile number verification completely broken - Yes

Does the iSmart app force you to register/login using an in-built iSmart keyboard with a layout nothing like the inbuilt system keyboard - Yes
View attachment 6206

Does this clunky iSmart keyboard support copy & paste - No

Can you use a password manager to profile the username & password - No

Does the iSmart app allow you to login on more than one device? - No

View attachment 6202

Does the < icon work for back navigation? Yes sometimes and No at other times it depends which screen you are looking at

Is the app fast and responsive? - No

Does the "Travel" screen work - No - You get a map of Belliardstraat and a spinning progress bar

View attachment 6203

Does the MG Touch point screen work? - No you get a map of Berlin and a spinning progress bar
View attachment 6204

Charge Management - Do you have to wait up to 60 seconds for data? Yes. Is it consistently 60 seconds and does it suspiciously feel hardcoded somewhere? - Yes
View attachment 6205


Is the overall is the user experience worse and less reliable than Facebook ? Hmm, its so close but Yes the MG iSmart app is worse than Facebook.

Things can only get better?

Have a good weekend

The lights also come on in broad daylight as I found out yesterday in the beaming sunshine when I had activated my HVAC remotely.

The map related things are due to you probably not having connect features as they are associated with routge push which is only available on the Trophy Connect and I believe that the "touch point" thing is to do with charger location and again is a setting only available on the Trophy Connect.

I did however use the remote key thing today, somewhat reluctantly leaving my keys at home I hopped into the car and off I went, got to my destination, got out, locked up, did my things, came back and repeated the process... Worked flawlessly and will definitely use it again.

Yes the app doesn't always update, and sometimes you have to try things more than once, but I don't know many apps that are continuously perfect these days.

The inbuilt keyboard is a nuisance though as it doesn't have a "shift key" only a "caps lock" which causes me headaches every time I need to re-authenticate, which so far has only been twice in the 5 weeks I have owned the car...