kenmataya

i have some issues with the MMI, and I'm wondering if anyone else is as infuriated as I am?

The jukebox will only hold 3000 songs, even though the hard drive is not full. Voice control will only work with the Jukebox. If an iPod is connected, there is no global shuffle, only album shuffle ( which is not available on the Jukebox ) which makes it completely useless to me. If you're lucky random play will stay on after you select it, if you're lucky.

No global commands - you have to select telephone to make a call. And when you do, if your contact has multiple numbers, the MMI won't show you the descriptors - you get to guess which one is the right number.

The voice recognition is sketchy and the "computer" voice is horrible, my GTi sounded much better. Sometimes my A4 tells me the "voice commands cannot be accepted at this time".

There is often a several minute delay for the music to even begin after the car is started.

I am extremely disappointed in the ****-poor programming of this system in a $40K+ car. These are faults I had no idea i even needed to check for in a car of thos "quality". I just leased my A4 in March and I am going to get rid of it at the end of the month.

snagitseven

You don't say what year A4 you have. there have been two MMI iterations since the MY2009 A4. If you have a MY2013+, you have many more options than you describe, particularly with voice control.

Q5 Bob

It sounds like these things are important to you and you are really disappointed. A good reminder for folks to check out things of importance before buying or leasing.

superswiss

Since you are leasing your car, I assume it's a current model. Frankly, overall the MMI is pretty good for a factory system, but you have to actually read the manual if you are not already familiar with it. It could be more intuitive, I give you that.

I can't speak to the jukebox. Never used it and I don't have an iPod hooked up to it. I stream music from my phone over Bluetooth from apps like Pandora etc. The phone does everything.

Global commands - well, obviously you didn't read the user manual. There are several global commands and calling one of your contacts is one of them. I never have to select telephone first before I can call somebody.

Multiple numbers - there are icons next to the number to indicate which one is mobile, home, business, fax. Granted not the best as the icons are not as easy to recognize as text. However you should really use the proper voice command so it knows which number you wanna call. For example to call somebody's cell say: Call John Smith cell or Call John Smith private to call them at home or call Call John Smith business to call them at work.

Voice recognition - frankly, it's pretty good for an in car system. It handles background noise very well, although I have the B&O system which deals better with background noise. This is coming from somebody for whom English is a second language. It even deals well with all the foreign names in my contacts. Again if you'd read the user manual you would know that there is a feature to train it to your voice. Makes a big difference.

Computer voice - yes, I give you that. It sounds too synthetic, but I've gotten used to it.

Just a few pointers. Maybe you'll give it another chance.

superswiss

Quick follow up. With a bit of Googling you can find the following older list of voice commands. The newest system has additional commands, but unfortunately the documentation in the user manual is a bit thin. These commands all still work, but many are not listed in the user manual. They do add quite a bit to the enjoyment of the system.

Audi MMI 3G Voice Recognition Commands - The Audi Guy

TheTopBloke

I recently picked up a 2014 A4, and while I can see my phone numbers in the MMI, if I attempt to use the voice commands, it says phone book is empty. Huh? Anybody have this problem and figure out what's going on here?

audi8k

Are you saying that you can search and scroll through your contacts via the MMI buttons but the voice command to bring up the phone book comes up empty?

If you can bring up an entry with the MMI controls there is a command to have the system read out the name of the entry. Check if that works.

If you don't see both names and numbers using the MMI buttons, you can start by checking what Audi states about compatibility with your phone here:
Audi Datenbank für mobile Geräte

audi8k

1) I have noticed the same limitation in random play from SD cards. (It is also stated in the user guide that only juke box and CD player supports global random play.) I have enough room in my SD-cards so I use a work-around in that I put my music, as I like, in folders (type or album etc) but also put a copy of all the files in a common folder "all" (quickly done with windows). I then use this folder for random play between all titles.

2) Random play is remembered correctly from SD-cards. I have to activate in again only if I change media source.

3) Music playback from SD-cards starts quickly after engine ON (or inserted key). Maybe 5-10 seconds? There is more of a delay until I can use voice commands because it starts loading the navigator and reading the contacts from my phone. But not many minutes, perhaps one or two with about 600 contacts.

kenmataya

I will check on these suggestions, nonetheless i'm still infuriated at the arbitrary 3000 song limit on the jukebox. I traded in my 2011 GTi and assumed this infotainment system would be an improvement, but its really not.

dscline

I agree here, but...
I have to give it to the OP here. I have the same issue. My partner has several different emails, and a few different phone numbers. They are all loaded in my phone under one contact, but the car wants to break them out. I say "call John Smith cell", and the car says "please choose a line number", and it shows seven different options, all with his name, and all with the mobile phone icon. There's no way to differentiate them, and to make matters worse, it doesn't put them in the same order every time (so I can't learn and remember that the one I want happens to be the 4th option). So I say "Line #1", and then it proceeds to try to "call" an email address, then informs me that it can't do that. It's ridiculous. I got a Galaxy Gear watch, so now if I'm trying to call someone who has multiple addresses, I use it to initiate the call. It's not as seamless as using the car: I have to first mute the stereo so I can hear the weak speaker in the watch and so it can understand what I'm saying. The car's speakerphone doesn't intercept the call until after the first ring, so it seems kludgy. But at least I can make the call that way.