ConnectedDrive API: Breaking Change

[nberlette]

UPDATE: @TA2k's life support saves the day

Thanks to the downright ingenious work by @TA2k, the open source BMW ConnectedDrive community is back in action. This means development can resume once again for all of our projects.

Once I have the bandwidth, I'll be rewriting this thing from the ground up. All typescript this time 😉

Stay tuned, thanks for the support.

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BMW pulled the plug. 🔌

As of July 1st, 2021, BMW no longer allows authentication to their ConnectedDrive servers, effectively eliminating all apps (like this one) from sending remote requests. This coincides with a major update/overhaul of their official app, which apparently includes a subscription fee as one of its new "features".

It's with a heavy heart that I therefore have to pull the plug on my beloved bmwcd. I suspect some of the other maintainers of related projects are going to be faced with the same decision. It was fun while it lasted, I just wish I could have realized the finished product before it was terminated.

Maybe the community will be able to reverse-engineer this new API... but for now it seems BMW is strong-arming us into paying for these features, and restricting them to their implementation. This is completely contradictory to the principles of Open Source Software and I disagree with every aspect of it.

I love the cars they make, but their business tactics are pretty scummy. Its 2021; and it's sad to see BMW move against open source like this, while also seeing Mercedes encouraging the growth of open source development with open access to their API.

Shoutout to the libraries that helped inspire this one, including @bimmerconnected. ❤️

• N. Berlette