For years now, Beeliners (ourselves included!) have been asking for the ability to start rides from Beeline devices. It’s been a rather large piece of work, but we’re excited to now have this ability from Original Moto, Moto II and Velo 2 devices! We’ve expanded this further now to include starting navigation from Moto II and Velo 2 devices as well.*
*Sadly, the screen is a bit too small to allow for starting navigation from the device for Original Moto devices. You can still start a recorded ride from an Original Moto device.
Please note: The Start Navigation from Device feature is currently being released in a staged rollout. This may mean you do not have access to the feature right away, as a device software update will be needed. We will be increasing this staged rollout percentage over the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for a prompt to update your device within the Beeline app to access the Start Navigation from Device feature. The same can be said for starting a recorded ride from Original Moto devices.
All users will still be able to start recorded rides from Moto II and Velo 2 devices at this time.
Read on to ensure your Beeline app, phone permissions, and device are set up correctly to get starting rides from the Beeline device 🎉
Enabling Permissions:
To start rides from your Beeline device, it is very important to ensure your Beeline app and phone permissions are set up correctly to allow the device to communicate with the Beeline app.
Make sure your Beeline app is operating on version 4.2.7122 or beyond for Android. iOS users will have access soon!
Make sure your Beeline device is updated to firmware version 4.3.773. You can see this within the Settings > Device settings > Firmware version.
Prepare your Beeline app permissions:
To access the Start ride from device feature, you need to ensure the Beeline app has the following permissions:
Location permission: Head to your phone’s Settings > Beeline app > Location permissions
iOS users: Update the location permission from “When in use” to “Always” to allow the Beeline app to be activated from the device. You can do this within your phone’s Settings > Beeline app > location permissions if you have dismissed the pop-up within the Beeline app.
Note: This won’t mean that the app is constantly using your location; it just means that the app can access it when triggered, in this case, by the device, rather than only when you open the Beeline app from your phone and begin a ride. This allows you to use the feature without using your phone to open the app to start riding.
Android users: there will be no changes to the location permissions you need to give the Beeline app when using this feature. This permission should remain set to “Allow only while using the app.”
Leave the Beeline app open:
iOS users: This is essential to this feature for iOS users. The Beeline app must be open within your phone’s operating system (this includes when it is not present on your screen or the phone is locked, but is left open in the background) to use this feature. Do not “kill”, “quit”, or “close” the Beeline app. If you do, when attempting to start the ride from the device, you will be prompted to open the app to allow the feature.
Android users: So long as the “Start ride from device” setting is enabled through the Beeline app, you can close the app and still access this feature from your device. This is due to how Android runs app services. This setting is enabled by default once the app update has been performed and a device has been connected with the firmware version supporting this feature. IF you disable this feature through the Beeline app, you will need to leave the Beeline app open in the background in order to use this feature.
Starting a ride from the Beeline device:
To start a ride from your Beeline device, use the bottom button* to scroll to the “Ride” screen:
*Original Moto devices will use the right-hand button to access the option to start recording a ride. Use this button navigate to Start ride > then use the bottom button to confirm the action and start the recording.
From here, use the right-hand button to access the start ride options: Routes, Places, and Record:
Here you’ll find your choices for starting the ride: either choosing a previously saved route or a favourite place from your lists within the Beeline app, or simply start recording a ride without navigation.
Make your selection, and you’ll be off to riding after some quick calculations between the Beeline app and your device with all of the typical stats you’d see when starting the ride from the Beeline app!
Please note:
Your Beeline device must have an active Bluetooth connection to the Beeline app to start a ride from the device. Ensure the settings above are enabled in order to get riding this way.
If you are choosing a “Place” as your riding option, you must also have an active internet connection when starting the ride in order for the Beeline app to generate a route.
If you’ve chosen a previously saved route and you are not at the start location, your device will ask you if you’d like to re-route to get to that point. Once you have selected yes, the routing will begin immediately, getting you to the start location and continuing onto your saved route from there.
If you do not have an active connection to the Beeline app, the device will prompt you to open the Beeline app in order to start the ride:
Once you have opened the Beeline app, the intended ride selection will be able to complete.
An extra quick method to start a recorded ride:
Press and hold down the top button from your Moto II or Velo 2 device:
Confirm with the right-hand button that you’d like to get riding:
Ride until your heart's content - you’ll have access to all of the usual tracking screens, speedo and road rating abilities, with the comfort it will all be recorded within your Beeline app account.
Have questions? Get in touch here