MG iSmart APP not connecting

tarbat

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I'm finding that if I don't drive my Cyberster for a couple of days it becomes inaccessible in the MG iSmart APP, so I can't check battery level, turn on the heating, etc. If I go out to the car and unlock it, the car becomes accessible in the APP.

Is anyone else having the same problem?
 
I have a Jaguar I-Pace and similarly, it goes to sleep after a few days and needs to be woken up by opening the car etc.

I think it's just the manufacturers trying to reduce power when not used for a while.
 
This is normal for MG EVs, to save power they go into a deep sleep state after something like a day or so, this prevents the app from working, but it means that the 12V and the HV battery will be fine if you leave it for several weeks (e.g. for a vacation).

You can wake the car up by unlocking and locking it, which can be done remotely.
 
Have the same issue with the ZS EV, after more then 30 hours of parking the ismart can't connect.
Maybe it has something to do with battery saving, but not very handy dandy in winter times when you want to defrost the car remotely. Unlocking the car remotely does not work since the app can;t connect and from home it is parked to far away to unlock with key ;)

Hyundai did tis a lot better never had these issues. well i gues i will be goging back to that brand and skip MG untill they fix this deep sleep issue in cold winter countries ;)
 
Unlocking the car remotely does not work since the app can't connect...
If the sleep timer is say 30 hours, then perhaps telling the car to lock (or unlock then lock if needed) once a day via the app might keep it awake for another 30 hours, thereby keeping the car accessible to the app. It might even be possible to automate that somehow, if needed.

What gets me is that they already have a computer listening for lock and unlock from the key fob. Presumably, this is done in a very low power circuit. How hard would it be to extend that circuit to listen for cellular radio signals as well? I suspect that a car battery could power a mobile phone for months if the screen was turned off. Phone chips sre presumably already designed for ultra low power in standby.

But I have no real idea of how complex and thus expensive such a circuit would be. All it has to do is to recognise data is coming in for the car, snd wake up a far more powerful ECU to deal with the data. Even if the first packet is lost, the other end will resend due to a lack of acknowledgement.
 
If the sleep timer is say 30 hours, then perhaps telling the car to lock (or unlock then lock if needed) once a day via the app might keep it awake for another 30 hours, thereby keeping the car accessible to the app. It might even be possible to automate that somehow, if needed.

What gets me is that they already have a computer listening for lock and unlock from the key fob. Presumably, this is done in a very low power circuit. How hard would it be to extend that circuit to listen for cellular radio signals as well? I suspect that a car battery could power a mobile phone for months if the screen was turned off. Phone chips sre presumably already designed for ultra low power in standby.

But I have no real idea of how complex and thus expensive such a circuit would be.

Indeed how hard can it be, MG just need to look at how other EV brands deal with this ;)
 
I have been away from the Cyberster for around 2 month. I could not log on to the car via the app. I can confirm that it is only going in a sleep mode. After opening the car with the key it immediately connected to the car. It is weird that it disconnects as one meaning of the app is to monitor, for example the 12 V battery, which was fine by the way (12.3V) and after start driving immediatley fully up. Not bad for 2.5 months "parked"
In my case it would be important to switch on the aircon from time to time as it is very humid here in Thailand and I got already my first little mold stains.
 
In my case it would be important to switch on the aircon from time to time as it is very humid here in Thailand and I got already my first little mold stains.
That's why I wanted to connect as well. Our car typically sits for several weeks over the winter and I like to start up the aircon every couple of weeks to keep the interior fresh.
 
Also a thing what i find disappointing from this app is after i unlocked the car remote with the key, it will automatically lock after 20 seconds. I found that in this 20 seconds i was not able to connect with the app, because the car locks this quick it has not fully come out of sleep.

Trying it 3 times in a row, unlocking with key, connecting with app, it just is a horrible situation. But finally when the third time it went in locking mode, i pressed the unlock button on the remote key quickly. In the background the app was still refreshing and could get access.

So above is for starters annoying. However i got the app connected and i could finally get the heater started to unfreeze the windows. Well at least i thought, cause for some reason they restricted this feature to run maximum of 10 minutes, before auto shutdown this heater feature in the app.

So this is not an issue i was thinking but more unwanted, so i reconnected, started the heater one more time from the app, and as i am looking to my car, i can see the ice and snow melting from the front window slowly, but.... yes you guessed it correct, the 10 minute window passed and it stopped.

So lets start it again, well no luck here cowboy, it is restricted to operate the remote access via app a few times. And a message tells you this. And after 1 hour i tried again, with no luck and the same error message.

So the connection is an issue, the run time of a function is an issue with max runtime of 10 minutes, and there is a limit to connect to the app and use app functions without starting/operating the actual car not remotely.

Then happened the next situation, my battery is down to 33% (have a long range battery) which means i can drive 135km well that is ok cause my way from home to work is just 40km. No biggie. Well can't start the heater remotely from app, cause the battery is too low it says in a message. Well why can't i be responsible for running this when i want?, the battery is not too low, but for some reason the factory or app team decided this as a restriction and safety reason.

So a lot of issues with this app and build in restrictions for what ever reason is for no use for a user.

Again, never had these issues with Hyundai EV and APP. So MG and iSmart can make huge improvements that will benefit the user experience for sure.

Anyone else having these same issues? Or does anyone have a resolution for one of them from inside the app?

Be keen on your experiences and thanks for your reply in advance guys :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I tried to out-smart the ismart, by switching on and off the aircon daily. After one time switching on it told me to use the physical key for saftey reasons. So I unlocked and locked the car on a daily basis, but after exactly 7 days it kicked me off.
I could not open and close the doors as I covered the car, maybe that would have been enough action to keep it going.
Anyway, my main reason for remote control is the aircon to avoid mold and bad smell, but it does not work more than one time before you have to use the key again.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I tried to out-smart the ismart, by switching on and off the aircon daily. After one time switching on it told me to use the physical key for saftey reasons. So I unlocked and locked the car on a daily basis, but after exactly 7 days it kicked me off.
I could not open and close the doors as I covered the car, maybe that would have been enough action to keep it going.
Anyway, my main reason for remote control is the aircon to avoid mold and bad smell, but it does not work more than one time before you have to use the key again.
Thats my main reason, the heater to defrost the car, but with that 10 minute max, plus the loss off control it does not do the job in the winter. Helaas we will do it the hard old school way by hand 🫣
 
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