burdman50

If you believe that the AVIC navigation systems for which we paid Pioneer a decent chunk of money should be able to import our Contacts addresses into the navigation system, please reply to this message indicating your support.  BTW, I don't need someone telling me, "Oh, I just use Apple CarPlay".  That's not the issue.  If you're interested, please read my background discussion below.  Please reply to this message saying something like, "I want Contacts Navigation" or I agree, etc. 

I purchased my second AVIC Navigation system for my new F250 and installed it myself.  So, with the Maestro iDataLink and wiring harness, my cost was over a thousand dollars, and it took me about three days off and on to get everything installed the way I wanted.  Went to test the navigation system after importing my contacts, and the only things imported from my iPhone Contacts were the phone numbers.  I can't believe that Pioneer STILL has not written code to use my iOS Contacts to automagically navigate to an address in my Contacts database.  In this day and age, and being a database developer myself, I can frankly state that there is absolutely NO EXCUSE for the absence of this software development feature.  

So, as this $1000 or more system is currently sold to us by Pioneer, if we decide to use the AVIC system for navigating to an address within our current address books, we need to MANUALLY enter the following information: 

1) State

2) City or Zip

3) Street Name

4) House Number

Folks, that could easily require manually entering 15 to 20 bytes of information ... every time you use the system.  This is precisely why computers and software programs were written ... to save people time and frustration.  

I called Pioneer tech support and first reached a Level 1 "support" technician who had no idea what I was talking about.  Asked to speak to a supervisor, and I was transferred to a fairly knowledgeable person who understood the issue and subsequently escalated my concern to Pioneer's top AVIC support contact here in the US.  

So, the perspective of this individual went something like this: the Chinese software developers have taken the posture that there is NOT ENOUGH INTEREST in having this functionality within the navigation system.  And of course, since these people believe they can walk on water, that's pretty much the end of the conversation.  

There is an app on Apple's App Store named "AVICSYNC" which presumably had this functionality built into the software, but I (and MANY others) could never get it to work properly with our older systems.  Attempts to use that software resulted in the AVICSYNC app complaining, "No usable address found".  Interestingly, support for that app was dropped after the AVIC 8200 system, and the AVICSYNC app, which is still available on Apple's App Store has a 1.3 star rating out of 5 stars.  It has been OVER A YEAR since it was last updated.  The user reviews are horrible.  As a database developer, I would not be able to sleep at night if I were responsible for developing that software.  And the individual who actually IS RESPONSIBLE should be embarrassed and ultimately fired, since he or she is not doing his or her job.   

Simple math alone would allow me to say, "Let's assume there are 5000 AVIC navigation systems currently in use today.  And let's assume that 10% of the users of those systems would like to be able to navigate to the address of an individual within their Contacts database, without manually entering 15-20 bytes of data or more.  That would mean that 500 people want that functionality".  If it were my software, I would provide the functionality if only 50 people wanted it.  

In summary, Pioneer apparently needs a few people to remind them of their obligation to provide their users with the best possible user experience; it should make life easier, not more difficult.  

If you agree, please respond with your own simple message in order that we may send a simple message to Pioneer.  

Not sure if this issue has been resolved satisfactorily for everyone, but I just purchased a new AVIC-W8500NEX and was having exactly the same issue.  Couldn't hear Siri, couldn't hear phone calls, etc.  Turns out that the volume control BUTTON on the front of my headend controls the volume for CarPlay functions ONLY when CarPlay is active.  Pressing the button at any other time has no effect on the volume for Siri and other CarPlay functions.  So, if you are experiencing similar issues with volume related to CarPlay functions, make sure CarPlay is active, then press the volume Up (or Down) button on the front of the headend unit.  Hope this saves some folks a bit of frustration.  I spent about two hours on the issue, and of course, Pioneer support was a joke.  "Try another phone".  Dumb