CarPlay !!! (Reviews, ...)

[dgoodwin728]

So I agree with all of you guys. It has its ups and downs for sure. I am having an issue with it connected to the HDMI cable. I use that to sling my video from MLBatBat, SundayTicket, FoxSportsToGO Big10 apps ect... It appears that I can't have the hdmi connected at all. I have to use just the lightning cable to activate the carplay. Am I just doing something wrong? I changed the settings to USB>iPhone figuring that would be the fix and it doesn't work. I thought I could just switch between the two to allow me to still use HDMI. 

thanks for any help. Overall I like it, I noticed a HUGE improvement in the audio quality. Now my stereo is bumping where before the update is was pretty lame. 

[lydiasracket]

So far I am personally really impressed with the overall usability of CarPlay.  I have the 6000 NEX with an iPhone 6 running 8.0.2.

 

Some positives right off:

• Navigation:
  • Starting navigation prior to getting into the car
  • The color scheme of the maps is far more pleasing than the stock options on the head unit (Again, totally my personal preference)
  • Ability to disable voice guidance prompts without navigating menus - There is a Speaker button on the top right of the map, tap once to disable audio, tap again to enable
• Siri Integration
  • Message read back has been nice (But then I haven't had anyone in the car with me yet)
  • Hitting the Phone button and Siri immediately asks who you want to call
  • "Navigate to..." an existing contact is working well
• Spotify is working famously (for me anyway.  I know others have not been so lucky)
• Media Player
  • It uses the IOS' integrated settings rather than Pioneer's - Pioneer forces you to always repeat a playlist whereas IOS does not.  This way if you are playing a small playlist in particular (100 - 500 songs) you will not hear the same song again.
  • Ability to create Genius Playlists
• Volume - Ability to independently adjust the output volume and alert volume (This is most likely system wide)

Unfortunately with the good there is always some issues.  By way of gripes, I agree with everyone else regarding the real estate that the home signal strength/home button takes up, however it seems that this is only really an issue in Maps/Navigation mode where the extra space could truly be needed.

 

Also the album art being so faint, for lack of a better phrase, suck ass.  I played around with contrast, brightness and temperature and I am able to see it better than before, however it really still only pops if the art has predominantly solid colors.  Personally I would have liked to have seen them use the format from CarMediaPlayer, which mimics AppleTV.  With that said, I do like how large the skip/pause buttons are.  Another drawback is the size of the position marker.  It is so small it is difficult to glance and see it, you almost miss it.

 

And now, for the bad:

• I have audio crash on me three times already
  • A work around to this is to stop the car, pull the key, restart the car - It is a pain, especially if on the freeway...no music 
  • Twice it was only the Music app that crashed, Spotify worked (Hence the comment above)
• Phone must be unlocked prior to accessing CarPlay
  • Maybe this is more of a gripe, but it is a pain.  It seems like there is this order of operations that you must  follow in order for your car to play music/display-information-it-used-to-naturally - Personally, I want my music to resume playing when I get in my car.  I don't want to futz with my screen for 5 minutes after getting into my car.  This could be a huge problem if someone is waiting for my parking space, especially since the whole point of CarPlay is to keep you from touching your phone; I find myself doing much more  touching now trying to get things to work
• Siri is ssssllllllooooooowwwwwww
  • This is not new to CarPlay.  I have been using the "Hey Siri" feature for the last few weeks with the same issue, I just hoped that this latest firmware release would have fixed the problem

All in all, I think that it was worth the wait, I just wish we didn't have to wait so long.  Initially, I want feel that because of the extra three months, this could have/should have been a bit more polished and refined.  However, I keep reminding myself that the head unit is simply a display for the software that is running on the iPhones.  CarPlay is being pushed from the IOS and the majority of these issues should be resolved by Apple and not Pioneer.  I am not holding my breath on Pioneer releasing another update in the next year/year and half, however I do hope Apple updates CarPlay frequently as it is in need.

 

So I will freely admit that I do not always possess optimal intelligence.  One of the reasons I was unable to get music to play is I downgraded this phone from a 64 GB iPhone to the 16 GB iPhone 6.  Because of this I started using iTunes Match. Apparently there is an option that is tuned off by default to not use Cellular for iTunes Match (Among other services).  This was why I was unable to play music from the Music.app but I was able to from Spotify.  I can at least check that one off of the list!

[TheEdge]

So I will freely admit that I do not always possess optimal intelligence.  One of the reasons I was unable to get music to play is I downgraded this phone from a 64 GB iPhone to the 16 GB iPhone 6.  Because of this I started using iTunes Match. Apparently there is an option that is tuned off by default to not use Cellular for iTunes Match (Among other services).  This was why I was unable to play music from the Music.app but I was able to from Spotify.  I can at least check that one off of the list!

Hey, this happened to me as well when I went into airplane mode by mistake...

[Darwood]

So after a few days of CarPlay usage I had a few thoughts:  CarPlay is mostly smooth and works as I'd hoped, with a few caveats:  1.) It's annoying to have to unlock the phone to use it, never a requirement to play music before.  2.) The extra "Safety First, You Morons!" nag screen that you have to click "OK" on at every connection is extremely annoying already, the unit isn't really doing anything new feature-wise, just in a different way.  3.) NO AUTO-RESUME OF PLAYBACK ON RECONNECTION OR RESTARTING THE CAR?!?! SERIOUSLY?? This USED to happen, WTF Pioneer/Apple?  That's about it, other than I'm not sure how I feel about the CarPlay interface mirroring the actions of the iPhone's.  I'd assumed they'd be independent. Maybe these things will be addressed in future updates.  It's all worth it though, because I can now play music from my USB connected phone without that weird digital buzz.  The update appears to have fixed that issue.

Overall Grade: B+

[Kentinportland]

I agree with Darwood. The most aggravating flaw right now is the lack of "auto resume" for the previous service that I was using. I'm assuming that, at some point, Apple will begin to address at least some of these gripes.

[capikoo]

They do..just ask sir to list your email. She will read em

[indiix2]

Ok, so i have two questions. I've not updated to 1.06 yet (i'm still on 1.01 firmware). I have an 8000nex. Currently i have 2 iPods setup on iPod 1 and iPod2. iPod 1 is my 64GB iPod with iTunes Match and iPod2 is a 16GB iPod running my Audible software that i use to listen to my books. Right now as it stands i can start my car and no matter where i'm at in the pioneer UI my music or book or SXM or HD radio start back after the Pioneer boots up. 

 

I like this and i'm not wanting to screw this up. Every once in a blue moon the audible will start up paused, or switch to music and i have to move it back to audible. Or the iPod1 music starts up paused, but that's like very very rare in the 8-9 months that i've had this unit. 

 

I would like to add the new firmware with CarPlay so that i could use it when i wanted to, although it wouldn't be my typical day to day usage as i'm happy with what i have, but it would be nice to test it out, especially if audible makes a carplay app and they fix the stupid unlock the phone before using it each time retardedness. (although i can see why they do that as it's a security issue for Messages, and email and such but not so much for music.. i mean really? just play music or spotify or maps or whatever was on last, but if i want to click on messages... then maybe ask me (one time) to unlock the phone)....

 

Several of you are saying it doesn't auto re-start your music or service you were listening too... my first questions is are you just talking about CarPlay? Or does that also affect other iPods on the system, or SXM or HD Radio, etc..? I don't want to screw this up nor try and roll-back to the old firmware or do anything that will wreck what i have at the moment. So need some clarification.

 

Now my next question is that CarPlay seems to be driven from both the Pioneer side and the iPhone side. So is the firmware on Pioneer just simply an update that has some bare metal instructions on how to deal with CarPlay (and replacing the AppRadio) and everything else is driven from the phone? In other words, are more features/stability/etc... updates for CarPlay gonna require an update from Pioneer (in which case we might not see anything for months and months and months after it's released to them) or is this gonna be driven from updates to iOS in which case we might see it much more often as they push this technology out (especially next year) to production cars and other radios (Alpine, etc...)?

[Kolenka]

Now my next question is that CarPlay seems to be driven from both the Pioneer side and the iPhone side. So is the firmware on Pioneer just simply an update that has some bare metal instructions on how to deal with CarPlay (and replacing the AppRadio) and everything else is driven from the phone? In other words, are more features/stability/etc... updates for CarPlay gonna require an update from Pioneer (in which case we might not see anything for months and months and months after it's released to them) or is this gonna be driven from updates to iOS in which case we might see it much more often as they push this technology out (especially next year) to production cars and other radios (Alpine, etc...)?

 

Depends on where bugs are. Pioneer gets an audio + video feed from the iPhone, and feeds in inputs from the touch screen, mic, and steering wheel controls. That integration can certainly have bugs. And the nag screen is Pioneer's as well. Anything on the side of UI, behavior, etc is on Apple's side for the most part though (lack of auto-resume might be partly how Pioneer integrates). So new apps, or enhanced functionality in CarPlay itself is up to Apple.

 

Ability to disable voice guidance prompts without navigating menus - There is a Speaker button on the top right of the map, tap once to disable audio, tap again to enable

Another trick here is tap the region with the instructions in them. It turns guidance off, so no voice or instructions, but gives you an ETA, and the route on the map. It's a nice mode for commuting, IMO.

[blacknoi]

Is anyone still on 7.1.2 and trying to use Carplay?

 

I don't plan on upgrading to 8.x for a bit and want to know if carplay works.

[mnidhk]

Just signed up for this thread :

 

I have a strange issue and i think it is because Carplay.

When connected to my radio, and carplay in use then 3rd party notifications will not show on my iphone. Imessages and SMS are coming in on my radio.Looks normal.

But when i turn off my car, take my iphone away, i still get no notifications on my iphone's lockscreen.

I did send some imessages from my ipad to iphone but it is not coming in. Until i unlock my iphone, all the notifications which were send are coming in together!

Or the notifications are coming in delayed. Very delayed.

 

It looks like my iphone is still in Carplay mode or something like that when i disconnected it from my car radio.

 

Does somebody has the same????

i'm on 8.0.2

[drenyce311]

Digging it. This is what App Radio shouldve been. USB cable only. works great. Love it. My only concern is when I have something mirrored to the back to tv for the kids, it automatcally turns it off

[dangitZIN]

Is anyone still on 7.1.2 and trying to use Carplay?

 

I don't plan on upgrading to 8.x for a bit and want to know if carplay works.

Yes it works. I have my iPhone 5 7.1.2 jailbroken and my iPhone 6 on 8.0.2. I posted up a picture on one of these threads too but anyways, Carplay also shows the theme if you have your iphone themed(which IMO is probably the best thing about the update.)

[Beezle]

I am abandoning CarPlay. Too many bugs.

 

Glad I didn't buy the NEX because of CarPlay or I would be unhappy. Or AppRadio for that matter. 

 

This unit (8000 here) was really not worth the cost, but oh well.

 

This is my 3rd Pioneer top of the line navigation model in this vehicle and their inability to reliably integrate the various technologies into one unit is really not very impressive at all. I end up backed up to the most basic functionality anyway. 

[minetheprofit]

Been looking forward to this since I go the nex8000, I upgraded the firmware last night and found out after that my installer did plugin a lightning cable on usb1, now I have to take it back. 

 

Seems like everyone has a positive reviews so far. 

[tekki]

Since the update my pandora seems to cut in and out lately. Never happened before the update