Carplay and iPod Classic questions

[cpx4]

Hi everyone,

 

Complete n00b to the forum, but I have an F900BT at the moment and am about to pull the trigger on a new unit.  Most of the online resellers can't answer my questions, so I thought I'd come here where you guys live and breathe this stuff.

 

 

I've got Nav and Bluetooth in my current car, both of which are indispensable.  I'd like to have both in the new head unit too, but Apple Maps is not a great solution for anyone in Europe, data roaming makes it quite expensive to use, not to mention the terrible cell coverage in Ireland where I love, most of the time the connection would be lost and I'd have no navigation.  To be fair to Apple Maps, it's gotten a lot better to use, it's just the supporting infrastructure that's lost.  So I'm most likely looking then at the units listed here :  http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/page/products/carplay/home.html

 

• F960BT
• F860BT
• X8600BT

I've been told by an old workmate (I used to be in the Motor Trade) that the F860BT is discontinued now?  Can anyone confirm this?  The X8600BT needs a Nav module which is crazy expensive, more so than just getting the F960BT.

 

So my real questions are between the F960BT about functionality.  I'd like to use Carplay, Navigation from the Head Unit itself, and the Audio from my iPod Classic as that has the capacity to store my library.   It has 2 USB ports, so physically I know I can connect my iPhone 6 plus via a normal USB -> Lightning cable, and the iPod Classic to the other one with the Pioneer Cable that also connects to the rear aux in, but how does it work?

 

I'm guessing Car Play will only talk to the iPhone 6 Plus and it's music library, so if I want to use my Classic, I'll need to exit Carplay?  If that's true, can I start the normal Nav unit playing music, then jump to Carplay, have Siri read my texts, etc and still have Music from the iPod Classic resume playing when she's done?

 

Likewise, if I'm in the Navigation mode of the Head Unit, and a text comes in, will Carplay throw up a notification overlaying the Navigation screen and Siri read the content out?

 

I'm thinking no to all of this and I'll need to manually change the mode of the head unit, which is a pain in the bum.

 

Ideally, I'd love if a third party company such as Navigon came out with a Carplay compatible app so I could just get the SPH-DA120 instead, it's about half the price

 

Thanks in advance guys!