So after having the nex since about the original release date which has been a few months and spending about 8k miles using the GPS and other functions I've come to the conclusion, and this is just my opinion.

The nav sucks on all fronts, I've tried all the different route types to get places and it really does not take you good routes.

I even sat I my driveway put in a destination, let it run the automated route and scratched my head saying why in the hell would it go that way.

Example I live 2 miles off of exit 120 on the garden state parkway, but it wants me to get off at exit 123, go down route 9 then take Lorraine ave to rt 35. That's so much or longer. Or I just keep going to exit 120 and then go down county road it wants me to make a right, onto 35 south then make a uturn and come back 35 north which is absurd. It has not learned the better route after all the mileage I have put on.

There has been many other crazy ways it wants me to go to a destination , when I fully well know there are much better routes to get to a particular place.

So, I don't like the nav portion of this unit,after extensive use.

The smartphone setup and USB connection settings and how you have to chose on what u want to do. Why didn't they just make separate connection choices for each of the USB connections so you don't have to go into settings to change your configuration for different devices. Losing USB 2 when you chose to have the apple adapter working is plain out stupid. Having to disconnect usb2 for other things to work as well.

Not having AVICSync and connected services ready upon release is piss poor on pioneer as well, I know Carplay is coming, but pioneer touted these services and to not have them available several months after releasing the unit is just bad.

App mode could have been designed much better, you can't minimize your phone screen without losing app mode and then sometimes it won't reconnect, you have to go through setting up again. Like if I'm using waze, and I receive a text, grab my phone check my text or have my passenger check my text then I lose waze and sometimes I have to close it all out, enter the address again cause the nex won't reconnect where I left off, sometimes this happens, not all the time.

This unit could have really propelled pioneer in the head unit market but they really dropped the ball.

I know I'm an early adopter and will have to work through kinks, but shit at least let me know I'm a beta tester cause that's how I feel. You can't tell me that they didn't think of these scenarios.

Hdmi picture quality is not great.

I love the screen it is vibrant and beautiful, the touch works fantastic, the sound output is very good, the features could be great needs some tweaking.

Hopefully everyone is emailing pioneer with their opinions in the hopes they will make changes.

I like bells and whistles so make em work.

Bleh my rant, my vent.

I don't have navigation and your complaints are part of the reason I didn't bother.

I bought the Apple Digital Converter over the weekend in prep for a road trip with my kids and to try and utilize app mode. Once I got it working, I like the implementation. However, I quickly realized Siri no longer worked and how finicky the connection was. This AM I literally spent ten minutes in my driveway just to start up Waze and Pandora. One issue is iOS making me press the allow button to switch etc. -- take away the prompts and the integration is a little more seamless.

I am very, very happy with the regular functions of the radio and functions outside of the whole AppMode hookup. However, I could have gotten these functions for a lot cheaper!

That's a long way to say I feel your pain, at least in some areas.

Beta tester?!?  This is the best that Pioneer navigation has been in a LONG time.  Your AppRadio Mode observations have been around for years.  CarPlay isn't out for ANY aftermarket brand yet, so to what other brand would you have gone and been using its functionality already?

Does that invalidate your complaints?  No.  But right now it's like you're complaining about being force-fed Hot Pockets to people who've been eating bugs up until now.

App mode is stupid.  Blindingly, blisteringly stupid.  So will be Carplay.

Folks, cars are not tablets and they're not phones.  Integration to make and take a call (hands-free) is good.  The rest?  Bleh.

Go ahead and buy hype.  I bought sound quality, and I got what I bought.

IMHO that's what a car system should be -- but then I'm the guy DRIVING the car, and since I prefer NOT to ram someone on the road, well......

4000 all the way

App mode is stupid.  Blindingly, blisteringly stupid.  So will be Carplay.

 

Folks, cars are not tablets and they're not phones.  Integration to make and take a call (hands-free) is good.  The rest?  Bleh.

 

Go ahead and buy hype.  I bought sound quality, and I got what I bought.

 

You are right that cars are not tablets and phones. But then again, they are not tablets and phones. I don't have choice when it comes to nav in a head unit, really. I can't swap that piece out when something better comes along. I don't have the ability to leverage my cell phone to access music from services unless the manufacturer already sees a market for it like Pandora.

The whole point of App Mode and CarPlay is flexibility. Rdio, Spotify and Beats can all duke it out for my business while I don't have to pick and choose which I can use in the car without resorting to mounting a small phone with UI that isn't suitable for use in the car. I can (eventually) use whatever Nav app works best for me. And I can pick a head unit that will deliver that sound to me the way I want it. That's the promise that this stuff really provides. It isn't about turning my car into a tablet, it is about accessing what I have on my tablet (music, services, etc) in the car.

App Mode's implementation is pretty bad, though. In part because they can't integrate into the OS. While CarPlay is also unproven, it's at least integrated which should produce a better experience. CarPlay is locked down at the moment, and it will take time to see what they offer going forward in terms of APIs for non-music apps (I just want nav options really, then I'd be satisfied).

In total, it's about design, and releasing a product that is not fully functional. It's not just pioneer it does seem many manufacturers release products nowadays half done. It's become a standard to release patches and updates to fix things.

The ui is nice the features could be nice, but honestly with today's technology you honestly can't tell me this is their intended end release with no foresight to see that we have to disconnect and change out wires to get things to play properly is their intended use.

These are things that annoy me.

Not having AVICSync ready and available is truly annoying, again it's this century's ok thing to do, half ready products. I've been selling and installing residential and commercial electronics since 1986 and this has just become a trend.

You are right about it becoming common place to release half ready products and I have committed many times on that very same realization. Personally I credit Microsoft for starting that treand but lets not turn this thread into that shall we. Anyway, welcome to the Pioneer early adopter crowd. There are post about this same topic with every new series of unit that is realized. Ive seen them all on here over the years and they are always almost verbatim, the same complaints from series to series.

I think it doesnt what what company HU we get. There will always be flaws. If companies give us what we want. They would be out of business right now lol

App mode is stupid.  Blindingly, blisteringly stupid.  So will be Carplay.

 

Folks, cars are not tablets and they're not phones.  Integration to make and take a call (hands-free) is good.  The rest?  Bleh.

 

Go ahead and buy hype.  I bought sound quality, and I got what I bought.

 

IMHO that's what a car system should be -- but then I'm the guy DRIVING the car, and since I prefer NOT to ram someone on the road, well......

I don't expect my head unit to be a tablet.

That said, my Nexus 7 has a far superior screen and lots of more available memory, in a much smaller package, while being completely customizable. It is better than a third cheaper. The only thing keeping my Nexus from being a full time head unit is its lack of a radio, steering wheel controls and hands free Bluetooth... and there are workarounds for most of that.

I can't for the life of me understand why Pioneer... or any of the other major automotive audio players... can't take readily available hardware and develop a full featured, reasonably priced head unit.

The only thing keeping my Nexus from being a full time head unit is its lack of a radio, steering wheel controls and hands free Bluetooth...

A look at my in-dash iPad article on here might give you some ideas.

A look at my in-dash iPad article on here might give you some ideas.

The Nexus 7 seems to be a popular tablet for head unit service.

I've got too much money wrapped up in the Z150 to just chuck it. If I'm on a trip, I use the Nexus for Waze and Power Amp. I'd run the phone through the Z150 using AppMode if it wasn't such crap.

What I meant by my response was that I had full BT and steering wheel controls with my tablet install.