Apple CarPlay Upgrade Review

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mtndrew1

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 16, 2014
Messages
296
Location
Los Angeles, CA
On the day Kia made the software update available for our UVO systems I downloaded and installed it, giving my car the ability to run Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The update also upgraded my mapping software from map version 7.41.43.005.001 to 8.47.44.552.004.1. If you were unaware that this update is available for free, go to http://www.myuvo.com and follow the instructions to get the sofware.

The download and install went smoothly but the updated head unit now has one major flaw in that all incoming music is glitchy, whether over bluetooth streaming, USB, or CarPlay. Several times per song the music stutters and glitches up and as these are the only ways to get music into the system, non-radio is now extremely irritating.

As for CarPlay, I find it to be fantastic. Apple Maps has apparently improved by leaps and bounds since I last used it and the projected arrival times are much more accurate than with the Kia maps. Re-routing is very smooth and there is no clutter on the screen. My favorite feature so far is the extremely fast ability to turn guidance on and off. Oftentimes I really just want directions to the best freeway to get home, then I know my way from there, but I want the predicted time of arrival and distance to remain on the screen.

Previously I mostly accomplished this with the Kia system by starting guidance to home and cancelling the route once I made it to the freeway. Of course in the Kia system you punch the tiny button to cancel the route, then confirm the cancel, then it's all done guiding and the ETA disappears. On Apple Maps, you just touch on the (large) leftmost guidance panel and the step-by-step guidance falls away leaving only the projected arrival time and distance and the route remaining on screen. If you want active guidance again for whatever reason, just touch the time/distance box and guidance resumes. I've long wished for such a feature in all my cars' GPS systems and was really happy to see Apple included it.

One thing I miss from the Kia system while using Apple Maps is the ability to direct the system to use HOV lanes whenever possible. On my particular commute the HOV on-ramps are exclusive to the HOV lane and located on different streets than typical traffic on-ramps. The Apple Maps will honor the HOV lane if you start in it, but the system by default won't direct me to those like the Kia one will.

The difference in the ability to find music I want to listen to on my phone is just exponentially better in the CarPlay interface than the stock one. Music and podcast navigation is buttery smooth, easy, and beautiful. I find myself actually listening to my music collection now whereas I gave up on the stock USB music navigation about a week after getting the car. I did bluetooth streaming before, but never felt comfortable trying to manipulate my phone while driving to choose different playlists or artists, so it was often frustrating.

I very rarely do any texting while in the car, voice or otherwise, so I haven't used that feature much. I've sent a handful of texts over voice since getting the CarPlay update and Siri has done an admirable job of taking dictation, much better than the Siri Eyes Free thing the car came with originally.

Overall the update looks promising, but I'm very upset that the update broke my ability to get music into the car's system by any means. I have opened a case with Kia and hope they resolve it, but I'm concerned it will end up on a back burner somewhere. I have re-downloaded and installed the CarPlay update, changed out my USB cord, reformatted my iPhone, and even swapped the phone at the Apple store for a new unit due to an unrelated phone issue, and none of these have resolved the problems. When the music skips the entire interface for the head unit becomes very lethargic and jittery, leading me to believe that there's an errant process somewhere gobbling up CPU cycles and that bug needs to be squashed.

In any event, CarPlay looks like a fantastic addition to the Soul EV. I'm crossing my fingers that they can fix my bug.
 
Great right up thank you.

Thankfully I have not had a problem with my music and going the KIA systems work very smooth with CarPlay. If you start directions on CarPlay the current directions on the KIA system stops.

I the past I had to enter the address of a charging location from PlugShare into the KIA navigation, because not all locations are listed in KIA system. Now just click on directions and choose Apple maps and the directions come right up on CarPlay.

I agree that the ability to turn off navigation quickly is great although I do miss the speed limit display.

I the main advantage I see is there will be better, sooner and fee of cost upgrades to the maps and iOS. With iOS v10 iPhone users is expected to have more apps available and the ability to customize and move apps. I do not use "PodCast" but would love "PlugShare"

Only question that remains is how much cell data use and how will it preform is a cell dead zone.

Best upgrade yet IMOP.
 
Upgrade has worked for me (even though it did drain my 12V battery as I left the car on for too long - see separate post).

I must admit I am not very impressed with the CarPlay experience:
- the voice recognition is not very good IMO. A lot of misses or 'not understood'
- no way to enter destinations except with voice
- very few apps are avail- no Waze, no plugshare, no weather, no GasBuddy, no Napster. Does not seem like many apps are actually being 'CarPlay Enabled'
- no functionality without plugging in the lightning cable- not working on BT or Wifi

BTW, no sound issue like reported above.
 
I tend to pull up the navigation on my phone, then plug it in.

3rd party apps (we hope) will be a part of iOS 10. Which is in beta now.

Android and CarPlay both use wired connections.
 
UberGandalf said:
Upgrade has worked for me (even though it did drain my 12V battery as I left the car on for too long - see separate post).

I must admit I am not very impressed with the CarPlay experience:
- the voice recognition is not very good IMO. A lot of misses or 'not understood'
- no way to enter destinations except with voice
- very few apps are avail- no Waze, no plugshare, no weather, no GasBuddy, no Napster. Does not seem like many apps are actually being 'CarPlay Enabled'
- no functionality without plugging in the lightning cable- not working on BT or Wifi

BTW, no sound issue like reported above.

As far as destination entry if you have the car in Park and choose to enter a new destination there will be a keyboard option in the top-right portion of the screen even though it defaults to voice entry. With that you can enter in addresses, contact names, etc., and get a live search result on the screen provided signal strength is sufficient.

In regards to apps, they're supposedly coming with iOS10, which gives developers far more resources in regards to CarPlay. Expect that to be released by the end of September.

I have an appointment on Monday to resolve my sound issue; Kia's customer service says it's probably a hardware problem.

EDIT: wrickcook's suggestion about entering a destination into Maps on your iPhone prior to plugging it into the car is very useful. I just discovered this the other day and it's so handy to have the destination entered, the route planned, and then when I get in the car it just populates the Maps portion of CarPlay. Much easier than futzing with either the Kia's keyboard or battling Siri for entry.
 
I just ran the upgrade this morning, and I am really pleased with CarPlay. Maps, Music, Phone, Texting all feel much less clunky and easier to use. And, it is easy to swap back and forth between CarPlay and the Kia system.
 
I've not bothered with this upgrade but my wife really wants me to try it. Is there any compelling reason *not* to install Apple CarPlay? I think the original infotainment system is fine and would hate to install something that degrades my current experience.
 
Has anyone else had volume issue when using the phone with Apple Car Play? I've cranked my volume all the way up for phone calls and the call volume is too low. I struggle to hear while driving. If I take it off carplay and put it into bluetooth, I can hear fine even if it's midway. This only happens for phone calls. Audio (music, etc) over apple carplay has normalized volume.
 
Hi
My name is Javi and I write you from Spain.

Would the download work from your country, I mean only the firmware, to include in our nav the CarPlay?

Here only works for ev17 models.

Thank you very much

PS: sorry for my English XD
 
Different countries have different firmwares, e.g. you can't use the firmware for USA in a Canada car.
 
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