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Do their cars come with decent in-car entertainment that can actually use the Internet? When I got my new 2016 Honda Accord I was looking forward to some good

Do their cars come with decent in-car entertainment that can actually use the Internet? When I got my new 2016 Honda Accord I was looking forward to some good streaming music in the car. I read that the built-in stereo comes with Pandora. I also knew that the built-in stereo can also access the Internet. "Cool," I thought. "I can fire up the hotspot on my phone, connect the car to the Internet, then the Pandora will connect and do its thing." Nope. Turns out that the stereo can connect to the Internet. It's got Android. But the most useful thing I can do is browse the Web on my car stereo screen. Something I have never, ever wanted to do. Apparently it also connects to some useless thing called Aha Radio, which hasn't been updated in years. The Pandora can't even use the Internet connection! It only works through Bluetooth or, apparently, though hooking up my phone via a cable. So the stereo's Internet connection is practically useless, and my only streaming options work through the phone, which is generally a glitchy experience. Though I must say, the Pandora built in to the car is generally better than Apple CarPlay, which has been a huge disappointment. So hopefully Chevy has something decent in their car other than an Android web browser on the car screen, and hopefully it's not just Apple CarPlay or Android Auto or anything like them, because in my experience the phone makers are all about stripping away hardware buttons. When I'm driving the hardware buttons are far superior to finicky on-screen buttons.

mti27 10y ago
Got a 2014 Honda and had the same experience, hate to hear they have not improved. It had the same Pandora and aHa radio "features" and the in-car system was terrible in general. It interrupted the music with voice prompts, and randomly wouldn't let you do certain things while the car was in motion. It's like a UX designer threw up... and then that throw up designed a car stereo.
js2 10y ago
The infotainment system in my new Volt beats the pants off the system in my new Mazda. Those are the only two I have direct experience with, but based on a bunch of reviews I read, Ford and GM appear to have the best infotainment systems, at least for the US market, Tesla excluded most likely. It is however touch screen based. And I'm thankful for CarPlay since Mazda doesn't support CarPlay nor Android Auto and Mazda's UI is awful.
ben1040 10y ago
I have the same car, as well as a Pixel phone, and I'm really pleased with streaming radio apps on Android Auto. The voice controls work for Spotify and not just Google Music. To control music I'm generally using voice control or the steering wheel stereo controls. CarPlay really seems to suck for any audio app that isn't Apple Music. It does seem to work _great_ for Apple Music, so if that's your preferred music app then you'd be pretty happy.
- massysett 10y ago
  Apple Music does work moderately well with CarPlay, but mostly with the voice interface. The problem with the voice interface is that there is a huge lag, and it is erratic. Sometimes I will say something like "play jazz radio" and it responds there is no jazz station; later, it works. The strange thing is that it seemed to recognize the command, as it repeats back "I can't find station jazz." The only hope for it is the voice interface. The touchscreen interface is horrible, because there are no hardware buttons...which may be Honda's fault, as they stripped off all buttons except those on the steering wheel. I wouldn't be surprised if Android Auto works better, as Apple's voice control has generally been bad. Also Google Maps still beats Apple, and I can't get Google Maps on Carplay.

mti27 10y ago

Got a 2014 Honda and had the same experience, hate to hear they have not improved. It had the same Pandora and aHa radio "features" and the in-car system was terrible in general. It interrupted the music with voice prompts, and randomly wouldn't let you do certain things while the car was in motion. It's like a UX designer threw up... and then that throw up designed a car stereo.

js2 10y ago

The infotainment system in my new Volt beats the pants off the system in my new Mazda. Those are the only two I have direct experience with, but based on a bunch of reviews I read, Ford and GM appear to have the best infotainment systems, at least for the US market, Tesla excluded most likely. It is however touch screen based. And I'm thankful for CarPlay since Mazda doesn't support CarPlay nor Android Auto and Mazda's UI is awful.

ben1040 10y ago

I have the same car, as well as a Pixel phone, and I'm really pleased with streaming radio apps on Android Auto. The voice controls work for Spotify and not just Google Music. To control music I'm generally using voice control or the steering wheel stereo controls. CarPlay really seems to suck for any audio app that isn't Apple Music. It does seem to work _great_ for Apple Music, so if that's your preferred music app then you'd be pretty happy.

massysett 10y ago
Apple Music does work moderately well with CarPlay, but mostly with the voice interface. The problem with the voice interface is that there is a huge lag, and it is erratic. Sometimes I will say something like "play jazz radio" and it responds there is no jazz station; later, it works. The strange thing is that it seemed to recognize the command, as it repeats back "I can't find station jazz." The only hope for it is the voice interface. The touchscreen interface is horrible, because there are no hardware buttons...which may be Honda's fault, as they stripped off all buttons except those on the steering wheel. I wouldn't be surprised if Android Auto works better, as Apple's voice control has generally been bad. Also Google Maps still beats Apple, and I can't get Google Maps on Carplay.