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This happens in every car I own. Chevy. Kia. Ram. I agree the phone should do everything. The equivalent of an old aux cord (maybe via BT) would be enough. My

This happens in every car I own. Chevy. Kia. Ram. I agree the phone should do everything. The equivalent of an old aux cord (maybe via BT) would be enough. My Kia does have CarPlay, which is very nice for maps and audio, but that’s all I really use. It still has all kinds of issues. My wife plugs in her phone (cable) and it takes over, then suddenly mine wins it back, she flicks some stuff on her screen to get it back again. Pretty messy in all cars I’ve used.

lotsofpulp 4y ago
I have had no issues with wired CarPlay. Do you have wireless CarPlay? I have not heard of that being reliable yet. If both of you are wiring into CarPlay, I do not see why Kia would allow two wired connections to CarPlay.
- mh- 4y ago
  Wireless CarPlay hasn't been reliable in my experience either, which is unfortunate. Even if it's not flaky (it is), the audio quality of music being played sounds highly compressed compared to plugging in.
- andrewla 4y ago
  The issue is that the car tries to decide which phone to have take over CarPlay. I actually have a cigarette lighter USB adapter so at least a second person can charge without confusing the poor car. I generally find CarPlay to be annoying -- it is too limiting a version of what is offered on the phone itself. Notably the last time I tried to use it, it did not have Google Play Music support (now that product is dead, and I suppose by now they probably do support Youtube Music), and it refused to let me use maps in a "north-up" orientation, which is just a non-starter for me.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    If Apple Maps does not let you navigate in north up orientation, then another navigation app should be able to. It does not seem like that would be a CarPlay specific restriction, but rather something the app makers did not implement. And there are a lot more apps that work with CarPlay nowadays. I think it just took a few years for all of them to roll out.
    - andrewla 4y ago
      I use Google Maps even with non-CarPlay interaction because Apple Maps does not do north-up. At the time, Google Maps didn't do north-up in CarPlay mode. Maybe it's time I give it another try. Last I tried it, I found generally that things worked less good in CarPlay than they did on the phone itself, and decided to mostly treat the infotainment system as a nice set of speakers for my phone.
  - parineum 4y ago
    > Notably the last time I tried to use it, it did not have Google Play Music support (now that product is dead... I can't speak to CarPlay but Android Auto has changed a ton in that time frame. I think both options are just reaching an actual maturity recently as there is both decent support in a number of vehicles and a notable user base that actually uses the technology. You were certainly an early adopter, code for beta tester.
bayindirh 4y ago
Then, I invite you to drive a Renault Taliant which has no screen and delegates everything to your phone. Plug it in and fix your phone to the supplied mount, open nav. Your phone is a throttling, OLED dimming, overheating fireball from all the processing it has to do with the summer sun beaming onto it, broiling and killing it in the process. I don't recommend this. The car has a terrific iPod interface built into it though. One of the best working ones.
- Mountain_Skies 4y ago
  That model probably wouldn't be legal in the US where all new vehicles are required to have a video screen for a rearview camera. Since they're already required to have the screen for that purpose, it ends up being used to eliminate other controls.
  - rootusrootus 4y ago
    It doesn't have to be a touchscreen, nor part of the infotainment. The inexpensive compliant solution is a rearview mirror with embedded 2 or 3 inch LCD.
andrewla 4y ago
I currently have a Subaru, which almost gets it right. It does switch me over to radio, but if you set it to the Sirius "unit id" channel it is at least silent while you fix it, and really you press one button (the "media" button that is a physical button) and everything works again. Bluetooth is spotty, so I mostly use a USB cable. Ford Sync, on the other hand, once it decides that it is trying to connect to bluetooth, will often completely lock up the system for minutes while it tries unsuccessfully to make things work, and then you have to navigate through their UI to get back to a good state, which means that if it decides to glitch while you're driving, you're just out of luck. If you have a little bit of luck your phone will just play the driving directions out of its internal speaker.
mbesto 4y ago
> Chevy. Kia. Ram. I'm pretty sure every single one of these just outsource to Aptiv (fka Delphi Automotive) for electronics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptiv https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptiv
tlear 4y ago
Interesting in Nissan CarPlay seems to work perfectly. Sometimes driving directions take some time to appear but other than that it works. It is all I use, the native stuff in the car does something.. I am not sure what :) AC being controlled through touch screen is just nuts. I will never buy a car that does not physical dial for that

lotsofpulp 4y ago

I have had no issues with wired CarPlay. Do you have wireless CarPlay? I have not heard of that being reliable yet. If both of you are wiring into CarPlay, I do not see why Kia would allow two wired connections to CarPlay.

mh- 4y ago
Wireless CarPlay hasn't been reliable in my experience either, which is unfortunate. Even if it's not flaky (it is), the audio quality of music being played sounds highly compressed compared to plugging in.
andrewla 4y ago
The issue is that the car tries to decide which phone to have take over CarPlay. I actually have a cigarette lighter USB adapter so at least a second person can charge without confusing the poor car. I generally find CarPlay to be annoying -- it is too limiting a version of what is offered on the phone itself. Notably the last time I tried to use it, it did not have Google Play Music support (now that product is dead, and I suppose by now they probably do support Youtube Music), and it refused to let me use maps in a "north-up" orientation, which is just a non-starter for me.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  If Apple Maps does not let you navigate in north up orientation, then another navigation app should be able to. It does not seem like that would be a CarPlay specific restriction, but rather something the app makers did not implement. And there are a lot more apps that work with CarPlay nowadays. I think it just took a few years for all of them to roll out.
  - andrewla 4y ago
    I use Google Maps even with non-CarPlay interaction because Apple Maps does not do north-up. At the time, Google Maps didn't do north-up in CarPlay mode. Maybe it's time I give it another try. Last I tried it, I found generally that things worked less good in CarPlay than they did on the phone itself, and decided to mostly treat the infotainment system as a nice set of speakers for my phone.
- parineum 4y ago
  > Notably the last time I tried to use it, it did not have Google Play Music support (now that product is dead... I can't speak to CarPlay but Android Auto has changed a ton in that time frame. I think both options are just reaching an actual maturity recently as there is both decent support in a number of vehicles and a notable user base that actually uses the technology. You were certainly an early adopter, code for beta tester.

bayindirh 4y ago

Then, I invite you to drive a Renault Taliant which has no screen and delegates everything to your phone. Plug it in and fix your phone to the supplied mount, open nav. Your phone is a throttling, OLED dimming, overheating fireball from all the processing it has to do with the summer sun beaming onto it, broiling and killing it in the process. I don't recommend this. The car has a terrific iPod interface built into it though. One of the best working ones.

Mountain_Skies 4y ago
That model probably wouldn't be legal in the US where all new vehicles are required to have a video screen for a rearview camera. Since they're already required to have the screen for that purpose, it ends up being used to eliminate other controls.
- rootusrootus 4y ago
  It doesn't have to be a touchscreen, nor part of the infotainment. The inexpensive compliant solution is a rearview mirror with embedded 2 or 3 inch LCD.

andrewla 4y ago

I currently have a Subaru, which almost gets it right. It does switch me over to radio, but if you set it to the Sirius "unit id" channel it is at least silent while you fix it, and really you press one button (the "media" button that is a physical button) and everything works again. Bluetooth is spotty, so I mostly use a USB cable. Ford Sync, on the other hand, once it decides that it is trying to connect to bluetooth, will often completely lock up the system for minutes while it tries unsuccessfully to make things work, and then you have to navigate through their UI to get back to a good state, which means that if it decides to glitch while you're driving, you're just out of luck. If you have a little bit of luck your phone will just play the driving directions out of its internal speaker.

mbesto 4y ago

> Chevy. Kia. Ram. I'm pretty sure every single one of these just outsource to Aptiv (fka Delphi Automotive) for electronics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptiv https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptiv

tlear 4y ago

Interesting in Nissan CarPlay seems to work perfectly. Sometimes driving directions take some time to appear but other than that it works. It is all I use, the native stuff in the car does something.. I am not sure what :) AC being controlled through touch screen is just nuts. I will never buy a car that does not physical dial for that