Android / Apple Carplay

[Alan305]

Had my nx upgraded to Android Auto and working fine.

What does anyone think about the new AA split screen, allowing music and maps, etc?
 

Can’t appear to turn off split screen to get just maps, anyone succeeded?

[Grumps]

My NX went in for its 3rd service and first MOT last week. I asked if they would do any updates available. Dropped off at 8.30am and at 12.30pm received a phone call to say that it was ready. To my surprise they had updated it to Android auto. All good.

I was telling my Son about the update and he recommended looking at Indiegogo  when it becomes available. Indigogo has been previously mentioned in an earlier post and interested to see the results.

[Steve Oliver]

4 hours ago, Grumps said:

My NX went in for its 3rd service and first MOT last week. I asked if they would do any updates available. Dropped off at 8.30am and at 12.30pm received a phone call to say that it was ready. To my surprise they had updated it to Android auto. All good.

I was telling my Son about the update and he recommended looking at Indiegogo  when it becomes available. Indigogo has been previously mentioned in an earlier post and interested to see the results.

Yeah, I've "contributed"to that too... delivery in April hopefully.

[Andy B]

On 3/13/2021 at 8:34 AM, Alan305 said:

Had my nx upgraded to Android Auto and working fine.

What does anyone think about the new AA split screen, allowing music and maps, etc?
 

Can’t appear to turn off split screen to get just maps, anyone succeeded?

I quite like the new AA split screen - much better than the previous display which in my opinion had too much wasted space.

As far as I know there isn't the option to turn it off I'm afraid.

[First_Lexus]

I think I’ve decided not to bother with this, having discussed with the dealer.

What I currently have - the in-built navigation and ability to stream Spotify via Bluetooth - works fine for me. Text messages come through too.

The additional functionality isn’t needed by me, and the need to plug the mobile telephone in makes it less attractive still. 

[EvilRacer329]

Not sure I follow the logic here...and you may not have a choice. It's a software upgrade for the infotainment system that adds additional functionality - it doesn't remove any existing functionality, and doesn't get in the way. I would argue that it's better to have it and not need it, than to one day find you need it and don't have it.

I've also got to believe that it's something future owners will expect to find installed, should you ever sell the car.

Seriously - get it, try it, ignore it if you like.

Nick

[First_Lexus]

7 minutes ago, EvilRacer329 said:

Not sure I follow the logic here...and you may not have a choice. It's a software upgrade for the infotainment system that adds additional functionality - it doesn't remove any existing functionality, and doesn't get in the way. I would argue that it's better to have it and not need it, than to one day find you need it and don't have it.

I've also got to believe that it's something future owners will expect to find installed, should you ever sell the car.

Seriously - get it, try it, ignore it if you like.

Nick

My car can have the upgrade, so I do have a choice. Logic is simple - I don’t really like technology, find the existing system fine and don’t need any additional functionality. If at some future point I sell the car, a new owner can have the upgrade.

Personally, and having looked into it, I don’t see the point of spending £80 on something I don’t feel I need, and the dealer information about what it adds, reinforced that fact.
 

[subria88]

59 minutes ago, First_Lexus said:

My car can have the upgrade, so I do have a choice. Logic is simple - I don’t really like technology, find the existing system fine and don’t need any additional functionality. If at some future point I sell the car, a new owner can have the upgrade.

Personally, and having looked into it, I don’t see the point of spending £80 on something I don’t feel I need, and the dealer information about what it adds, reinforced that fact.
 

Aren't Lexus likely to do the installation when you get your next service as it is? Ie others have paid to get the upgrade done separately, others have had it done as part of their service

[First_Lexus]

45 minutes ago, subria88 said:

Aren't Lexus likely to do the installation when you get your next service as it is? Ie others have paid to get the upgrade done separately, others have had it done as part of their service

^^ This hasn’t been offered, Lexus Swindon have said there is a charge. May ask them about that, but tbh I’m not sure I’d do it even then!

[Deathstar]

When recently enquiring about an NX I was told that this would not be don’t as part of a service, rather a chargeable £80 extra. 
 

I understand dealers are in the business to make money, but it’s a software update, although one would argue the technician has to give up an hour of his time to update. On the flip side, Lexus should look at OTA updates. 

[sheri1]

The update takes at least 3 to 4 hours so the dealers are well within their rights to charge and £80 is very reasonable in my view. The fact that maps never need to be updated makes the upgrade real value for money. Google maps are updated every day for free. 

[Steve Oliver]

11 hours ago, First_Lexus said:

My car can have the upgrade, so I do have a choice. Logic is simple - I don’t really like technology, find the existing system fine and don’t need any additional functionality. If at some future point I sell the car, a new owner can have the upgrade.

Personally, and having looked into it, I don’t see the point of spending £80 on something I don’t feel I need, and the dealer information about what it adds, reinforced that fact.
 

And that's fine, but I almost didn't buy my NX because it didn't already have it, and at the time there was no expectation of a retro fit... I have now spent the £80 and am overjoyed at having access to Android Auto, the brilliant Google Maps and all my music accessible in the car.

[First_Lexus]

20 hours ago, EvilRacer329 said:

It's a software upgrade for the infotainment system that adds additional functionality - it doesn't remove any existing functionality, and doesn't get in the way

^^ This may be something I hadn’t realised from the discussion thus far. To clarify my understanding, if this upgrade is performed and I don’t attach my mobile telephone with a cable then the current oem Lexus system - navigation, Bluetooth etc. - remains entirely unchanged?

[Steve Oliver]

4 minutes ago, First_Lexus said:

^^ This may be something I hadn’t realised from the discussion thus far. To clarify my understanding, if this upgrade is performed and I don’t attach my mobile telephone with a cable then the current oem Lexus system - navigation, Bluetooth etc. - remains entirely unchanged?

That's correct! 👍 And if you do plug it in at some point to try it, you can always stop using it just as easily.

[BigcheesePaul]

Had mine upgraded yesterday and has turned a **** system into something usable. Have never used the built in nav in my car but now I have google maps and Waze. Got messages  and all my music so very happy now. 

[First_Lexus]

6 hours ago, Steve Oliver said:

That's correct! 👍 And if you do plug it in at some point to try it, you can always stop using it just as easily.

^^ In that case I may well get the dealer to perform the upgrade when I have the car serviced in the Summer and have a play around with it. 

I should say I’m quite happy with the standard navigation - pre-pandemic I used it quite often, and it works well in my experience - and all of my music*(*actually, most of my music is on CD or cassette) is on Spotify which streams fine from Bluetooth. I don’t have any music stored elsewhere. Text messages also come through as standard. However, if this essentially mirrors my Iphone then the interface is likely to be more intuitive and that may be worth it for me whereas the additional ‘functionality’ (for want of a better word) may not be.

I’m also a bit surprised by all the positive comments about Google Maps as most people I’ve spoken with in ‘real life’ i.e. work colleagues, friends and family tend to say it’s useless - most seem to prefer something called Waze (which I’ve also never used!). 

 

[subria88]

From when I have used - Waze may be google owned, uses their mapping data, but a lot of additional data (ie roadworks, traffic etc) is direct crowd sourced from other Waze users, so tends to be a bit more up to the minute updated versus google maps, which is reliant on tracking people with google maps running and seeing how many of them are in the same location and not moving or delayed in their routes (for traffic).

Your mileage will vary I suspect on whichever you use, and one may be better than the other for some routes and vice versa

[EvilRacer329]

I find Google Maps has some neat features Waze doesn't, such as visually showing potential turn-offs and the impact they would have on ETA should I take them in real-time. Means if I fancy taking a different route I can easily see what the time penalty would be.

@First_Lexus - even after the upgrade, even if you plug in your phone, you can just ignore/exit out of Android Auto and use the standard Lexus interface. Hell, you have to in order to adjust any of your car's settings. My biggest complaint with the Lexus navigation is the eternity it takes to enter any addresses in using the touch-pad. The navigation itself seems fine to me, and I particularly liked the way you could program in frequent trips and set them to time slots, so my car would automatically offer to navigate me to work when I got in at 7am each day.

Lately I've been trying out Apple's own Maps solution on my Iphone via CarPlay. It was garbage when it launched - famously so - but they've clearly been working hard and it's got a few neat features of its own. That being said, when it comes to finding the cheapest fuel, Waze has everyone beat.

Nick

[Centre100]

Just had AA installed.  So far looks great - how to turn down AA's volume.  Currently very load.  Anyone found the setting?  Is it set from my phone or elsewhere?

When I asked Google to lower the volume the replay was it was at the lowest level. 

 

Thanks

[DanD]

15 hours ago, Centre100 said:

Just had AA installed.  So far looks great - how to turn down AA's volume.  Currently very load.  Anyone found the setting?  Is it set from my phone or elsewhere?

When I asked Google to lower the volume the replay was it was at the lowest level. 

 

Thanks

I too have had issues with the volume. It would seem that the only way to adjust it is on the phone itself.

Does anyone use Waze with AA? - I have it on my phone, but it does not appear on the AA menu. Google Maps work fine though.

[Andy B]

Are you referring to the volume of the voice prompts from, for example, Google Maps or the Google Assistant? If so then this is controlled by the default volume control set within the Lexus Infotainment system itself.

To adjust this:

Press the "Menu" button on the touchpad

Select "Setup"

Select "Voice" on the sub-menu

Change the "Voice volume" value to your preference

Hope this helps. 

[Andy B]

5 hours ago, DanD said:

Does anyone use Waze with AA? - I have it on my phone, but it does not appear on the AA menu. Google Maps work fine though.

The answer for this can be found here:

 

[Herbie]

On 3/15/2021 at 8:39 AM, First_Lexus said:

I think I’ve decided not to bother with this, having discussed with the dealer.

What I currently have - the in-built navigation and ability to stream Spotify via bluetooth - works fine for me. Text messages come through too.

The additional functionality isn’t needed by me, and the need to plug the mobile telephone in makes it less attractive still. 

One very good reason to go for it and worth paying the £80 for alone, is the ability to install the What 3 Words app.

Imagine being in the middle of nowhere. You have a sudden onset medical issue that means you can't drive any further. You know you're on the A4958 but it's a long road and you have no idea just how far along it you are.

What 3 Words divides the whole world into 3m x 3m squares and it's so accurate that the front of your car could be in one square (say eat.press.foil as an example) while the back of the car could be in another square (maybe fork.can.pad for example).

When you call for an ambulance you can give them the 3 words and they know exactly where you are.

[royoftherovers]

Have you got that app installed in your new RX450h Herbie, /

[Centre100]

Thanks Andy B. 

When the latest Nav software (not the Maps as they are up to date) was installed as part of AA installation, it reset all my previous volume settings, I reset them to my prefered levels as you described. All radio stations presets had to be reset too.   The car's WiFi had to be re authenticated.