Apple CarPlay Questions…

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AndyDStone
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Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2021 4:50 pm

Post by AndyDStone »

Hi

I use Apple CarPlay in my current car, and it uses the whole of the car screen. However, I would like to know how it works in an XC40 before I buy it as an option (£300). I understand it only uses part of the centre console screen, as below:

8F10D73E-AE10-402A-B7CC-49229B5E0016.jpeg

So my questions are:
1) When using Apple CarPlay navigation (Apple or Google maps) can you expand it to full screen, like you can with the Sensus navigation?
2) Can the Apple CarPlay navigation be shown in the drivers display, like it is with the Sensus navigation?
3) Is Apple CarPlay still only available via USB cable, and not Bluetooth?
4) In your opinion, it really worth £300? Or, just stick to the standard Volvo Sensus navigation?

Thank you in advance.
Kind regards
Andy

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m@rk
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Location: Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

Post by m@rk »

1. No
2. No
3. Yes - But first of all wireless CarPlay uses WiFi not Bluetooth to connect to the car but you can get a dongle that converts any wired CarPlay install into Wireless. I have one and it works great
4. If you use CarPlay then of course. But if you have never had it before, you probably won't get why people like it so much
Last edited by m@rk on Sun Jul 25, 2021 10:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
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bba
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Location: Fairford, UK

Post by bba »

Agree with M@rk, and I would add that I would not use CarPlay for Navigation as the Sensus is really quite good if you keep the map up to date and have an active SIM in the boot.

However I am still an enthusiastic CarPlay user, via a wireless dongle, for Podcast, Music, Zoom, Messages via Siri and a few other things.

Also, while I understand it can be retrofitted I would still put a car without it at the bottom of the list when buying second hand.
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AndyDStone
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Post by AndyDStone »

@m@rk & @bba - thanks for the fast replies, much appreciated.

As my car will be new, I will have the SIM in the boot, so can use that to keep the Sensus maps up to date.

Follow on question:
My current car allows wireless CarPlay. So, if I wanted to go down the wireless dongle route, is there a brand you recommend, or will any of the ones on Amazon do the job?
Kind regards
Andy
PlymDave
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Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2021 8:57 pm

Post by PlymDave »

"SIM in boot". Can someone explain this please?
I have my first XC40 R Design B4 on order, so a bit of a Volvo novice.
Rockford
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Joined: Thu May 20, 2021 2:31 pm

Post by Rockford »

There's an onboard modem in the car - the SIM tray for this is in the boot.
Your new car will come with a Vodafone SIM which allows you to use 100GB over 365 days.
When this expires, you can either renew (expensive) or source a new data SIM from another provider (better value).
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m@rk
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Location: Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

Post by m@rk »

AndyDStone wrote: Sat Jul 24, 2021 10:18 am @m@rk & @bba - thanks for the fast replies, much appreciated.

As my car will be new, I will have the SIM in the boot, so can use that to keep the Sensus maps up to date.

Follow on question:
My current car allows wireless CarPlay. So, if I wanted to go down the wireless dongle route, is there a brand you recommend, or will any of the ones on Amazon do the job?
Yes.

With the Vodafone SIM, you can set it up to updated the maps "over the air" when they become available. Or you have the option to download off the Volvo website onto a USB key.

It depends which maps you want as the 12 month Vodafone sim included with the car comes with 100GB of data. If you want the ALL EUROPE update, that is 55GB in size so perhaps doing that on the in built SIM might not be a good idea :) But the UK maps are only about 2GB so having those updated over the air each time is perfectly reasonable

As for the Wireless Dongle

Assuming your car has been ordered with wired CarPlay (because even that isn't standard) then I am using the CPlay2Air and have had it about 6 months now and it works well. I have wireless CarPlay on my previous car and to be honest the responsiveness etc is exactly the same. One advantage though is if CarPlay crashes or fails to connect (which it did on my previous car as well), you can just unl=plug the dongle from the USB port and put it back again and all is good. On my previous car I had to stop the car, get out and lock the car then restart the whole thing.

Some will same it's not great hardship plugging a phone in and I don't disagree, but once you have gone wireless, you will question why you ever messed about with cables :)

Here is a picture just to prove it really works and that my car needs dusting :) note the dongle is now placed underneath the console so you can't actually see it

tempImagePbnYR2.gif

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eugen61
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Post by eugen61 »

m@rk wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 10:59 am
AndyDStone wrote: Sat Jul 24, 2021 10:18 am So, if I wanted to go down the wireless dongle route, is there a brand you recommend, or will any of the ones on Amazon do the job?
I am using the CPlay2Air and have had it about 6 months now and it works well.
Do you encounter any lag when skipping tracks or giving Siri commands? Is CarPlay responding slower when touching the screen?
PlymDave
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Post by PlymDave »

So is this 100GB SIM free with all new XC40's?
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Greggspies
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Post by Greggspies »

In the UK, yes.
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