MattBW
Here to help
Super Poster
Lifetime VIP Member
Although there are a few threads on stereos with Carplay, I thought I would post my own thread after a week using carplay and my thoughts on it. To put that into perspective I have been pondering a stereo upgrade but I've been struggling to justify it to myself.
My 2015 Cali came with an RNS 315, it has DAB, Satnav, and after enabling it myself BT music and phone functions. Pretty much everything I need.
I've been driving my partners 65 plate Seat this week, which has the same stereo as the VW which includes carplay etc. I was quite keen to use it and see if it offered something worth the upgrade. this is me just pouring my thoughts onto the page. Would welcome any counter points or thoughts.
Voice activation
Being able to say hey Siri and send messages, change the music or make a call is brilliant. However I have now realised that if my phone is connected to power that this feature works anyway, even with my RNS 315.
Text messages were almost laughable in how wrong it got them, doesn't seem quite there yet but that seems to be road noise that confuses it. I know siri works mostly ok in the house.
Phone calls, generally calls the right person but got it wrong a few times. The siri activated calls also works with my rns315 so its siri that lets the side down.
Music selection
The hands free music selection works ok (but then it works exactly the same with my iphone anyway) but it is a bit cumbersome. The carplay interface lets you play a song or playlist but its a bit hit and miss, if I asked Siri to play an album it sometimes told me it wasn't available even though it was. It will let you create a station from any playingsong but wont let you see more from that artist or select another of their albums. I found myself using the controls at times and having to stop to ensure I was safe.
Satnav
Voice activation works well for directions, I really liked it, the screen is clear and concise if maybe a little too basic and devoid of extra handy info. I'm also wondering if there is some sort of delay, it seems less accurate and a little laggy when driving. This may be the combination of phone gps lag and screen lag combined for updates that seemed delayed.
It got me there but I was usually closer to the turn than the satnav showed. Here I still think my satnav wins on speed, accuracy and of course works without phone reception or data. The only upsides are apple data should be more upto date and be good for finding places that might reside in "POI" on the 315. You also don't have to spend a small fortune to get the inaccurate maps barely updated each year.
The biggest weakness is that you need your phone. I know, I know that is obvious but this was really apparent my iphone stopped charging in the week and I couldn't repair the charging port until the evening. For this reason I would probably want a carplay unit with satnav too if travelling aboard, a few aftermarket seem to have satnav as optional.
Display
For me the whole appeal of a more advanced setup and deeper integration is a more pleasing visual appearance. I like to see album art (quicker at a glance than reading the text) but for some reason on carplay art is only ever blurred behind the text, you can't see it and can only vaguely make it out. Pointless?
Using other apps
You can't use anything other than what apple says you can use, so its in effect phone, Apple maps music, text and books/podcasts. Too restrictive at present?
My conclusion:
I like the clean style and undistracting UI. Voice activation is getting better but works with the phone on my rns315 anyway. For me it needs a bit more development from apple until it's a must have feature. A bit like my apple watch, I wear it every day but I don't really have any must have use or need to, I just use it because it's there. For now I've enjoyed playing with carplay but the RNS 315 has a few years in it yet.
My 2015 Cali came with an RNS 315, it has DAB, Satnav, and after enabling it myself BT music and phone functions. Pretty much everything I need.
I've been driving my partners 65 plate Seat this week, which has the same stereo as the VW which includes carplay etc. I was quite keen to use it and see if it offered something worth the upgrade. this is me just pouring my thoughts onto the page. Would welcome any counter points or thoughts.
Voice activation
Being able to say hey Siri and send messages, change the music or make a call is brilliant. However I have now realised that if my phone is connected to power that this feature works anyway, even with my RNS 315.
Text messages were almost laughable in how wrong it got them, doesn't seem quite there yet but that seems to be road noise that confuses it. I know siri works mostly ok in the house.
Phone calls, generally calls the right person but got it wrong a few times. The siri activated calls also works with my rns315 so its siri that lets the side down.
Music selection
The hands free music selection works ok (but then it works exactly the same with my iphone anyway) but it is a bit cumbersome. The carplay interface lets you play a song or playlist but its a bit hit and miss, if I asked Siri to play an album it sometimes told me it wasn't available even though it was. It will let you create a station from any playingsong but wont let you see more from that artist or select another of their albums. I found myself using the controls at times and having to stop to ensure I was safe.
Satnav
Voice activation works well for directions, I really liked it, the screen is clear and concise if maybe a little too basic and devoid of extra handy info. I'm also wondering if there is some sort of delay, it seems less accurate and a little laggy when driving. This may be the combination of phone gps lag and screen lag combined for updates that seemed delayed.
It got me there but I was usually closer to the turn than the satnav showed. Here I still think my satnav wins on speed, accuracy and of course works without phone reception or data. The only upsides are apple data should be more upto date and be good for finding places that might reside in "POI" on the 315. You also don't have to spend a small fortune to get the inaccurate maps barely updated each year.
The biggest weakness is that you need your phone. I know, I know that is obvious but this was really apparent my iphone stopped charging in the week and I couldn't repair the charging port until the evening. For this reason I would probably want a carplay unit with satnav too if travelling aboard, a few aftermarket seem to have satnav as optional.
Display
For me the whole appeal of a more advanced setup and deeper integration is a more pleasing visual appearance. I like to see album art (quicker at a glance than reading the text) but for some reason on carplay art is only ever blurred behind the text, you can't see it and can only vaguely make it out. Pointless?
Using other apps
You can't use anything other than what apple says you can use, so its in effect phone, Apple maps music, text and books/podcasts. Too restrictive at present?
My conclusion:
I like the clean style and undistracting UI. Voice activation is getting better but works with the phone on my rns315 anyway. For me it needs a bit more development from apple until it's a must have feature. A bit like my apple watch, I wear it every day but I don't really have any must have use or need to, I just use it because it's there. For now I've enjoyed playing with carplay but the RNS 315 has a few years in it yet.
