[DAC]

Out of curiosity, if you have the 8.0” Multimedia Plus and NOT the 8.0” Multimedia Navigation, is it possible to "upgrade" to the navigation system? I suppose anything is possible, so I'll rephrase: can you bring the car in to the dealer and have them update the software to include Navigation, for a fee? Or is it more complex than that, new hardware is needed, and it's gonna be real expensive?

 

[John Harrington]

Out of curiosity, if you have the 8.0” Multimedia Plus and NOT the 8.0” Multimedia Navigation, is it possible to "upgrade" to the navigation system? I suppose anything is possible, so I'll rephrase: can you bring the car in to the dealer and have them update the software to include Navigation, for a fee? Or is it more complex than that, new hardware is needed, and it's gonna be real expensive?

Well, there is hardware, i.e. the GPS receiver at least. Not sure if the head end would need to be completely swapped though ...

 

[LilRhody18]

what do you not like about the Plus version? I'm considering a model with this option.

 

[DAC]

what do you not like about the Plus version? I'm considering a model with this option.

There’s nothing I dislike about the “Plus,” it just doesn’t have navigation built in. I use an iPhone, and my thinking upon purchase was I don’t need navigation because I can use Apple Maps through CarPlay. But I don’t love that, and of course it doesn’t work when there’s no cell reception.

However, word is: google maps on the iPhone will be allowed to work in CarPlay in the fall, and since google maps has offline maps (and a better experience), perhaps my question about upgrading to navigation is moot.

 

[Jason]

You cannot upgrade from the Plus to the Nav. You have to get it from the factory one way or another.

 

[sloheim]

I use an iPhone, and my thinking upon purchase was I don’t need navigation because I can use Apple Maps through CarPlay. But I don’t love that, and of course it doesn’t work when there’s no cell reception.

However, word is: google maps on the iPhone will be allowed to work in CarPlay in the fall, and since google maps has offline maps (and a better experience), perhaps my question about upgrading to navigation is moot.

Apple won't cache a certain amount of the trip ahead? IE, If you lose cell reception for 10 seconds, it goes south on you?

I've never used Google Maps explicitly in "offline mode"... but if I lose cell reception, a certain amount of the trip ahead is already cached in memory, and everything "just works". Maybe it would be a problem if I went an extended time without cell reception, but its never happened to me in years of using Google Navigation.

 

[Cfargione]

There’s nothing I dislike about the “Plus,” it just doesn’t have navigation built in. I use an iPhone, and my thinking upon purchase was I don’t need navigation because I can use Apple Maps through CarPlay. But I don’t love that, and of course it doesn’t work when there’s no cell reception.

However, word is: google maps on the iPhone will be allowed to work in CarPlay in the fall, and since google maps has offline maps (and a better experience), perhaps my question about upgrading to navigation is moot.

Once iOS 12 comes out, you'll be able to use Google Maps and Waze through Apple Car Play. I'm super excited about this because the Nav in our Outback is garbage and we end up using Google most of the time anyway lol. For some reason the Nav in our Outback tries to take us all kinds of weird routes, I've gone through all of the settings and can't find anything, but Google saves us time on almost every trip. I'm interested to see how the Nav is in the Ascent since it's a different brand.

 

[DAC]

Apple won't cache a certain amount of the trip ahead? IE, If you lose cell reception for 10 seconds, it goes south on you?

I've never used Google Maps explicitly in "offline mode"... but if I lose cell reception, a certain amount of the trip ahead is already cached in memory, and everything "just works". Maybe it would be a problem if I went an extended time without cell reception, but its never happened to me in years of using Google Navigation.

Google Maps works great in offline mode. Does everything except traffic (which probably isn't an issue in areas without cell service). You can use it in airplane mode. And it really doesn't take too much space on your phone to download a big chunk of the map for offline.

So I've used Apple Maps through CarPlay deep into an area with no cell service once so far (camping). It does seem to preload the whole route, so once service drops it continues to guide just fine. However, the issue really is once you are there (e.g. up in the mountains) and want to either explore or ask for new directions, it's useless.

 

[dbpotts]

Google Maps works great in offline mode. Does everything except traffic (which probably isn't an issue in areas without cell service). You can use it in airplane mode. And it really doesn't take too much space on your phone to download a big chunk of the map for offline.

So I've used Apple Maps through CarPlay deep into an area with no cell service once so far (camping). It does seem to preload the whole route, so once service drops it continues to guide just fine. However, the issue really is once you are there (e.g. up in the mountains) and want to either explore or ask for new directions, it's useless.

I'm curious...did Carplay work on your car when you lost cell signal? On our Ascent, Carplay stops running when we lose cell signal.

 

[DAC]

I'm curious...did Carplay work on your car when you lost cell signal? On our Ascent, Carplay stops running when we lose cell signal.

Yes, the apps that don't need cell service (like Music, Podcasts, etc.) continued to work just fine on CarPlay after lost service. Of course, Phone and Maps and other apps that require service didn't work.