Smartphone integration worthwhile?

[drkash]

I am collecting my 2018 XC90 next week. I have the option for the dealer to install the smartphone integration for £300. I have an android phone. I regularly use google maps and occasionally listen to music from my phone. I know it is only possible to use half the XC90 screen on android auto mode.

From your experience is the android auto good to use and worth the extra money? Or is the inbuilt volvo satnav of good enough quality?

Can I easily play music from my phone via bluetooth?

Is there anything else the smartphone integration / android auto provides?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts

[EssexExile]

I certainly prefer Google maps to Volvo, Volvo often think I'm in the middle of a field!

[gaby]

Our car has the integration.
I never use it. If it were possible, you could have it for free.
Parhaps you can start without, then after a while decide if
you want/need it or not.

[Director76]

The best way to use the in built nav is via the google maps powered volvo on call app to send the destination to the car, or you can use the in car google local search app to find destinations and send to the in car nav.

That said my new XC90 is coming in a few weeks with phone integration, as I ticked the HK tech pack option. I’ve used Apple CarPlay quite a lot in our VW, and I do tend to use the google maps nav, though the main thing I’m looking forward to having in the volvo is actually the BBC Sounds app, for the podcasts etc

D76

[amadan]

Originally Posted by gaby

Our car has the integration.
I never use it. If it were possible, you could have it for free.
Parhaps you can start without, then after a while decide if
you want/need it or not.

Same here - I used Carplay everyday on my old car but as I do a lot of short trips I just CBA in the Volvo because it’s not wireless and there’s no where decent to put the phone when it’s plugged in.

[bornmiddleaged]

I had Android auto in a previous car and used it fairly regularly for sat-nav as the car didn't have it built in.
I bought a 2018 V60 without AA and wondered if I would miss it as I had read mixed reports of the Volvo satnav.

Well, the Volvo satnav is a bit pants, TBH. When we went to get our Christmas tree, my wife and I both drove in separate cars. On the way there and the way back, she got their first, using Google maps. We're only talking a few minutes and it's not like the Volvo satnav took me a ridiculous route or anything, it just wasn't the fastest route.

On the plus side, it integrates not only with the central touchscreen but also with the driver's screen as well as the HUD and doesn't use any data on my phone or need connecting/disconnecting all the time.

I never used the music features of AA as I found that it never seemed to be able to play music that I had downloaded to the phone, which was annoying.

I put music on a USB stick and play it from that.

So, in summary, I haven't missed it. I would also recommend using the VOC app to send destinations to the car (even when you are in the car) as it is easier than using the central screen.

[mfresh]

Yes, yes, yes.

If you don't get the smartphone pack you will regret it for ever. It's head and shoulders above using the built in Volvo stuff. I wouldn't buy a car without it now.

[drkash]

Originally Posted by mfresh

Yes, yes, yes.

If you don't get the smartphone pack you will regret it for ever. It's head and shoulders above using the built in Volvo stuff. I wouldn't buy a car without it now.

Is yours wired and uses half of the screen or is it better on newer models?

[Briggo]

Originally Posted by mfresh

Yes, yes, yes.

If you don't get the smartphone pack you will regret it for ever. It's head and shoulders above using the built in Volvo stuff. I wouldn't buy a car without it now.

Not for me personally, I was tempted to get the smartphone integration but only for 2 reasons.

1. Spotify
2. RTTI on Google maps

However I found out that you can easily use your phones data (I have 100GB a month) via a Bluetooth Internet sharing connection to power up Spotify and the RTTI on the Volvo satnav. You can leave the share internet via Bluetooth function on your phone all the time so all you do is get in and it connects automatically everytime, no wires needed (unless you want to charge your phone) and no setting up a WiFi hotspot each time.

Basically it's wireless android auto/carplay to a degree and saves 300 quid.

Plus the smartphone integration is only landscape so uses half the screen as opposed to portrait which would be much better.

We have android auto/carplay in our other car and I don't miss it due to the above, if I couldn't do the Bluetooth tethering I'd have got it.

[gaby]

Our Sensus navigation gets RTTI info from a data SIM card in the boot.