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Video Walkthrough of Apple CarPlay on Pioneer Receiver Shows Siri, Phone, Maps, and More

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Apr 12, 2001
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Last week, Pioneer announced that it became the first company to offer support for Apple's CarPlay vehicle integration feature in five of its 2014 NEX in-dash multimedia receivers through a firmware update. Now, Josh Carr of technology repair firm Fix Denver (via TUAW) has put together a four-part video walkthrough of downloading, installing and using CarPlay on Pioneer's $700 AVH-4000NEX receiver, giving an overview of various apps and features.

Meanwhile, launching the Messages app allows users to compose a message and send it to a specific contact through Siri. Incoming messages can also be read back to the user, and can also be replied to. When showing the Spotify app, Carr notes that there is no way to search for songs and that its interface is generally buggy and unresponsive at this time. Apple Maps and its GPS directions appears to be as responsive as the iOS app, and also allows for routes to be read back to the user.

Early reviews of CarPlay from Consumer Reports and Australian technology EFTM gave the system positive reviews, saying that it was easy and safe to use because of exceptional Siri integration. Aside from the $700 AVH-4000NEX, Pioneer is also bringing CarPlay support to the $1400 AVIC-8000NEX, the $1200 AVIC-7000NEX, the $900 AVIC-6000NEX, and the $750 AVIC-5000NEX. CarPlay is also compatible with Pioneer's new $600 AppRadio 4 smartphone receiver.

CarPlay for supported Pioneer NEX in-dash systems is enabled through a free firmware update available on the manufacturer's website. The interface requires an iPhone 5 or later along with iOS 7.1 or newer.

Article Link: Video Walkthrough of Apple CarPlay on Pioneer Receiver Shows Siri, Phone, Maps, and More
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/10/09/carplay-videos-siri-maps-phone/
Save $5,000 on the upgrade option and just use your phones screen. What if I don't want to be trapped with iphone for 10 years?

Smart guys car play solution is built in bluetooh or

http://www.amazon.com/Kinivo-BTC450-Bluetooth-Hands-Free-Input/dp/B009NLTW60/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412853450&sr=8-1&keywords=kinivo
 
Omg the future is here.

Denver? Best place in the world? Never heard of it.
 
I really can't wait to see how this is going to work on Ford cars. The Pioneer deck looks nice, but I would like the ability to activate the system using the buttons on my steering wheel so that I don't have to look down and reach over to my stereo.
 
I would never pay several hundred dollars to have this put into my car, but if it became a standard in the industry, I sure wouldn't complain ...
 
Really hope using google maps is an alternative... I had another bad experience with apple maps right after installing iOS 8 so I still don't trust it.
 
Until I can display Waze on CarPlay, I'm sad to say I won't be bothering with this. It's so tempting, though, considering the functionality with Messages, Phone, Siri, and iTunes/music.

Furthermore, I can't see a point in purchasing anything but the 5000NEX (or AppRadio 4) if all you're looking for is CarPlay functionality. I mean, the high-end model has the slightly larger screen and different button layout, but for twice the price? Not worth it imho if every feature is already included on the "low" end.
 
Last edited:
chrisdazzo said:
Until I can display Waze on CarPlay, I'm sad to say I won't be bothering with this. It's so tempting, though, considering the functionality with Messages, Phone, Siri, and iTunes/music.

Furthermore, I can't see a point in purchasing anything but the 5000NEX (or AppRadio 4) if all you're looking for is CarPlay functionality. I mean, the high-end model has the slightly larger screen and different button layout, but for twice the price? Not worth it imho if every feature is already included on the "low" end.
Click to expand...

you can use Waze with AppRadio, am i wrong?
 
Gutwrench said:
Do you have a newsletter listing the cities and dates of your traveling comedy show?
Click to expand...
I hope he doesn't quit his day job

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So every time I need to update the receiver with a new firmware I got to stick a USB in? I think I'll wait for when they add Wi-Fi to these receivers so they can do over the air updates through the iPhone
 
chrisdazzo said:
Until I can display Waze on CarPlay, I'm sad to say I won't be bothering with this. It's so tempting, though, considering the functionality with Messages, Phone, Siri, and iTunes/music.

Furthermore, I can't see a point in purchasing anything but the 5000NEX (or AppRadio 4) if all you're looking for is CarPlay functionality. I mean, the high-end model has the slightly larger screen and different button layout, but for twice the price? Not worth it imho if every feature is already included on the "low" end.
Click to expand...

Could be the higher end units have different, better responsive touch screens?
 
Does the 'Hey Siri' feature work with CarPlay or do you have to touch the display to activate Siri?
 
wav said:
Does the 'Hey Siri' feature work with CarPlay or do you have to touch the display to activate Siri?
Click to expand...

Carplay requires your phone be plugged into the lightning port and you must unlock your phone for the carplay app interface to work. Yes, the Hey Siri command works.

There are a few issues I have found with it. When in your play list, there is no audible sound when you select a iTunes radio station, song, etc. There is also no tone when skipping songs. If you use the hardware buttons on the pioneer unit to skip, there is a sound.

There is also a problem with the interface opacity totally blanking out the album art when in the music app. The artwork is there, but the opacity is so dark, unless you are right on top of the stereo screen, you can not see it.
 
Just another way to separate people from their money, most consumers don't need a GPS often enough to justify this, though their phone already has it, what exactly is the appeal here, "safety", "convenience"? The guy doing the demo seemed pretty distracted by the device, I don't see how this beats having your iPhone 6 plus on some kind of mount on your steering wheel or elsewhere in your line of vision. I suppose the other big appeal is music, but if that and GPS are the main reasons to buy (most of the stuff you do on your iPhone shouldn't be done while driving anyway), it's not appealing to me.
 
nick42983 said:
Just another way to separate people from their money, most consumers don't need a GPS often enough to justify this, though their phone already has it, what exactly is the appeal here, "safety", "convenience"? The guy doing the demo seemed pretty distracted by the device, I don't see how this beats having your iPhone 6 plus on some kind of mount on your steering wheel or elsewhere in your line of vision. I suppose the other big appeal is music, but if that and GPS are the main reasons to buy (most of the stuff you do on your iPhone shouldn't be done while driving anyway), it's not appealing to me.
Click to expand...

So, by "most consumers don't need a GPS often enough to justify this" you meant that YOU don't need it? Because there's no freaking way in the world you know what I need.

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Donoban said:
Omg the future is here.

Denver? Best place in the world? Never heard of it.
Click to expand...

So sad for you... ;)
 
chrisdazzo said:
Until I can display Waze on CarPlay, I'm sad to say I won't be bothering with this. It's so tempting, though, considering the functionality with Messages, Phone, Siri, and iTunes/music.

Furthermore, I can't see a point in purchasing anything but the 5000NEX (or AppRadio 4) if all you're looking for is CarPlay functionality. I mean, the high-end model has the slightly larger screen and different button layout, but for twice the price? Not worth it imho if every feature is already included on the "low" end.
Click to expand...

One of the Waze updates from a few weeks ago (3.8 or 3.9 I believe) states that it now supports CarPlay... Is there something you've heard differently? I obviously can't test it since I don't have a CarPlay capable head unit... but I saw CarPlay on the update log and that's why I went out to do research about it. I didn't know what it was.
 
Why not just buy a iphone 6 plus, keep it plugged in and use the hey siri feature? Next have the cars hvac system be controlled by Bluetooth. Let's keep it simple.
 
sp3k0psv3t said:
Looks nice.

Pricey but nice.
Click to expand...

Pioneer NEX units have always been pricey. But it is nice of them to bring CarPlay to their older models via an update. You can get one of their older head units for $350-$400 which is not bad.
 
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