Nav stinks...

I made damn sure my 2014 MGM had navi. even drove to Vegas to get it. never use it its such a PITA. my 06 had Kenwood with Garmin and that was so easy to use. now I use my phone, unless I have no signal, then I resort to navi but have to stop and waste like 5 minutes just to get the address in, screen has so much cluter and I cant seem to get it the way I want it. later on I do plan on selling it and getting another Kenwood.

 

I'd be curious to see the demographics of those that claim the navi is not intuitive, difficult to use, and doesn't work. I've never had a problem with mine and find it extremely easy to use. What about it makes it a PITA for you? Do you find normal computer use difficult? It may be simply a technological barrier that some folks may need to overcome.

 

I don't find it non-intuitive. I find it clunky and hard to use compared to an app on my phone. When I'm driving I can say "Google, navigate to Ritter's Pub" and it will figure it out and start navigating. The one in my dashboard requires me to first figure out where Ritter's pub is by address and then come to a complete stop so I can enter it. If I try to use their voice search - it's just not as good. It takes a couple steps where I alternately have to say stuff or poke an option on the screen. Pesky. Error prone.

A good example - Google knows one of the bridges in my area is out - it knew 2 days after they closed it and routes me around the construction. THe one in my dash keeps on saying "turn right at the end of the road, re-routing... " and interrupting sweet tunes I'm jamming to. Another - I was trying to get to a Marina I've never been to. I say "Google, navigate to the Sundown Marina at Epic Lake" and I'm wrong. It says "Did you mean the Sunset Marina at Epic Lake?" the one in my truck routes me to the Sundown Marina 3700 miles away in NM at some other lake because it's speech engine has no AI component.

The same goes for pretty much all the other features of the system - they are not hardened by the billions of users that vet google/waze and other tools and updated weekly to actively improvethem or fix bugs. They are bought and made to work for the comparatively small number of Toyota owners who got it with a package.

So, while it's not the worst navigation in the world, it's second best by a fairly large margin to the one in my pocket.

 

Google maps will transmit turn by turn directions over the radio via Bluetooth. That's what I use due to the nav in the truck sucking so bad. It's taken me in circles a few times.

 

Here is what i dont like about it. I like using split screen with the map on the left and upcoming turns on the right. First off, it doesnt always save into this mode. I often have to change it to this mode every couple times i use it. Whats most annoying though is that when im coming up on a turn, the right side of my split screen shows a graphic of the turn, rather than the the turn list, which i want to stay. My preferred way i can see the graphic of the turn on the left, and the names of the streets im turning on on the right. That pop up has screwed me a couple times because in San Diego the turns can be kinda weird coming on and off the freeway etc.

 

Tacomas still have a MAP pocket behind the passenger backrest!! Wink Wink...Hint Hint!

LOL JK

 

Toyota is extremely arrogant when it comes to Entune. Which is odd since other manufacturers are embracing Android Auto and CarPlay.

Luckily for Toyota at least for now, a cars infotainment system isn’t part of the car decision making process for the majority of buyers. However that will change as technology continues to advance and we become even more ingrained into either Google's or Apple's ecosystem. So naturally you would want to continue to have that experience in the car as well.

With that said; Toyota is a smart company, so I don't expect this stubbornness to last too long

 

Apply play works great! Subaru is coming out with some apps that work on both the infotainment screen and your phone. The problem is the technology changes so fast, the manufactures can't keep up with it. When we bought our Lexus their technology specialist told us they are behind 4 years. Also the mapping software is a good 1-2 years behind. IE, buying 2017 mapping software gets you 2015 and possibly a tad of 2016 roads.

 

My main complaint is that it doesn't put the road names on the roads at appropriate times or locations so it's hard to use it just as a map vs. navigating with it.

 

Just did an Entune update and now Google maps wont work by bluetooth WTH!

 

How did you do the Entune update? This is the current version on my Entune Plus - is there something later out?

 

It was an over the air update. Just showed up yesterday