Car GPS antenna re Carplay

signde · #11

I have an opposite take on CarPlay in regards to distracted driving. I have wireless CarPlay in every vehicle. When I get in a car I leave my phone in my pocket. An Apple phone can be set to automatically go do not disturb mode when connected to CarPlay (with some overrides for emergency contacts) so nothing comes through. If I really need to make a call or text, I just ask Siri to do it. Same with playing music, or navigating somewhere. "Hey Siri, navigate to X", "Hey Siri, play song X". It all just works and is about as distraction free as I can imagine.

blueline · #12

signde wrote: Wed Jul 19, 2023 10:21 am I have an opposite take on CarPlay in regards to distracted driving. I have wireless CarPlay in every vehicle. When I get in a car I leave my phone in my pocket. An Apple phone can be set to automatically go do not disturb mode when connected to CarPlay (with some overrides for emergency contacts) so nothing comes through. If I really need to make a call or text, I just ask Siri to do it. Same with playing music, or navigating somewhere. "Hey Siri, navigate to X", "Hey Siri, play song X". It all just works and is about as distraction free as I can imagine.

As I mentioned, many do it the way you are and like it that way. In addition, it's your profession and doing it otherwise would be counter-intuitive.

I don't, mainly due to the fact that I don't want to interact with much of anything outside of driving.

Another thing with me is that generally speaking (no pun intended), I detest voice controls. That's just me - it's a bit of an ingrained stubbornness to talking to a machine. I do so on occasion but begrudgingly. I prefer quiet and stealth.

If the public used their devices properly, as you are, then most of the distractions would be greatly reduced. Unfortunately, many (most?) outside of the kinds of people who populate car forums such as Carpokes or tech forums don't take the time to make everything work seamlessly. However, I will say that industry-wide/population-wide that appears to be improving somewhat.

As for music, SiriusXM has all I need when driving (at home too for that matter). They have a few outstanding stations where I can find more obscure tunes plus I have several commercial-free streaming stations that I listen to. Yeah, I have a massive home playlist with several thousand titles that continues to grow on a daily basis but I don't use it in the car.

J-Dub · #13

Great thread subject and great information. I also have had trouble with using google maps when my iphone is in carplay mode. The trouble is the GPS location is not accurate or drifts initially when I start to navigate, I have observed this both when my phone is in the center console or on the seat. If I unplug the phone the GPS on google maps is not having trouble. In other instances I have flipped the car screen to the PCM map and that does not seem to have issue with the GPS location however I will test this further.

grasmere · #14

@J-Dub

Precisely my experience, some good thoughts on here and I’ll be checking my OEM GPS
aerial when I’ve got time to get stuck in

julianm · #15

what is the easiest least-likely-to-damage-trim-pieces way for me to determine if I already have a GPS antenna?

I do not have Nav. but it’s a MY2023 with wired CarPlay.

J-Dub · #16

julianm wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2023 11:11 am what is the easiest least-likely-to-damage-trim-pieces way for me to determine if I already have a GPS antenna?

I do not have Nav. but it’s a MY2023 with wired CarPlay.

If you are willing to update the software on your radio, you can enable NAV and check to see if your can see satellites. It is a long read but i promise it is easier to do than it initially seems.

viewtopic.php?t=323

ReidMcT · #17

signde wrote: Wed Jul 19, 2023 7:06 am So if you are wired, it will prefer the car's GPS but can fallback to the phone's GPS.

This is completely consistent with my experience, and leads me to think about disabling the car's GPS, via GEM if possible, or by physically unplugging it if necessary.

Google Maps, which always knew my location when running on my S22, now gets confused when USB'd to Android Auto in the Cayman. And the confusion is matched by the onboard Navigation, so I figured they had a common source of error. But I also noticed the Google map sporadically snapping to my correct location for a few moments, before relenting into synchrony with onboard NAV.

The effect is to make Google maps as flaky as onboard NAV. I must fix this, and I have to think others have noted the same phenomenon.

Thank you, @signde, for providing so much explanation of things I've wondered - or been confused - about!!!

J-Dub · #18

Recently I have been unplugging the phone from the cable and plugging it back in and then the location seems to work properly again. I have experienced the drift both with Apple maps and Google maps. Just reset the location settings again and will observe if there is any improvement. The PCM nav does not have any drift.

ReidMcT · #19

J-Dub wrote: Sat Dec 30, 2023 1:11 pm The PCM nav does not have any drift.

Wow! It's famously bad, but you got a good one!

ReidMcT · #20

I'm going to try to force the system to use my mobile device's GPS. On my Samsung S22 I will:

1. Set Location permissions for Google Maps to 'Allow all the time'
2. Set Location permissions for Android Auto to 'Don't allow'

[EDIT]: It appears to be working as I'd hoped. I'll report back after I've spent more time driving.