grey67

I attempted to use carplay this morning and nearly killed myself. What an awful interface for non-touch screens. Anyone actually use it on their TTs? If so, any advice? I'm considering switching to Android so I can get Google maps rather than Apple's POS version. I may end up just using the MMI and BT connection with Google maps running in the background giving me directions while I use the MMI maps as my reference.

Jester7677

I use MMI and the Audi Nav. I couldn't put up with CarPlay and it took over control of the phone and MMI then could not control the phone. MMI is better IMO and I put my music Andre playlist on an SD card.

I run Waze in the background for its warnings, not the navigation.

grey67

I really wish car makers would just suck it up and contract with Google for mapping like Tesla does. I have never found an OEM map that comes close to Apple maps quality, forget about approaching Google maps. I rely so much on having Google available.

I'll probably follow your advice jester. Though it will annoy me having my idevice mounted in view when I have the virtual cockpit.

BlackOptic

I'm new to my TT and CarPlay, and have "given it a go" maybe three or four times. So far, not impressed. As you mention, it takes over some shortcuts and disables pretty simple functions on the MMI.... i don't think I can scroll as effectively to find my music... but the worse thing is that the music doesn't sound as clear when compared to an SD card. (Anyone else agree on music quality?)

grey67

I don't know that sound quality is any better/worse, but I was still playing around with the various audio-related settings available in the MMI (I think there are a couple hundred).

But Carplay is really kind of stupid in terms of automation and assistance overall. I can't believe it doesn't show album art (or at least I can't figure out how to turn that on). And you're right - it's hard to choose the right option. I need to spend a bunch of time just sitting in the car and playing with the MMI/MMI controls. Tried to do that driving 75 and learned not to do that real quick. :-)

vaiolation

Is it easy to switch back to MMI from CarPlay? I'm waiting for my car delivery and have no experience with CarPlay. I was looking forward to trying it out but based on your issues, I'm thinking MMI is the way to go.

BlackOptic

Good question. I just unplug from the "direct feed" compartment up front... and use the rear armrest compartment (with the cup holder), plugging into the 9v outlet.

grey67

In my brief time with Carplay, I found that you can use the left side topmost arrow keys to switch among the MMI screens and the Carplay screen. But as Jester put it, once you have Carplay activated, MMI isn't allowed to drive the phone, contacts, nav - basically you can use the info screens and that's about it. Maps will still display (if I recall).

To get rid of Carplay, just go to the Carplay settings and forget your car. Then you should be able to plug into the USB port in the phone compartment on the center console and use BT or Audi MMI to control the music.

I'm a bit OCD about my music play counts and as far as I can tell, playing music via the MMI interface does NOT count towards your iTunes play counts. So it's BT streaming for me from here on out.

I saw a guy who was able to put Waze into his Carplay app list and access it via the Carplay interface but I'm 99% sure he did that via jailbreaking. If that's the case, I'm seriously considering downgrading to 10.3.1 and jailbreaking my phone. If he could put Waze on there, he could probably put Google Maps on there too. That would be AWESOME.

f1point0

Carplay does take a little time to get used to, but once you do it works great, especially on shorter trips around town. CarPlay does the navigation and music and I use the top arrow keys on the left side of the steering wheel to access the wide map view for a global look at the traffic info based on the road colors.

I used CarPlay with Apple maps all through Europe during my ED and never had to break out the loaner GPS unit. Got really used to it and it performed quite well even in small little Italian and German villages.

When I don't need navigation, it's BT for music.

Jester7677

Sound quality... turn up the input volume in settings. It's somewhere in the sound settings. I think you have to have the source playing to find it.

SD is best, but BLuetooth wasn't horrible and I'm going to use it once the XM subscription ends.