Toyota can't read iPhone address or #'s

Another tech issue is that Toyota's phone/nav interface cannot read most of the iPhone phone numbers and addresses. Apparently the iPhone (and Outlook, Apple Contacts) offer too many categories for phone numbers and addresses and Toyota only reads one type of contact information entry.

Toyota does not publish how it wants the iPhone contacts info entered for Toyota to read it correctly for phone and nav applications.

I can probably reverse engineer it. Look at the 5% of contacts Toyota can read, note which fields are used in Outlook/Apple Contacts, and modify them to fit Toyota's limited read capability.

 

Definitely not working on 2012 system with iPhone 4 with latest IOS. Contacts are on iPhone but don't show at all or no phone number or address if they do show.

Might have to do with Nav ability to use the Phonebook contacts and Toyota went to reading just certain fields while iPhone contacts offers many fields and near free form address and Prius can't see them.

 

I wonder if it's the Nav/Phonebook interface (a great idea that my Escape Hybrid did not have) is the issue. In order to be usable for the Nav system, the Phonebook entries have to be a format that is not found on the phone's Phonebook.

Seems crazy no one from Toyota actually sat down with some of the popular phones and tried it out.

 

Same year and model for me.

There are a few it can read phone number. A few that it can read phone and address. But very few.

Some in the iPhone Contacts list it doesn't see at all.

Baffling.

Cars goes to Toyota tomorrow to fix XM issue. It can't do XM Nav Traffic or XM Nav Weather even though both are sold with the car and the XM radio.

XM says easy fix. That Toyota has to reprogram the radio. Hopefully they are right.

I'm going to squawk about the iPhone contacts for Prius phone and Prius nav and see what they can do.

 

So got answers at Toyota.

1. Phone book contacts are problematic. Some phones and carriers work, others don't and a lot are in between. Toyota reps said it has to do with the carrier not allowing the phone to give away the information. Likely for security reasons so Bluetooth hookup doesn't grab the customers contact list. Though this was not an issue with my Ford Escape phone but then Ford nav system could not see the Phonebook contacts at all and all these had to be entered manually as stored contacts.

Only work around on contacts is put them by hand in "Stored" on the Prius for both nav location and for phone number if they are one of the contacts that does not transport from phone to car.

2. On XMNavTraffic, only the 7" HDD unit is capable of "XM Dataservices" which is XMNavTraffic. The 6" units can't do it. You can get traffic via your phones internet connection and Entunes but not the XMNavTraffic even though Toyotay gives you free subscription.