I have a 2016 Prius with the premium Entune system. I have the Entune app on my iPhone, and have linked my Pandora account. I like the way Pandora works in Entune, and use it all the time. When it works, that is. About every two days I start Pandora via Entune and... It won't connect. It tries for a couple of minutes then gives one of several errors, all of which can be summed up by: You aren't getting Pandora right now, sorry. The only fix I've found is to go into the Entune App on the iPhone, disconnect from the car, unlink my Pandora account, re-link my Pandora account, reconnect to the car, and then launch Pandora in Entune. After doing that it will work fine again for a day or two before randomly failing and requiring me to apply the fix. Needless to say this is getting aggravating. I've emailed Toyota today, but also wanted to ask the PriusChat collective. Does anyone else have this issue? If so, has anyone found a permanent fix? Or know why it happens?
I have more drop out when I use the Toyota entire Pandora, I simply open Pandora on the phone and then have the car play the Bluetooth connection, still some drop outs but few.
The most recent Entune update broke the Pandora interface on the premium Entune in our 2012 Prius v Five. Slacker and iHeart still work though. I'm very disappointed since I subscribe to Pandora and it's mainly what I listen to when I'm in the Prius.
I've had the same problem with Pandora, as does my FIL, who also has a 2016 4 Touring. We have different Android phones, so I don't think the problem is related to the phone. It used to be fairly intermittent, maybe once or twice a week. I installed the software update to my car this week, hoping, "maybe this will fix the problems with Pandora." It's even worse now. I think I've successfully connected twice in the last week, never automatically. None of my work-arounds are working now. I have tried disconnecting Entune and reconnecting manually, restarting my phone, turning Bluetooth off and back on. I've even tried restarting the car, deleting and reconnecting the phone to the car, and deleting and re-installing Entune on my phone. Sure, I can turn start the Pandora app on my phone and connect through Bluetooth, but I prefer the seamless integration that Entune is supposed to provide. When I first got this car, I was really excited at how Pandora opened automatically and quickly started playing. It was a great improvement over my prior 2013 Prius. I pay enough for this car, I expect it to work like it's supposed to. I've e-mailed Toyota, and I'm hopeful that they can give me an answer.
After much research, I ditched Pandora and went with Slacker radio. If you go with the paid plan ($4/mo), you get to stream at 360kbps (vs. Pandora's 64kbps max) and that's a difference you can definitely hear. You can also download the music as well (like Spotify). And its library size is something like 13M songs (vs 1M for Pandora). It's only been about a week, but connection appears to be much more stable than Pandora--I haven't had it fail on me yet. Overall I'm much more satisfied with Slacker radio than Pandora.
My Android just notified me of an update for Entune today. Haven't installed it, but the update note says that it fixed Pandora connection errors and other bugs. I'm assuming there may be something for iOS as well...
Hi bachxstar, I noted your android updated and I thought the G4Prii was apple compatible. My phones are Nexus so could you tell me how they connect best and what of any mirroring you get?
Sorry, I meant I am assuming there is an update FOR iOS as well. I connect the phone and car via Bluetooth and the Entune app on your phone should start automatically (most of the time I have to start the Entune app on my phone manually), but once it connects, I haven't had any issues with Pandora. I then use Pandora from the App suite on the car's touchscreen to play Pandora stations/thumbs up while driving. I think that's what you were asking...if not, let me know and I'll try again, lol. Anyways, the recent update for the phone Entune app did not prompt the car's Entune app to update this morning. Might have been just a bug with the phone app that was causing connection issues...
Thanks, that's great to know. I don't have my car till sometime in November but you guys are a great source of useful information.
I have the identical problem that you described with my 2016 Prius Four. I called Toyota who said to visit a Toyota dealer. The dealer has no resolution and refuses to put anything in writing that they are unable to repair this issue. More info on this and other 2016 Gen 4 electronic issues posted here: Did Toyota delete the mph/kph selection in the speedometer of your US 2016 Prius? | PriusChat
I've got a brand new Prime and am having these same Pandora issues. It's just times out when trying to connect. I was only successful once in getting it to connect. I guess it's goodbye Pandora and hello Slacker Radio.
