Positive experience with Carista app.

Carista is an app that allows you to change various options on your car yourself, that you'd normally need to take your car to the dealer (which may or may not incur a charge) to do.

I've seen some mixed reviews on Google Play, and seen people who are hesitant to use it as they're understandably wary of modifying restricted settings.

I already had a cheap ELM327 Bluetooth ODB adapter that I've had for a few years for use with the Torque app. It worked perfectly with Carista.

I literally just plugged the adaptor into the Prius Gen 4 ODB port, turned the ignition on, launched the app on my phone, and told it to find what customisation options were supported. There are quite a lot. Some of which you can already change via the car's own settings menu, but a lot more that you can't.

The changes I made were to change the reverse beep from continuous to a single beep, activate roll down/up of windows with long press of key fob unlock/lock button, single beep when doing that too, reduce volume of parking sensor beeps when stationary or moving away from objects, and a couple of others I've forgotten.

When trying to change something for the first time, it does require payment. I chose £8.99 for 1 week, but there is also one around 3x that cost for 1 year.

Turned ignition off, unplugged ODB adaptor, and tested the new settings... All works fine!

If anyone wants screenshots of what can be customised let me know.

 

No problem... Here's a list of the customisable options it can find. The Advanced Features Carista can access on other cars (none of which are accessed via the ODB port and/or aren't applicable on a Prius) are things like setting the service reminder interval, opening your electronic parking brake for servicing, counts of things like how many times Launch Control has been used, reading ECU firmware version, etc.

Here's a list of all of the settings that can be changed on my 2017 4th Gen Prius Excel (UK). The option surrounded by *s on each setting is what I currently have my Prius set to, and may or may not be the default:

Doors / Windows / Remote:

Wireless door locking
*ENABLED* / DISABLED

Blink turn signals when locking/unlocking with remote
*YES* / NO

Beep when opening/closing windows with remote
*YES* / NO

Warn (beep) when door can't be locked because it's still open
*YES* / NO

Ding when key is left in the car
*ENABLED* / DISABLED

Ding when key is out of the car and ignition is on
*YES* / NO

Warn (beep) when a window is still open when locking doors
*YES* / NO

Warn (beep) when sunroof is still open when locking doors
*YES* / NO

Re-lock doors automatically if you unlock, but don't open a door within…
*30 SECONDS* / 60 SECONDS / 120 SECONDS

After locking with smart key, don't allow re-opening within…
0.5 SECONDS / 1.5 SECONDS / *2.5 SECONDS* / 5 SECONDS

Smart key location to start car
FRONT SEATS / *ANYWHERE IN VEHICLE*

Open trunk via smart access button
DISABLED / DOUBLE CLICK / *LONG PRESS*

Open windows and sunroof by holding key in door lock
ON / *OFF*

Close windows and sunroof by holding key in door lock
*ON* / OFF

Open windows and sunroof via long-press on remote
*ON* / OFF

Close windows and sunroof via long-press on remote
*ON* / OFF

Open driver's window using single button press
*YES* / NO

Close driver's window using single button press
*YES* / NO

Open passenger's window using single button press
*YES* / NO

Close passenger's window using single button press
*YES* / NO

Open rear left window using single button press
*YES* / NO

Rear-left window single-touch-close
*YES* / NO

Open rear right window using single button press
*YES* / NO

Rear-right window single-touch-close
*YES* / NO

Passenger window single-touch-open from driver's switch
*YES* / NO

Passenger window single-touch-close from driver's switch
*YES* / NO

Rear-left window single-touch-open from driver's switch
*YES* / NO

Rear-left window single-touch-close from driver's switch
*YES* / NO

Rear-right window single-touch-open from driver's switch
*YES* / NO

Rear-right window single-touch-close from driver's switch
*YES* / NO

Auto fold side-view mirrors (req. power folding mirrors)
WITH IGNITION / *WITH DOOR LOCKS* / DISABLED



Instruments / Display / Dings:

Engine start indicator
*ON* / OFF

Display odometer after ignition is turned off for…
*30 SECONDS* / 1 MINUTE / 10 MINUTES / OFF

Reverse-gear beep
*BEEP ONCE* / KEEP BEEPING WHILE IN REVERSE

Ding when headlights are left on
*YES* / NO

Seat belt warning ding (driver)
*ENABLED* / DISABLED

Seat belt warning ding (front passenger)
*ENABLED* / DISABLED

Seat belt warning ding (rear passengers)
*ENABLED* / DISABLED

Turn signal click volume
LOW / MEDIUM / *HIGH*

Lane-change turn signal auto-flasher count
OFF / *3 FLASHES* / 4 FLASHES / 5 FLASHES / 6 FLASHES / 7 FLASHES

Remote low battery warning
*ON* / OFF

Front parking sensor range
NARROW / *WIDE*

Rear parking sensor range
NARROW / *WIDE*

Mute parking sensor when stationary for more than 3 sec.
YES / *NO*

Lower parking sensor beep volume when stationary for more than 3 sec.
DON'T CHANGE VOLUME / *1* / 2 / 3

Lower parking sensor beep volume when moving away from objects
DON'T CHANGE VOLUME / *1* / 2 / 3

Parking sensor beep volume
1 / 2 / *3* / 4 / MAX

Side parking sensor range
SHORT / *LONG*

Disable temporary muting of parking sensor above…
AUTOMATIC / 15 KM/H / *20 KM/H* / 30 KM/H

Activate parking sensors in neutral (N)
*YES* / NO

Auto-turn off parking display when moving away from obstacles
*YES* / NO



Lights:

Coming-home lights duration
*30 SECONDS* / 60 SECONDS / 90 SECONDS / 120 SECONDS

Auto headlights activation threshold
DARKEST / DARKER / NORMAL / *LIGHTER* / LIGHTEST

Instrument lights dimming sensitivity
DARKEST / DARKER / *NORMAL* / LIGHTER / LIGHTEST

Instrument lights restoring sensitivity
DARKEST / DARKER / *NORMAL* / LIGHTER / LIGHTEST

Dim interior lights after…
7 SECONDS / *15 SECONDS* / 30 SECONDS

Turn on interior lights when you shut off engine
*YES* / NO

Turn on interior lights when you unlock doors
*YES* / NO

Turn on interior lights when smart key in range
*YES* / NO

Interior footlight (bright when doors open, dim when driving)
*YES* / NO

Turn on interior door-handle & center console lights dimly (flood lights) when ignition is on and shifter is not in park (P)
*YES* / NO

Interior light control
*ENABLED* / DISABLED



Heater & A/C:

Ambient temperature calibration
-3°C / -2°C / -1°C / *NORMAL* / +1°C / +2°C / +3°C

A/C ECO mode
*ENABLED* / DISABLED

A/C compressor noise reduction
ENABLED / *DISABLED*

S-Flow function
*ENABLED* / DISABLED

Open air flow to footwell when AUTO button pressed
*YES* / NO

Auto-increase blower speed when front defroster is on
*YES* / NO

Auto-turn on recirculate mode when A/C is on
YES / *NO*

Open vents to outside air when ignition is turned off
*YES* / NO

Fan speed reaches its target…
SLOWLY / *NORMALLY* / FAST



Other:

Default distance for Pre-Collision System (PCS) alarm when the PCS switch is turned off and back on
*FAR* / REMEMBER LAST DISTANCE

Default distance for Pre-Collision System (PCS) alarm when the ignition is turned on with the PCS switch off
*FAR* / REMEMBER LAST DISTANCE

Default distance for Pre-Collision System (PCS) alarm when the ignition is turned on with the PCS switch on
FAR / *REMEMBER LAST DISTANCE*

Pre-Collision System (PCS) sensitivity: remember last state
ENABLED / *DISABLED*

Stop monitoring for car key signal after…
5.0


Obtained with Carista 3.6.4 for Android.

 

Yep. That's a feature I've had for several years on previous cars, and I was hoping to find the option with Carista. Alas, we don't have it here in the UK on the Prius either.

SM-T813 ?