Does anyone know why they took out all the prime apps? Just wondering if anyone knew for sure. I called the Toyota Help number and she didn’t know why. She came back on the line after a few minutes and said something about they listened to the wants and needs of the customers. Remote AC is not very useful to me, I have to be about 30 feet away. I would like to be able to use the mobile WiFi service (I assume the receiver is installed for SOS. And remote charging control would be nice. Will that be something that aftermarket programmers could fix? Does anyone know who could be contacted at Toyota to get the definitive answer?
The mechanisms that support the Prius Prime apps haven’t been well explained in Toyota’s publications, and it’s not clear to me why Toyota might have decided to change the design. I assume they know how many customers have been counting sheep or using the other remote features on the earlier Prius Prime models. That’s unlikely, at least with the built-in telematics transceiver (DCM). For security reasons—see the text under “Private Network” on page 5 of Toyota’s Connected Vehicle Services Privacy and Protection Notice (PDF)—and because anything that causes the DCM to send or receive more data would also increase Toyota’s costs for the mobile service, I’d expect fairly tight controls on what the DCM can access over the mobile network. I suppose a third-party device with its own cellular modem could be connected to the relevant CAN buses on the car, but as far as I know, none of the message formats or other interface information needed for remote monitoring or control has been published, so some reverse engineering would be required. Considering the limited size of the market, I’m not sure this would be an attractive business. I doubt there is anyone who would provide one; Toyota’s media contacts might answer if the question were posed by a journalist. I’d be glad to learn otherwise and don’t mean to discourage you, but if you write in, expect to receive the polite, form-letter version of the answer from the call center.
I like @“Tideland Prius” explanation for this: Toyota hasn’t integrated the connected services in the 11.6” screen with Apple CarPlay. Maybe a redesign is coming in 2021. iPad ? Pro
With the pre-2020 models, the Prime Apps and Safety Connect have nothing to do with WiFi. There is a cellular modem in the car that works with the systems in the car, and it can make or receive a low speed cellular data connection with a server. The Prime Apps on the user's smartphone use their Internet connection (cellular, Wifi, whatever) to talk to that server, and the server can then call the cellular modem in the car to perform operations or get info, and relay that information to the phone app. This is all completely unrelated technology-wise to the Entune Media applications, which have been replaced by Apple CarPlay in the 2020 model. I don't know for sure, and I should be corrected if I am wrong, but I think that with the 2020, the built-in cell phone can handle cellular data at a sufficient speed to deal with media, so it isn't dependent on the user's phone's Internet service, as was the case pre-2020.
As expected no real help from Toyota customer service: Dear Mr. Hicks, Thank you for contacting Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. We are sorry to learn of your dissatisfaction of the removal of Prime Apps on the 2020 Toyota Prime Limited. We apologize as information on the future model of the Prius Prime is currently unavailable. Toyota will release information such as styling, specifications, features and options closer to the launch date. We currently do not have a tentative release date. You can sign up for the latest updates with our RSS Feed and/or receive email alerts when new information is posted in the Toyota USA Newsroom. We appreciate your feedback, as genuine consumer insight serves as a primary and rich resource regarding our product quality and customer expectations. Toyota researches the market in advance in effort to place the highest quality vehicles possible on the road. We do so through conducting interviews, issuing surveys, and maintaining focus groups, among other actions. However, there is no better source than a vehicle owner who takes time to share valid insight. Toyota respects your opinions on the matter, and we have documented your comments at our National Headquarters, where they remain available for review from the appropriate departments. It is through feedback such as yours we are able to monitor and improve upon the quality of our products and services. Your email has been documented at our National Headquarters. If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us. Sincerely, Kristy C. Toyota Customer Experience Center
sounds almost exactly like the email I got from them about a month ago when I asked about it. Totally useless
