Entune iPhone App Quite A Mess - and Toyota Thinks I'm an Idiot

The PiP's NAV system thinks that I should only be allowed to see the map. If I press Audio, it will deign to show me the audio screen for a few seconds, then it returns me to the map (which it knows is the only thing I should be allowed to see).

I think there is a setting in the system that defaults to the map....you can change this.....

 

I agree about the radar screen popping up continuously...it's like fighting a war to keep the screen you want on display....so far I haven't found a workaround....maybe a software update from Toyota if enough of us complain?

 

Actually, they may have the evidence from the "black box" recorder in the car which records events leading up to the accident (as implied by an air-bag deployment?). But what exactly is recorded is a top secret at Toyota, and the box has to be sent to to their facility to extract the info, so it is not likely that anything that would help your case would be "found".

 

You can also click the "Map Mode" button, and select "Audio", to get a split screen with the map on the left and a (reformatted) Audio screen on the right. It took me a while to find this, since you have to turn the status bar on the bottom "On" to see the Map Mode button.

 

I agree with the PO. I would like to keep my eye on the road more. I find myself switching to get to a screen I want only to have it switch back to what Toyota's lawyers think is best for me. What did the focus group think about this? Please enable more settings in an update, so I can set my own defaults.

 

I would think lawyers trump focus group. If they were responsive to users in this area, they would provide an option to enable the various features that are disabled while in motion, rather than requiring after-market hardware to bypass the restrictions.

 

I'm sure glad I bought the basic model and don't have to deal with this stuff. Entune was bad enough until I simply turned it off. I have no need to check stocks, sports, gas prices, etc from my car, and my iPod gives me the music I like without some computer program selecting music I might like. The display shows the current tune and artist, and stays there. My wife thinks that's cool, but since they are my favorite songs, I already have that info in my head. And, having experienced dynamic cruise control on several other cars, such as Mercedes and Lexus, I'm happy to manage my own C/C, thank you.

 

What was your experience with the dynamic cruise control on the other makes? Like for sjsamdrake, it works great for me, allowing me to use cruise control in traffic conditions where manual cruise control would be impractical. Set a maximum speed and let it maintain a specified minimum distance to the car ahead, using regenerative braking to slow down as necessary.

 

We have DRCC in our 2004 Sienna. Personally I love it. The speedometer has a small LCD screen that shows the status of it including distance setting (short, medium, long), the set speed, and whether it has detected a car. I've rented a Gen III (non-PiP) that had DRCC in it. I seem to recall that the DRCC screen would come up when a state change occurred, but that it would go back to the previous screen after a short bit. I understand the OP's frustration, but if they are using DRCC in a situation where it is constantly switching back and forth from car detected to no car detected, then it sounds like it is in heavy traffic, and no sort of cruise control should really be used in that situation.

 

As the former owner of a 2005, I am so with you on this! What I really miss are the voice commands that used to be available with the Nav. Why, why, why, does Toyota want me to keep taking my eyes off the road to read useless lists of things and push buttons that I used to be able to control via voice?

Entune, as far as I can tell, is pretty useless. There's nothing there that I don't have on my phone already. I have no need to make dinner reservations, check stocks, or buy movie tickets while driving.

 

Using DRCC in light traffic conditions on our freeways, I found that cars in adjacent lanes on curves would cause my car to slow down, and then pick up speed again as the roadway straigtened out. I prefer to adjust my speed myself, whether by lifting off the throttle or toggling the C/C stalk if I need to slow down a bit, and then re-engaging it when the conditions warrant it. At times the DRCC systems I've experienced weren't as smooth in the transitions as I like to be. When I'm chauffeuring clients in their own cars, I'm trying to give them, as racing legend Jackie Stewart used to say in the Ford commercials, "smoothness and consistency." I have not driven a PHEV with DRCC, and it may work differently with the regenerative braking.

 

What screen do you need to see when DRCC is engaged? Its all mileage stuff that you are not in control of anyway.

And don't forget, you are driving the car. If you get into an accident with DRCC engaged, unless you can prove negligence against Toyota, you will be held liable. DRCC is a tool to help you drive, not a replacement.

Now here is a question, is there any way to turn off DRCC and just use a standard cruise control?

 

Yes, according to page 320 of the manual, you can activate "Normal" mode by turning CC on and pushing the CC stalk forward for about a second. This is the same way it operates in our 2004 Sienna. If you turn cruise control off and then back on, it will default back to DRCC mode.

 

Returning to the original thread subject, I finally put an END to Entune altogether. I uninstalled it from my phone. If Toyota thinks I'm an idiot, that's their problem. I can't recall seeing so much useless (to me) stuff on a car ever before. And on top of that, as the OP says, it's distracting to try to use the system. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is encouraging states to pass stricter laws against distracted driving, and the auto manufacturers are trying to put all the features of your desktop or laptop in your car. Go figure......

 

My only complaint about Entune on my phone is that a) I have to remember to plug it in to get data, and b) I have to periodically restart the Entune on the phone in order to get data to work. I find that the traffic info is very useful at times (though sometimes I question it's attempts to route me around traffic jams). While I haven't used the Fuel Prices app in the car itself, I have used the Fuel Prices app on the phone to find cheap gas for myself when I was in a different car, though I wasn't the one driving at the time. I've used the weather app a few times. The rest of the apps (Bing, Pandora, Sports & Stocks) I haven't tried. Pandora doesn't really interest me. Between the iPod function of my iPhone, the standard radio, and the satellite radio, I've got more than enough music to listen to.