Entune: Is it totally useless or am I doing something wrong?

Have you tried Toyota Online Owners Manuals and Service Manuals and selecting your car in the upper right?

BTW, you might want to update your user info if you no longer have an 07 Prius...

 

1. Traffic interface with nav, showing traffic, warning and rerouting.

2. Bing interface with nav, allows you to search on web and then navigate to it, or call or save address for later.

3. Pandora if you want it. Can be a nice change of pace.

On Entunes having to be running on the phone. I don't think so. The Prius has a spot to enter your Entunes ID and PWD. If your phone/car make the internet connection it seems to provide Traffic, Bing, Pandora without the application running on the phone. Slightly more convenient if you don't have to manually start Entunes on the phone.

Overall a useful car nav/internet application.

 

I got my Prius PHV 4 days ago, and have been loving it. I downloaded Entune to my iPhone 4S, but wasn't able to make a connection between phone and car, even though the app was running.

Finally I saw where someone said that in order to use the iPhone in the car, it has to be tethered; I did that and it immediately worked. Pandora sounds just fine, the other apps work as well; I wish I could go untethered, since I keep an iPod in my car with my audio collection on it, but this will work fine for me.

 

Longterm,

You can get the Bluetooth tethering to work on the iPhone 4s if you have a tethering plan through [email protected] if your iPhone is jailbroken.

-M

 

I noticed my bluetooth tethering to my 4g network is...strange.

The first time I set it up it was perfect. yesterday afternoon it told me I could not connect. This morning I could not connect. Same phone, area settings etc etc.

I have a feeling the ap on the phone is not listening properly when I'm in range of the car.

Perhaps the first time I set it up I was connected via USB cable...Cant remember. Does Entune tether/get internet via bluetooth?

 

Traffic info comes from the Entune data service. XM Sat. radio's free trial is three months, not years. Entune's apps and data service are free for three years. After that, you have to pay Toyota a monthly fee. It's a small fee, but of questionable value, IMHO.

 

Ok, I have tried to find help in the manual but no such luck so I thought I would ask you all.. I hooked my iPhone up originally with the cord to use Entune. That worked fine for a couple of days, then stopped working and says it has no Internet connection at all now?

 

I have mentioned this before in various posts ... make sure you have an OEM (Apple) usb cord. For some reason a lot of the aftermarket ones don't transfer data at a high enough rate. I did buy a Belkin one and that seems to work also.

If that doesn't work, make sure your entune version is 1.84. If not, go to the dealer and get it upgraded for free.

Since I did both of these things I haven't had any problems. Sometimes when I get in the car, my iPhone won't play right away like it usually does, so I just make sure that entune is running.

Good Luck!!!

 

I am using the USB cord that came with the phone so that isn't it. How do I check what version entune I have?

 

Setup (button)> General > double down arrow (twice) > System Information > Software Version: 1.8.4

I did this from memory (car to computer) so it may not be exactly correct, but you get the general idea.

 

I bought a C2 instead of a C3 simply because Entune and the GPS seemed so poor during my extended test drive.
A GPS with lifetime map updates and live traffic info from Garmin is under $200 and can move to my other vehicle. I have always loved Garmin and even the dealer agreed the built in GPS has a horrible user interface.
I can stream Pandora and do anything else I need to without Entune and the C2 radio sounds great. The bigger "system" screen would have been pretty, but not worth the extra $ to me.

 

Entune seems pretty slow and horrible to use compared to most phones. Just connecting them though bluetooth to the radio seems much better. Ive used over 8 different phones in my c so far. Entune worked ok on the oldest of them other then that just bluetooth worked miles better. Maybe im just used to how the phones work and not the car yet. I know I prob dont use it for enough either to make it worth paying for it either compared to just nav on my phone and pandora connected though bluetooth.

 

On other vehicles with satellite radio, the traffic information comes from the satellite, not via an app through your cellphone. I guess the Prius entertainment system just wasn't designed to use that so that people would be forced to use Entune if they wanted traffic info? I have heard nothing but bad things about Entune.

 

Here's possibly an even dumber question. How useful is the Entune system if you don't have a phone? (actually I do have one but it was issued by my company for business use and it's neither Android nor iPhone). Will anything work or is a connectable phone a mandatory requirement?