There’s always a chance that something that’s supposed to work, won’t…
So, many – well most of you, actually – don’t know; but I was in a motor vehicle accident just after Christmas 2017. Someone lost control of their vehicle and smashed into the rear driver’s side door of my car on a very, busy US interstate highway during the evening rush hour, commute home. I spun out over three lanes of oncoming traffic and hit the wall, going about fifty (50) MPH (80.5 KPH), It wasn’t pretty; and I’m mending as well as could be expected.
Unfortunately, my car was totaled; and I was forced to purchase a new vehicle.
I purchased a 2014 Toyota Highlander XLE. It’s a nice vehicle; and much bigger and much more modern than the 2003 Camry LE that I was driving. The vehicle however, has a couple of foibles that I wasn’t completely aware of when I bought it. Unfortunately, for me, they all evolve around the entertainment system and my new, iPhone 8 Plus.
So, here’s the problem, in a nut shell – the Entune radio hardware and software won’t consistently mount the device. Because it won’t consistently mount the device, the vehicle’s USB port won’t read data from the device consistently, and won’t charge the phone consistently. When the USB port mounts the phone, everything works like you would expect it to. The problem is, as I stated, the radio won’t do that consistently.
I purchased my vehicle from the CarMax in Naperville, IL. When I noticed that the vehicle and my iPhone 8 Plus weren’t getting along, I took the vehicle back to CarMax’s Service department.
After spending a day on the vehicle, CarMax told me that my car simply wasn’t compatible with my phone. According to the vehicle’s owner’s manual, everything should work. However, CarMax – who said they called the local Toyota dealership – said THEY were told by Toyota, that the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus weren’t compatible with the Entune Radio in ANY Toyota vehicle.
So, I did what any good QA testing guy would do. I grabbed every iPhone I had in the house, my 8 Plus, my wife’s 7 Plus, my son in law’s iPhone 6 and my son’s iPhone 5s. As a matter of fact, NONE of them worked with my new car’s radio correctly. I couldn’t get it to work with any of the four different iPhone versions I had, with any of the Lightning cables I had (both MFI and non-MFI certified cables).
At that point, I contacted my local Toyota dealership.
They told me that everything should work. It was all compatible. While the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus weren’t specifically listed as compatible, I was told without a doubt they should work.
Toyota asked to see the vehicle.
My office is closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I have an appointment with a local Toyota Dealer to examine the car. According to them, the car either needs to have its software updated, or will need to have its software reflated to insure that everything is working correctly. If that doesn’t work, then we’re looking at either a USB port replacement or a full radio replacement, or both.
As I am writing this prior to the actual appointment, I will update everyone on the outcome, but at this point, you have to wonder how motor vehicle entertainment systems that come with your car work or continue to work as needed when you upgrade your phone. I mean, most cars last at least 10 years or more. How do you keep everything working correctly as your car ages? You’re likely to upgrade your phone at least five (5) times during a ten year period. Your car needs to keep working with the devices you have (or probably, more appropriately…); your devices need to keep working with your car as it ages.
This, among other things, will be asked of my Toyota service technician when I see them early Monday morning.
I will keep everyone posted…
The post It’s Supposed to be Compatible appeared first on Soft32 Blog.
There’s always a chance that something that’s supposed to work, won’t… So, many – well most of you, actually – don’t know; but I was in a motor vehicle accident just after Christmas 2017. Someone lost control of their vehicle and smashed into the rear driver’s side door of my car on a very, busy […]
The post It’s Supposed to be Compatible appeared first on Soft32 Blog.
2018-01-29T09:56:44.000Z[Collection]https://www.soft32.com/blog/iphone-2/its-supposed-to-be-compatible/#respond
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