John__C

I have been playing with how to set up the infotainment and am just wondering where other folks have landed.

I suspect most use CarPlay as the primary interface. It does everything reasonable well. It isn't perfect though. One big negative for me, that clearly doesn't apply to everyone, is that the navigation directions do not show up in the Heads Up Display (as they do when using Navigation through the PCM). The other thing I don't really like about CarPlay is that you can't see the map and info on the current song at the same time. It's one or the other. I generally keep a map up at all times but like to also be able to glance and see what song is playing. I like the concept of the info panel on the right, but the integration leaves a lot to be desired (which is almost certainly due to Apple limitations rather than lack of forethought by Porsche). It would be far more useful if the "Media" tile in the PCM would display whichever media was currently active. Same with phone and text. Apple being Apple, I don't see them providing an API that would allow Porsche or anyone else to get content from CarPlay that could be displayed in a non-Apple UI. But eventually they will need to figure out how to provide content for additional displays, especially HUDS but also additional screens such as the info panel or even dashboard displays.

My other option would be to use PCM as my primary interface. It has the benefit of integrating navigation with the heads-up display. And I like leaving the main display on the map and still having the media displayed in the info panel, which works in PCM. It really is a fairly nice interface. Streaming music is a requirement, and they do have the ability to stream music from Amazon using Connect. It isn't a terrible solution, but there are issues. One oddity is that I apparently can't just use voice to play a specific song using Amazon music through the PCM. I don't do that often, but it is nice to have the option. The biggest downside is that it doesn't just keep playing from the playlist in use during the last trip. It takes a little while for everything to reconnect, so I am guessing it might be a timing issue but having to restart my music each time I enter the car is a huge pain. Mostly for that reason, I am leaning towards using CarPlay for music. The phone and text interfaces in PCM are also not as good as they are in CarPlay.

So at this point, I think I'm going to be using an amalgam of CarPlay for music, phone, and text, with PCM for Nav. This is where it sure would be nice to have the CarPlay song in the PCM info panel, but they aren't linked. The media just shows a song from Amazon that isn't playing. Unfortunately, the lack of integration makes most of the options in the info panel rather pointless. Phone and text just say they are handled through CarPlay. The CarPlay option is nothing more than a button to select that tab from the right side of the screen. I see why so many people ask for full screen CarPlay. Another minor disappointment with this solution is that if I just want a peek at whatl's playing, I can't even seem to switch back and forth between CarPlay and maps using voice. You must physically select the display page. That's silly. I can say "Show Map" and it even flashes me the map for half a second, but then goes right back to CarPlay.

As I said, after my various experiments, I suspect most people just use CarPlay for everything. My biggest reason for not using it for Nav is the lack of HUD integration, but I suspect HUD is an option that isn't widely selected. I'd love to hear what others use. Has anyone found a better option that I haven't yet discovered? Are there any integration tricks to help make any of these options easier? Especially with Amazon Music, I'd use that option for music and restrict CarPlay to phone/text only if I could get it to automatically start up each time I enter the vehicle (with bonus points if it would play voice requested songs). But if that is possible, I haven't yet figured it out.

Thanks for any tips & pointers you can provide.

dasams

I just finished another 4 hrs on the freeways and I use CarPlay and like it a lot. Here's how I use the systems.

1. I use the PCM Navi so that I can see the directions on the Head's Up display and/or in the small panel to the far left.
2. I display CarPlay on the PCM and track my progress and traffic using Google Maps.
3. I make sure that Waze is active as it'll give audio warnings even though the Waze map isn't displayed.
4. I display the Media source and program title on the right third of the PCM.
5. I have Siri read text messages via CarPlay.

This works great along with Active Lane Keep for freeway cruising.

John__C

Great info dasams. Thanks for all of that. I had not thought of having Waze provide audio warnings even though not displayed. That’s a great tip.

One question. What do you use as your primary audio source? Do you do streaming, and if so how do you have it set up?

Thanks.

daveo4porsche

Apple Carplay has a multi-panel display that show map + current song info - you just need to swipe right

agree with you however on the driving directions not showing up - so I use PCM for nav and Carplay for everything else.

dasams

For audio, I primarily use Sirius/XM. I have not even tried to stream so I'm not much help there..

icemang

How is the PCM nav at real-time traffic? Does it even provide it? I've used google maps for so long I haven't even tried the PCM nav.

dasams

Yes the PCM shows real time traffic on the Navi map but I don't know how accurate it is. I trust and use Google maps for traffic.

Russian Mafia

In my locale, the PCM navigator is horrible. It puts me more than a mile away from my actual destination 3 out of 4 times.