Every once in a while I’m pleasantly surprised when tech works (mostly) as expected without a lot of frustration involved. When driving, I frequently hook up my phone to the car. I do this so I can view the map as part of the dashboard display.
Learning how to use it was seamless. And easy! It works (almost) perfectly. When I plan a trip using my phone, I’m able to add multiple stops. This way I can move around the stops to plan the most efficient route. However, when I sync the phone to the car, one of two things happens.
- The trip planning from the phone disappears. This means I have to re-enter all my stops.
- I still haven’t figured out how to add in more than one stop. This means I have to complete one stop before entering in the next one.
I’m sure it’s possible, but I haven’t figured out which setting controls this.
Managing Audio Controls
I love listening to the radio when I’m driving. Or podcasts. I haven’t yet discovered the magic of audible books, but I’m sure I would love them if I drove on a regular basis.
Initially when I synced my phone to the car, I assumed the radio volume would automatically lower, or stop, when I received navigation instructions. However, this wasn’t the case. It was pretty annoying to hear radio and directions simultaneously. Luckily my keen orchestra-trained ears were able to keep them separate. But still, it was very annoying.
I also love listening to podcasts. Recently I discovered if I play a podcast from my phone through the car’s audio, then the podcast will pause when I receive directions.
The podcast and radio, will also pause if I listen (and reply to) an incoming message. It seems strange to me that the audio adjusts for two types of interruptions, but not all of them. It only pauses for the ones coming directly from my phone. However, since the phone is syncs to the car, I would have thought the radio would also pause, or lower, when I’m receiving directions.
The whole experience has been seamless and satisfying. The best part is I can now listen to my podcasts when there’s nothing good playing on the radio.