If you drive a Volvo, you will have a change in your car without going to the garage. The Swedish manufacturer uses a new function of Apple CarPlay to transform one of the screens of its cars under Android Automotive.
Like our smartphones, modern cars now receive updates over the air, which can change many settings, as we have seen recently at Audi. While some changes are minor, others sometimes change quite significantly driving experience, as Volvo customers will see.
Volvo focuses on Apple CarPlay
The latest update from the Swedish manufacturer brings real changes in the operation of the infotainment system and the instrument cluster as can be seen in the press release. It concerns Apple CarPlay, and in particular its Apple Maps navigation system. Now, this navigation and guidance application can be displayed directly on the instrumentation screen facing the driver. This was not the case before, and this will undoubtedly make the use of the application a lot more agreable.
Volvo indicates that “other navigation apps” can also be displayed on the instrumentation screen. But in the absence of more precise information, we do not know if Waze, which can be downloaded directly to Volvos and which therefore does not necessarily depend on CarPlay, is also affected.
Driving aids that are easier to adjust
This remote update includes other CarPlay improvementssuch as the arrival of information relating to telephone calls on the instrument cluster, or the display of new multimedia data on the touch screen, which for example makes it possible to change music more easily.
The possibility of activating or not the automatic folding of the mirrors when locking the car is also part of the novelties. In addition, the driver can now manage driving aids directly from the buttons on the steering wheel.
Volvo also mentions ” Minor engine calibration optimizations and bug fixes », without giving further details. The impact of these changes should therefore be barely perceptible.
Improvements that benefit electric Volvos
The update is free and available on Volvos with the operating system Android Automotive with integrated Google. This particularly convincing on-board software, as we noted in our test, is present on several models, such as the electric XC40 and its coupe derivative, the C40. The new EX90, which will be the flagship of the electric range, will also benefit from it, as will the future Volvo EX30, no doubt.
This update proves that Apple has made CarPlay evolve a lot in recent months, since the announcement of the major overhaul with the arrival of iOS 16. The objective: to occupy a much larger space than the only screen of car infotainment. However, Volvo is not the first manufacturer to integrate Apple Plans on the instrument cluster of cars, since BMW is also doing it with the i4.
It should be noted, however, that Google Maps could already be displayed on the instrumentation screen of Volvos under Android Automotive. And this is even more important, since it is thanks to Google Maps that the Volvo electric route planner works.
In parallel with OTA (over the air) updates, which are generally free, manufacturers are beginning to offer paid remote improvements, sometimes in the form of a subscription. On some models, BMW, for example, charges 20 euros per month to activate the heated front seats. A practice to say the least debatablewhich Volvo does not particularly like.
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