All things Infotainment

[Meonstoke]

I thought it may be useful to create a dedicated thread to Infotainment topics. That way, over time, all related issues, thoughts, ideas, and news on the Infotainment theme can build up over time. Rather than search through literally hundreds of pages across dozens of threads to pick up various snippets of intel...

To Kick-off, I'll re-post the intel on how to get rid of the "static' radio noise when you re-start the car (for the original Infotainment version):

"If the weather is good I'll take her out this weekend for a spin, and I'll re-try the source options. The thing is I never listen nor select the radio source options (AM/FM/DAB). I only ever select the other media source options and then select bluetooth for TIDAL or for internet radio. But every time I stop the car and re-start it, I get the AM Radio option back by default, and never the AUX. I'll have another go to try to work out what's going on"

Coming back to the irritation of the older infotainment system defaulting to AM when you re-start the car; even though you were on Bluetooth when you shut down the engine. I finally spent some time going through the manuals during my spin in the car today, and playing around with the menu options. Here's what I found:

• BCR is indeed correct; if you select AUX but then immediately select (and stay on) Bluetooth; the car defaults to AUX when you re-start the car - so, no annoying (radio) static noises! I have also placed AUX on "Quiet' mode for good measure, not sure what that means nor what "Normal" mode means for AUX though...

If you select FM and then go on to select Bluetooth, the default on engine start up will be FM and - again - static noises.(So, same result as if AM was selected). Mind you, I have not yet made any radio station pre-selects - so this could also perhaps remove the static on Start-Up? I'll look into that later.

• Alex and others, also correct - by simultaneously moving the plus/minus controls towards you (on media source unit attached under the steering wheel) you go directly on MUTE. It's instant and very easy and handy.

[timbo999]

I discovered that if you set 'traffic signs' on and 'risk alert' on in the Sat Nav you get a beep as you approach speed cameras and can see them on the Sat Nav.

Maybe that everyone else knew that but I didn't.

[bcr5784]

timbo999 said:

I discovered that if you set 'traffic signs' on and 'risk alert' on in the Sat Nav you get a beep as you approach speed cameras and can see them on the Sat Nav.

Maybe that everyone else knew that but I didn't.

Is that with the upgraded infotainment? The earlier version had something similar - but it didn't do anything. I uploaded some POIs with speed cameras on mine - but again it didn't do anything.

[Portti]

timbo999 said:

I discovered that if you set 'traffic signs' on and 'risk alert' on in the Sat Nav you get a beep as you approach speed cameras and can see them on the Sat Nav.

Maybe that everyone else knew that but I didn't.

I have a 2022 A110 with upgraded infotainment and after picking up the car from Belgium I was wondering what are those strange occasional beeps coming from somewhere. Only when I got home to Finland I realized that the beeps do actually warn about the approaching speed cameras.

So, the speed camera warnings have been there on my car since the beginning by default and I haven't done any setting changes etc. to get them.

[timbo999]

bcr5784 said:

Is that with the upgraded infotainment? The earlier version had something similar - but it didn't do anything. I uploaded some POIs with speed cameras on mine - but again it didn't do anything.

Yes, mine's a 2023 car and the options weren't set by default, I had to set them.

[LE62NDE]

I've started a thread on my silent satnav but will continue it here. I thought that the problem was caused by mySpin on my phone and/or my phone being connected to the car's USB socket. So I deleted mySpin from the phone. All seemed well -I could hear the satnav directions- but this morning I had muted the radio before inputting the destination and once again I had the map + blue route line, distance and journey time etc. -but no voice.
Does the infotainment update online, or do I need to visit the dealership?

[Meonstoke]

LE62NDE said:

I've started a thread on my silent satnav but will continue it here. I thought that the problem was caused by mySpin on my phone and/or my phone being connected to the car's USB socket. So I deleted mySpin from the phone. All seemed well -I could hear the satnav directions- but this morning I had muted the radio before inputting the destination and once again I had the map + blue route line, distance and journey time etc. -but no voice.
Does the infotainment update online, or do I need to visit the dealership?

I think you will need to go via your dealership. I had my infotainment system re-set (for free) as part of the 1st year Service - to solve too frequent bluetooth dropouts - which worked a treat. Huge difference c.f. before. I have the MySpin system.

[Meonstoke]

Portti said:

I have a 2022 A110 with upgraded infotainment and after picking up the car from Belgium I was wondering what are those strange occasional beeps coming from somewhere. Only when I got home to Finland I realized that the beeps do actually warn about the approaching speed cameras.

So, the speed camera warnings have been there on my car since the beginning by default and I haven't done any setting changes etc. to get them.

If I recall correctly, I also get the same when approaching known speed camera's; and that's with the older infotainment system. Although, I haven't noticed it for a while TBH.

[Meonstoke]

Thought I'd copy Craig's post below into this generic Infotainment Syst Thread ref: upgrading the older MySpin system:

Saw this on Facebook and though some may find it useful

https://www.facebook.com/groups/801407303683897/pe...

[Meonstoke]

Saw this on Facebook and though some may find it useful

https://www.facebook.com/groups/801407303683897/pe...
[/quote]

Like Hoofty, when I read this link, it gave me hope that in the fullness of time there will be an upgrade solution available. If an amateur hobbyist can get this far with creating Apple CarPlay and Focal functionality into his Alpine, then it gives me confidence that independent Alpine and/or Hi-Fi specialists will eventually offer a professional solution which can be retro-fitted to MySpin A110s. Just a matter of remaining patient I would say.

[a110au]

I think the market is too small to expect a large company to offer something. The number of non CarPlay cars is static and ageing.

The route of buying a $1000+ alpine (the stereo maker) head unit is a little bit of a dead end to me mainly because it is a closed system. I am unsure if the infotainment buttons are implemented, probably not as myalpdroid was not successful in finding any aftermarket box to decode them. The alpine (stereo maker) requires its own microphone placement for bluetooth phone calls, the in-car one is probably disconnected. There are no navigation instructions sent to drivers display. The telematics if done by video, are not going to respond to touch.. I'm probably missing other consequences too.

The project on GitHub to integrate an Android screen is much more promising as it can
a) use the in-car mic
b) re-implement telematics, with touch
c) supports all buttons - which is the most complex part of the project requiring a custom board
d) can send nav to driver display.
e) gets rid of the Bosch infotainment lump in the dash, entirely
f) can still integrate with any focal stereo stuff

What isn't clear is what the plans are for myalpdroid. Does he intend to sell a kit ?

Such a kit would just be:
custom PCB
and raspberry pi,
some other cables,
and a link to buy the suitable android tablet, and some android package for telematics

In that sense it could be affordable but also very complete and far exceed current infotainment look and function.

unfortunately one comment at the end of his French wiki says
"Finally, I think the latest version must be the right one but I don't want to reprint the cards. My prototype satisfying me."

He got his PCB to the point where it works and doesn't want to pay to update to the latest, more reliable, design contributed by a French member and that makes me wonder if he is doing this just for his car or is not interested in a kit.

Edited by a110au on Monday 20th February 22:32

[Meonstoke]

a110au said:

I think the market is too small to expect a large company to offer something. The number of non CarPlay cars is static and ageing.

The route of buying a $1000+ alpine (the stereo maker) head unit is a little bit of a dead end to me mainly because it is a closed system. I am unsure if the infotainment buttons are implemented, probably not as myalpdroid was not successful in finding any aftermarket box to decode them. The alpine (stereo maker) requires its own microphone placement for bluetooth phone calls, the in-car one is probably disconnected. There are no navigation instructions sent to drivers display. The telematics if done by video, are not going to respond to touch.. I'm probably missing other consequences too.

The project on GitHub to integrate an Android screen is much more promising as it can
a) use the in-car mic
b) re-implement telematics, with touch
c) supports all buttons - which is the most complex part of the project requiring a custom board
d) can send nav to driver display.
e) gets rid of the Bosch infotainment lump in the dash, entirely
f) can still integrate with any focal stereo stuff

What isn't clear is what the plans are for myalpdroid. Does he intend to sell a kit ?

Such a kit would just be:
custom PCB
and raspberry pi,
some other cables,
and a link to buy the suitable android tablet, and some android package for telematics

In that sense it could be affordable but also very complete and far exceed current infotainment look and function.

unfortunately one comment at the end of his French wiki says
"Finally, I think the latest version must be the right one but I don't want to reprint the cards. My prototype satisfying me."

He got his PCB to the point where it works and doesn't want to pay to update to the latest, more reliable, design contributed by a French member and that makes me wonder if he is doing this just for his car or is not interested in a kit.

Edited by a110au on Monday 20th February 22:32

All good points, but just to clarify, when I mentioned "Alpine" I was meaning the "A110" and not the car hi-fi company. Excuses for any confusion.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/801407303683897/pe...

[a110au]

Meonstoke said:

All good points, but just to clarify, when I mentioned "Alpine" I was meaning the "A110" and not the car hi-fi company. Excuses for any confusion.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/801407303683897/pe...

Yeah but Daves solution he is working on is using Alpine - the hi-fi company - premium head unit.
The chances that Alpine the French company do anything for us, is zero, don't you think? And I don't think hi-fi specialists will devote the time to something that might only sell 100.

[Meonstoke]

a110au said:

Yeah but Daves solution he is working on is using Alpine - the hi-fi company - premium head unit.
The chances that Alpine the French company do anything for us, is zero, don't you think? And I don't think hi-fi specialists will devote the time to something that might only sell 100.

Aha, well spotted sir! I missed that, I clearly need new glasses. I agree that neither Alpine the car audio company nor the A110 car company will do anything for us. I was more referring to independent, local audio installation specialists who may "professionalise" a solution and which may also come to the attention of independent Alpine A110 garage specialists. It would be by word of mouth of course, and on a country by country basis. Overall, I do think there would be way more than 100 units upgraded if a good solution could be found for less than say 800 Euro's; given that up until end 2021 there were approx 10,000 A110's made with the beloved MySpin system....

[a110au]

Meonstoke said:

Overall, I do think there would be way more than 100 units upgraded if a good solution could be found for less than say 800 Euro's; given that up until end 2021 there were approx 10,000 A110's made with the beloved MySpin system....

I do hope so!

[Portti]

Continuing the infotainment/wireless Android Auto related discussion from here:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Portti said:

Is this correct that your A110 has wireless Android Auto? If I remember correctly when 2022 models with Android Auto were released Alpine said in some communication that wireless Android Auto would be coming later via software update (although I can't find source for this info anymore) but haven't heard anything about that since then. I don't have wireless Android Auto on my 2022 A110 and I haven't heard anybody mentioning having wireless Android Auto on their A110 either. Therefore it would be interesting if wireless would actually be available.

Terminator X said:

Wireless on my car built end Apr 23.

TX.

7en said:

Mine was also an April build date and connects to AA and starts playing music as soon as I start the engine but not before.

You can use aftermarket adapters to make it wireless so it's easily solved if it's not live on your car, hopefully there will be an update which makes it possible for earlier cars though.

...

Thanks for the info Terminator X and 7en. Next step would to try to find out if there has been some actual hardware changes at some point since the start of 2022 model production with Android Auto/Apple CarPlay or is just software update required for wireless Android Auto. At least I haven't found any info from Alpine saying that they've made some hardware changes at some point.

Could somebody check their infotainment software versions? It would be useful to know the software versions on those 2022 onwards cars with wireless Android Auto and also without it. Could you post the software versions and also the build date/month of your car?

My car is built on March 2022 and doesn't currently have wireless Android Auto. Currently it's at winter storage 400 km away from here so I can't check the software version on my car for a long time.

Oh, and Apple CarPlay users, feel free to discuss wireless CarPlay here.

[7en]

I believe hardware is the same, I work for Alpine/Renault and I can't find any difference in hardware between wireless/non-wireless cars. On a similar but unrelated note, I also believe that non-telematics cars have the hardware and it's only a matter of software.

I also think the next step would be people checking their software levels.

This is for my A110, build date April 2023.

Current software version: 283C36433R
Serial Number: 00000002IJ02C31

It appears this would be the latest level as the option to 'Check for updates' is greyed out.

I did do some digging prior to picking up my car, to see whether I should expect it to have wireless smartphone connectivity. Here is what I found over a few vehicles checking build dates myself.

Feb 2023 Build Date - No Wireless
March 2023 Build Date - Wireless (A110R)
April 2023 Build Date - Wireless

This is obviously only a very small sample so not a clear indication of which cars will and won't have wireless capability. We also have to be careful with social media reports of build dates, as some people will say 'mine is an April car' referring to handover rather than actual build date, which can be many months prior.

Note - Just to correct my previous post quoted above, when in my car with ignition on/engine not running Android Auto is picked up and music will start playing but only if selected. When the engine is started the music will start playing automatically. I would like to figure out how to 'hide' Android Auto temporarily, as once open it takes over the screen (it's intended purpose I know) and the only way I can go back, say to adjust sound equalization settings, is to disconnect from AA via my phone.

Edited by 7en on Saturday 16th December 16:30

[johnnyreggae]

Without Android Auto connected the audio plays unless at previous shut down the system is turned off using (as I recall) soft push right hand down lever then second on-screen button (also in infotainment manual as button 2 on page 1.3 - full procedure described 1.11) - you could maybe try that since you are sort of trying to turn off a different audio source

Edited by johnnyreggae on Saturday 16th December 16:53

[Portti]

Interesting info 7en, thanks!

If there are no hardware changes between 2022 and 2023 models, then it could be assumed that also 2022 cars could get wireless Android Auto via software update (if Alpine wanted to do that).

Could anybody with an A110 manufactured in 2022 post their software versions? Other 2023 owners are also welcome to post that information.

Does anybody with 2022 car already have wireless Android Auto?

[LE62NDE]

I've been away for a couple of days in South Wales, during which time the DAB radio reception has been atrocious; and before anyone is tempted into anti-Welsh sentiment, things didn't improve when we returned to England. Pre-facelift MY22 car -does this chime with anyone else's experience?