Roger Fingas
Kia on Tuesday announced plans to update some of its fleet with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, marking a rare instance in which older vehicles will get access to the phone link technology.
Cars must be equipped with an AVN 4.0 navigation system, or the UVO3 dash interface, Kia said. By the end of July, owners will be directed to myuvo.com to check eligibility and get detailed instructions on the upgrade process.
Compatible models will include:
- 2017 Forte
- 2015-16 Optima/Optima Hybrid
- 2015-16 Sedona
- 2014-16 Soul
- 2015-16 Soul EV
- 2016 Sorento
- 2017 Sportage
The mention of the 2014 Soul is particularly notable, since few vehicles that old have access to CarPlay. Native support for the platform didn't expand significantly until the middle of last year, and upgrade options have been rare, often reserved for model years from 2015 onward unless a person pays for an aftermarket receiver.
Kia otherwise offers CarPlay on the 2017 Cadenza and the 2017 Forte5.
Apple is planning a number of CarPlay upgrades for this fall's iOS 10, such as a revamped Apple Music app, and the ability to rearrange apps or remove them from the homescreen. A "Parked Car" feature will automatically mark a car's location when an iPhone is disconnected from Bluetooth or CarPlay, making it easier to find in Maps.
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15 Comments
I wish Subaru would do something like this. Starlink is pretty useless.
Honda, take notice! At one point, you teased '15 and '16 CR-V owners by offering a limited beta test of CarPlay, which ended without further action. You disappointed a lot of '16 Pilot owners by not offering CarPlay, yet you put it in the '16 Accord and Civic. I love it in my 2017 Ridgeline, but it would have been nice to have had it in my '16 CR-V as well.
Honda and many car manufacturers have done it. Wish soon Toyota do the same. We all have experience that these car manufacturer's built-in features like GPS and phone connectivity really sucks and hard to software up-gradable BUT they don't get it to simply support CarPlay and AndroidAuto on their infotainment console. I wish, we all boycott buying new vehicle unless they start supporting these features. OR the way these car manufacturers charge for extra features, ask for price discount because they don't have CarPlay. Stick it to them differently.
Don't hold your breath on Kia. They have been promising the CarPlay upgrade for my 2016 Optima I purchased in April since May. They just keep extending the date. Funny thing is Microsoft is the car's software vendor so since we know CarPlay is already working on other cars I guess I am waiting on Microsoft to make Apple's CarPlay work. Does anyone else think that is funny?
And then there is Honda, flipping the bird to its current owners saying they can't do backward firmware updates due to a hardware limitation.
In in the meantime they continue to push their awkwardly awful Hondalink kludge (and charge the ignorant $1000 for a dated Navi option.)
Bad, bad, Honda. Their lousy display audio user interface makes you wish you could die and their deathly Takata airbags make you pray that you'll live.