I did get SmartLink activated and it is great for navigation and voice activated phone calls, but can't seem to access any other apps, anyone got any idea what I am doing wrong.

I have Amazon Prime music working fine on mine now.

I thought you could access the home screen of your phone and launch apps from there,but I only get the Android Auto home page.

And a choice of Maps,calls, music.

You can only access the driving friendly apps allowed by skoda.

eg I found an app which uses satellites to determine exact speed so I can calibrate the speedo, but this will only display on the phone.

I determine what an exact 70mph etc is in km/hr on the display and remember so I can drive at the exact speed limit through cameras average speed areas etc.

slightly changed on new car; 70mph is 118kmh on the display, 60mph is 101kmh and 50 is 85kmh. All real speeds are a lot closer to the needle reading as well on this one. Typically about 74mph is a true 70. On previous car it was reading 76!

Vehicle is a Skoda Yeti SE L Auto 4x4 Outdoor 2.0 - 2017 Model.

 

Have just had the Smartlink activated by paying the £152.00 fee to the local skoda showroom to use with a Samsung Android A5 phone.

Purchased a 'short' cable (first mistake) to use to plug into the USB socket in front of the Auto gear change. Its the wrong place because the phone looses the signal all the time.

(am looking to moving the phone up into the dashboard compartment recess on top, then using either a 'long' cable or 'short' cable,,, or try to fit  another USB socket inside the dashboard compartment.

 

The connection works ok with Wase and I have found no problems so far.

Using with Google Maps.... I have tried downloading maps for the area required so that I can use them off-line, saving mobile data,,,, doesn't work very well.... I thought you could download maps between A - B but it doesn't work that way.... you have to download them in blocks and its large MB files each time. But I have found that if you deviate from a route it requires going on-line to find another ..... and its very slow..... (not sure if I am doing it right)

Using with Google Maps on-line should be better but it buses up your data allowance,.... advantage with Google is that you can get traffic updates etc etc.

 

Ok so the Smartlink works with the phone to allow you hands free operating...... but not for the cost...!!!

 

Overall,,,, it's not worth the money. I should have purchased a Garmin SatNav instead for just a little more.

 

If you want a A-B Route planner and a reliable Road-Map then Google or Wase is not the answer. They both rely on a Phone Signal being available.... OK so a SatNav relies on a reliable satellite signal. But of the two it would appear that the Satellite Signals are the more reliable. Then again,,,,, a Phone based system would probably be better for short or city driving (as long as you have a good signal).

1 hour ago, ajmbwas said:

,,, or try to fit  another USB socket inside the dashboard compartment.

 Hi ajmbwas.

I did a "How to" guide on putting a USB charging socket in the Top Box some years ago. It's in the Yeti Technical guides section and may offer you some help in doing something similar.

Here is the LINK

Hope it helps......Tony

1 hour ago, ajmbwas said:

If you want a A-B Route planner and a reliable Road-Map then Google or Wase is not the answer. They both rely on a Phone Signal being available.... OK so a SatNav relies on a reliable satellite signal. But of the two it would appear that the Satellite Signals are the more reliable. Then again,,,,, a Phone based system would probably be better for short or city driving (as long as you have a good signal).

 

Phone-based navigation apps rely on satellite signal as well, since they use augmented GPS for your location.

 

Using Google Maps it should be possible to download maps so that it's not wholly reliant on mobile data.  AFAIK you have to download a rectangular area, you can't just download the area along a route.  Yes they are quite large, but that's less of a problem if you do it at home over wifi (though that does need some forward planning).  Google will also prompt you to allow it to update the stored map every so often (weeks, rather than hours) to keep it current, which again you can put off until you have wifi.

 

I haven't experienced any signal problems (cellular or GPS) so far with my Xperia Z3 Compact tucked into the slot under the Bolero and plugged in using a 20cm flat USB cable.  As you say, using Google Maps with a data signal does mean that it can be more responsive to buildups of congestion and the like.  (As an aside, I'm impressed with the speed and lack of drama with which Google Maps can re-calculate a route if I miss a turn.)

 

I only paid £123.30 to get my Smartlink activated.  That was 10% off the price which the dealer originally quoted, as a pacifier after they 'lost' the appointment I originally made to get it fitted!  Your £152 sounds a bit high to me.

 

I like being able to access the music on my phone via the Bolero (using just the bluetooth connection ie without Smartlink I can only control playback from the phone - I think there's a bluetooth audio protocol missing somewhere between the phone and the car).

 

I haven't tried any other Smartlink-approved apps yet.

 

The voice dialling via "OK Google" is significantly more reliable than the old voice activated dialling on my previous Yeti (2010 2.0 TDi Elegance 4x4).

 

Overall, I'm happy to have paid what I did for Smartlink.  For my purposes it's better value than buying a standalone sat nav, as I don't need navigation that often.  Smartlink gives me navigation via the phone if I do need it, plus a bunch of other stuff because the phone is a general purpose computing device rather than being tied to a single function.  I do think I'd be less pleased with Smartlink if I had to put the phone somewhere where the cabling would be more obtrusive, but to date that need has not arisen.

Edited 25 May, 20188 yr by ejstubbs