If you are using Apple CarPlay i.e. an iPhone then Siri can/will read out SMS and messages received using IM programs like WhatsApp. You can also say "hey Siri" and tell it you want to reply and say aloud your reply which it will then read back to you and ask if you want to send it.

 

Android Auto offers very similar functionality. I don't believe the voice command system in Skodas gives you the ability to do this.

56 minutes ago, Stevieweevie said:

I don't believe the voice command system in Skodas gives you the ability to do this.

 

Stevie you are correct, I have a very old car, no bluetooth or anything so use my Samsung in car mode in a holder, and it reads text messages, whatsapp etc and I can use voice command to send a text, I was surprised that the Skoda bluetooth doesn't do this, it will read one out but no facility to send a text.  I presume the car mode app is the Samsung version of Android Auto it works great for me.  Finally I've sort of found something my 17 year old car does that my husband's all singing all dancing Skoda doesn't, ... well not as easily 

Anyone playing with text messages (and other nonsense phone Apps) on the move on a car screen should be shot at Dawn.

21 minutes ago, BoxerBoy said:

Anyone playing with text messages (and other nonsense phone Apps) on the move on a car screen should be shot at Dawn.

 

Which is why a hands free implementation is desireable and why the discussion here has centred around voice activation and features that are usable without taking your hands off the wheel or your eyes off the road.

 

I’m uncertain how you feel injecting your opinion adds anything to the discussion. The fact that you’re referring to text messages and IM as “nonsense phone apps” suggests to me that you’re either elderly or technophobic or both. Should any of these guesses be correct remember you are free to excercise your right to 1) continue in perpetual ignorance as to what these nonsense apps are 2) not use any of these communication features and any other newfangled gizmos 3) stick to a landline phone with pulse dialling, bank only in the branch, only pay for things with coins and cheques, listen to your vinyl collection and harken back to the good old days when you got telegrams and didn’t need to fit a lock on your front door. Do have fun!

 

In the meantime the people in this topic can continue to discuss the functionality offered by their car.

1 minute ago, Stevieweevie said:

 

 listen to your vinyl collection 

 

 

I still listen to my vinyl collection and can use aforementioned Apps!! 

Just now, don_kiddik said:

 

I still listen to my vinyl collection and can use aforementioned Apps!! 

 

 There’s nothing wrong with a vinyl collection, I was perhaps misspoken. I was picture building and it was one of the first things that came to mind.

 

I actually fully support the notion that drivers who muck about with their phones or are distracted from what they should be doing (driving) are bad people and irresponsible. I just don’t see where it fits in this conversation. It’s like a group of people talking about different ways to eat pudding when suddenly, along comes some person who shouts “I hate pudding and people who eat it!”. You are kind of left thinking “and so what?”.

I've tried Voice Control a few times and failed miserably to get any sense from any vehicle for any function.

 

The gradual move away from big simple knobs, controlling simple things to leave us fumbling for touch screens is a Minus in my book.

 

On a daily basis, we can see drivers playing with phones as they go about our roads.

 

It's hardly any wonder there seems to be an increase in pedestrians being knocked over on our streets (not that pedestrians are always blameless) - some drivers are too busy dicking around trying to make things happen inside their little boxes rather than concentrating on "driving". But some have failed to RTFM anyway.

 

 

23 minutes ago, BoxerBoy said:

I've tried Voice Control a few times and failed miserably to get any sense from any vehicle for any function.

 

The gradual move away from big simple knobs, controlling simple things to leave us fumbling for touch screens is a Minus in my book.

 

On a daily basis, we can see drivers playing with phones as they go about our roads.

 

It's hardly any wonder there seems to be an increase in pedestrians being knocked over on our streets (not that pedestrians are always blameless) - some drivers are too busy dicking around trying to make things happen inside their little boxes rather than concentrating on "driving". But some have failed to RTFM anyway.

 

 

 

I appreciate that may be your experience but it’s not mine. I use the voice function from the steering wheel to tell the car to set destinations in the sat nav “home address” guides you home for example. I use it to select tracks on my USB stick “select artist” - please say the artist - “Coldplay” and it’ll play tracks my them. “Call xxxx” - do you want to call xxxx? - “yes” then it calls that contact.

 

I find it useful. And, for the record, I’m from the Midlands and have a Dudley accent. If it can understand me 95% of the time then it’s not a bad system as my pronunciation is hardly BBC style. Arguably you have to play about with it and get used to some quirks to get the most from it, but doing that is a choice. It means I don’t have to take my eyes off the road and I’m not more distracted by the task than I would be if I was simply talking to a passenger. Let’s face it, everybody does THAT. You’d be a weirdo if you went mute all the time unless you’re on your own.

 

I also agree that you have a point with some functionality being moved away from switchgear to software seemingly for the sake of doing so and in some cases this is a downgrade. E.g. temperature control. I don’t mind having more than one way of changing the cabin temp but nesting it in a submenu of a screen somewhere when it’s something that will be regularly adjusted is not convenient it’s bad design. But at that I will say that there are only a few such functions that necessitate a physical interaction with switchgear.

 

Addition: UK government statistics shows that the number of fatal road traffic incidents is currently the lowest it has been in recorded history and has declined consistently from even the mid-90s and early noughties. This is despite the number of cars on the road increasing year on year and despite the prevalence of mobile phones and, now, in car entertainment and would be distractions. Granted it does not account for non fatal accidents but they are not as robustly reported for statistical analysis and breakdown.

Edited 15 February, 20197 yr by Stevieweevie