I wouldn't bother with this stuff, it's just more to go wrong and I got it working on my car somehow and when the licence runs out it won't be renewed for the small amount of functionality it's not worth shelling out money for it. 

Hi all.

First post so please be gentle.

Yeti outdoors 2016 with the Bolero head.

Paid £250 (  yes I was robbed !!!) for activation of smartlink and am deeply disappointed.

In searching compatibility of phones I found a Skoda generated list and there are very few phones that are fully compatible.

For example an old samsung A5 appears to work but my new LG G6 will not.

It would appear that only phones from the same year approx will work.

Have strongly requested the dealer speak to Skoda......what are the chances of that working?

 

Answers on a postcard please.

 

Leso

12 minutes ago, leso58 said:

In searching compatibility of phones I found a Skoda generated list and there are very few phones that are fully compatible.

For example an old samsung A5 appears to work but my new LG G6 will not.

It would appear that only phones from the same year approx will work.

 

The compatibility list is always out of date, they simply don't care about keeping it up to date or testing all configurations. Software updates for the phone might also cause issues and I doubt the list would be updated to show that.

 

Almost any half decent phone should work. Get a decent quality cable and try your LG G6, it's by far the quickest and easiest way to see if it works...

 

My Pixel 2 isn't on the list but works flawlessly with smartlink connected to a Yeti headunit.

I went to my local Skoda dealer, with phone in hand, and asked for a demonstration of what it could do before I shelled out. They sat me in one of their showroom Octavias and let me plug my phone in and play.

 

To sum up, I saved my £140

 

But at least I know I'm not missing out on anything...

If your phone does not work , it's absolutely right decision and save 140 pounds .   however with Octavia 3 FL ,  Smartlink is enabled by default ,  it works perfectly with my iphone 7 .  I'm glad I have it .

Spotify with my fav musics and a few online Navigation applications ( Waze, Google Maps , Sygic )  this is plus of Smartlink , I deselected Navi feature during my purchase process ,  I prefer to use online. 

There are also a few more applications like Skoda One app or some Podcast reader.    it's not bad to have it . but I know that some phones have issue with connection to Smartlink. 

If you don't have Navigation, it's a cheap way of getting it. But if you do, I fail to see the point. Youtube, BBC iPlayer, SkyGo don't work. Any app I wanted to use didn't work. Spotify does, but then it does via bluetooth anyway. It worked fine with my Huawei phone, it's just that none of the apps I wanted were supported. But I gather its included on later models and if I had it, I'm sure I'd use it. I just don't think it's worth paying for.

Thanks for all the comments, it is so frustrating, i have tried 3 phones so far and wasted a good amount of time.

My main requirement was to mirror google maps, I have an up to date satnav and just do not trust it. In a side by side test google has always performed better having more accurate road info and better guidance.

I guess I need to see what the dealers can find out, if anything.

At the very least I will get a refund but it could get interesting.

For the record and in case anybody out there has any ideas, when I connect my phone via cable it cycles through the connection process constantly, it recognises the phone and starts to install again.

Hi langers2k, can you remember the process of setting it up, the instructions that came with the expensive plastic case are brief, to say the least.

Are you connecting via Android Auto or MirrorLink? I love my SmartLink, I have a MIB2.5 Columbus and I still use Apple CarPlay for a lot of features. I do run it with a jailbroken phone though. If you have a rooted Android phone then you can run pretty much any app. I have Netflix, Amazon Prime, Chrome etc running on my CarPlay through CarBridge.

On 21/02/2019 at 10:25, WhoElse said:

Thank you! Got it, confirming only one SD card in the head unit in the glove box.

 

Honestly for sat-nav, I am quite happy to use my phone with a blitzwolf magnet stuck into the aircon - that updates software far faster, and I can ask google assistant to navigate to wherever i want as i drive.

 

I'll fish around on the ICE thread to see if there any software update for the Bolero, I see people mentioning versions as new as 0490, although it seems like more bugfixes that any new features.  So I don't *need* to update, but i'm just techie enough to be compelled to!

Hey who else, i have an MIB 1 Amunsden , sat nav and dab if interested? it is only MIB1, Upgraded my 15 to and mib2 unit