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In-Car navigation is pants

by on13 October 2016


Better to use your phone

While many cars are now shipping with in-car navigation, the systems are so rubbish that users are relying on their phones instead.

Beancounters JD Power and Associates surveyed owners of new vehicles after the first 90 days of ownership. They were asked about the new in-vehicle technology including navigation, entertainment and safety technologies like lane-keeping assistance and automatic braking.

While punters were mostly satisfied with their cars, tech navigation systems rated the worst.

Almost two thirds of new vehicle owners with  built-in navigation reported using their smartphone or a portable navigation device to find their way at least some of the time.

Nearly a third of those with built-in navigation used it for less than two weeks before giving up on it and using their phone or another portable device. More than half of people with built-in navigation systems never used them at all.

One of the issues was the problem of entering the destination, the report said. With many cars, drivers have to go through tedious menus to enter an address or deal with confusing "point of interest" search menus that don't include a lot of destinations.

Voice commands open up a whole new realm of frustration as these are often misunderstood and have to be repeated multiple times.

Many cars now have systems like Android Auto that "mirror" the phone's applications in the car's computer display screen. That allows the phone's easy-to-use navigation system to essentially act as the car's navigation system with the map displayed right in the dashboard screen. Many car owners with these sorts of systems aren't even aware they have them.

Last modified on 13 October 2016
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