Tag: carplay

I was doing some background reading for a blog post I was writing about CarPlay, when I realised that CarPlay was ten years old. Not sure why I think that is surprising. My previous car was built in 2015 and it didn’t have CarPlay. Though I got my Funky Cat in 2023, though promised, it didn’t at that time have CarPlay. So, my first experience of CarPlay was with a Nissan Juke earlier this year. Of course my Funky Cat now has CarPlay.

After waiting for a fair while, Apple CarPlay is now available for the Ora Funky Cat (or should I be calling it the Ora 03) as a dealer installed update.

CarPlay is a smarter, safer way to use your iPhone while you drive. You can get directions, make calls, send and receive messages, and enjoy your favourite music. All on your car’s built‑in display. And CarPlay now features more app categories and custom wallpapers for your CarPlay Dashboard.

It was announced on the 20th May and I booked my car in for the update with my local dealer. I took it in on the 24th May and left it with the dealer.

Well the CarPlay update to the Ora didn’t go to plan…

The dealer had the car for the whole day, but didn’t start the update until close to the end of the day. The update failed, so they needed to keep the Funky Cat to try again. Alas it was a bank holiday and I was working away in London this week. So the plan is to pick up the car on the following Friday.

In the meantime I was given a courtesy car, a Nissan Juke. After spending ten months driving the Funky Cat, it was quite disconcerting to go back to a manual petrol car. I had to remember to change gear.

Unfortunately failed update was a lot more serious than just a failed software upgrade. The update failed for an unknown reason and essentially bricked the head unit in the car. The head unit needed to be replaced, and it had to be sent from China.

Eventually the part arrived and was installed.

I was finally able to pick up the Funky Cat on the 20th August, just under three months from when I had dropped it off. You could tell it had spent most of the time parked somewhere out of the way, as it was covered  with cobwebs and a fair amount of bird droppings. The first thing I did was take it to a car wash.

After all that they still didn’t do the CarPlay update.

Spent time re-learning how to drive the Funky Cat, remembering there is no clutch nor a gearstick. I also realised how much I had missed driving the Funky Cat and the whole electric vehicle experience. I also realised that the Funky Cat was bigger than the Nissan Juke, but thought the Juke felt cramped inside, the outside felt huge, like an armoured car.

After sorting things out with the dealer, I booked in the update for the 6th September.

They did it in the morning and I am really pleased with the update. I had used CarPlay a fair bit with the Juke, so knew what to expect. It looked really good on the Funky Cat dashboard. Waze worked, as did my music apps. 

Both happy and relieved it is all done now.

I finally got my car back from the dealers.

I took it in on May 24th for the CarPlay update.

Unfortunately the update failed for an unknown reason and essentially bricked the head unit in the car. The head unit needed to be replaced, and it had to be sent from China.

Eventually the part arrived and was installed.

After all that they still didn’t do the CarPlay update.

Now spending time re-learning how to drive the Funky Cat, remembering there is no clutch nor a gearstick.

 

…but not quite in the way I wanted.

As I mentioned previously my CarPlay update to my Ora didn’t go to plan… As I write this the Ora is still with the dealer and I have a courtesy car, a petrol Nissan Juke.

I needed to charge my iPhone, I haven’t needed to do that in the car since I was provided with it. In the Ora I use wireless charging, so rarely use a cable. However, wanting to charge the phone, I plugged it in. The Nissan noticed it and asked if I wanted CarPlay!

Well I wasn’t going to say no was I.

First impressions are very favourable. Waze is so much better than the built-in navigation on the Juke (and the Ora Funky Cat). I like how I can access my music, both from the phone, but also from Amazon Music.

Slightly disappointed by the lack of apps that are available through the interface, but certainly am pleased to finally “have a go”.

Well the CarPlay update to my Ora didn’t go to plan…

The dealer had the car for the whole day, but didn’t start the update until close to the end of the day. The update failed, so they needed to keep the Funky Cat to try again. Alas it was a bank holiday and I was working away in London this week. So the plan is to pick up the car on Friday.

In the meantime I had a courtesy car, a Nissan Juke. After spending ten months driving the Funky Cat, it was quite disconcerting to go back to a manual petrol car.

This morning I got an email from Ora.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are here. Get directions, listen to your music, send and receive messages and chat to your new voice assistant (just don’t tell Hello ORA).

After waiting for a fair while, Apple CarPlay is now available for my Ora Funky Cat. I have booked my car in for the update with my local dealer.

CarPlay is a smarter, safer way to use your iPhone while you drive. You can get directions, make calls, send and receive messages, and enjoy your favourite music. All on your car’s built‑in display. And CarPlay now features more app categories and custom wallpapers for your CarPlay Dashboard.

I have been wanting CarPlay for the Funky Cat for a while now, so that I can use Waze and also access Music (and Podcasts) on my phone through the car.

Had a chat with a dealer today about the Ora Funky Cat.  They actually had some Ora people in providing some information.

The long range version of the Funky Cat and the GT version are coming to the UK soon.

As we know CarPlay is on its way. However, he did give me this info, which was that CarPlay works 99% of the time.  However sometimes it causes the display to go black. This though also causes the driver dashboard to go black as well. It’s this reason why they have delayed the release.

Also said this would be a dealer update and not an OTA update.

Also, the new Lightning Cat or Big Cat (the next Ora) will be available next year but they currently have models in Birmingham undergoing testing.