AM111 to carplay?

[anonymous-user]

Am I correct in thinking a V12S registered in 2016 would have AM111 as the infotainment system?

Also, I've either read somewhere (or dreamt it) that a Carplay update was going to be made available for said system?

If an update was available I'll ask about it however, is the sat-nav pretty useable on AM111? If still a bit on the dire side and no update is available I'll likely be visiting Aston Installations.

[ReformedPistonhead]

AMiii has CarPlay from factory (or after a software update).

I think it came in 2016/2017 but you would need to check.

Mine is 2018 and has it. It works 95% of the time... But that is the same as CarPlay in our Audi, our Polo and in our Discovery Sport...

[anonymous-user]

moktabe said:

Am I correct in thinking a V12S registered in 2016 would have AM111 as the infotainment system?

Also, I've either read somewhere (or dreamt it) that a Carplay update was going to be made available for said system?

If an update was available I'll ask about it however, is the sat-nav pretty useable on AM111? If still a bit on the dire side and no update is available I'll likely be visiting Aston Installations.

Not necessarily. It may depend how early/late in 2016 it was built. AMiII appeared in 2015 and lasted a year or so in the V12 Vantage before AMiIII came along.

AMiII has the Garmin sat nav which feels like a bolt on. AMiIII has much better integrated sat nav with better graphics and integrated CarPlay, and looks like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hg3Fx0VC4g

So if you have AMiIII you should see a greyed out circle with a right pointing triangle in it (far right of the onboard screen in the still for that YT video). That’s CarPlay/Android Auto. It operates like a separate source for the head unit. You need an official Apple cable to get your iPhone to speak to the car and activate CarPlay though. I tried a few non-official ones and none of them work.

Once you’re into CarPlay you can use Waze, Google Maps etc as your sat nav. So if you do that, you have to come out of CarPlay and back into the AM system to access the AM native sat nav (which is, btw, very good and very easy to use, but doesn’t have speed cam alerts).

An AM main dealer can do the upgrade from AMiII to AMiIII. It is hardware and firmware, and when I had it done it was approx £4k.

[anonymous-user]

Thank you for the answers ^^

I'll see what's what once all is settled and I get to collect the car.....one thing for certain though is I won't be handing them £4k. Will just reload Waze onto my phone

[IanV12VSRs]

moktabe said:

Thank you for the answers ^^

I'll see what's what once all is settled and I get to collect the car.....one thing for certain though is I won't be handing them £4k. Will just reload Waze onto my phone

Or speak with James at Aston Installations. If they can update older systems they will definitely have a solution for yours. Great guys who know Astons inside out.

[LooneyTunes]

BlackWidow13 said:

So if you have AMiIII you should see a greyed out circle with a right pointing triangle in it (far right of the onboard screen in the still for that YT video). That’s CarPlay/Android Auto. It operates like a separate source for the head unit. You need an official Apple cable to get your iPhone to speak to the car and activate CarPlay though. I tried a few non-official ones and none of them work.

Mine work just fine with non-official cables… I may be getting mixed up with another car, but aren’t there two USB sockets in the arm rest, only one of which works for connectivity to AMi?

[AMVSVNick]

LooneyTunes said:

Mine work just fine with non-official cables… I may be getting mixed up with another car, but aren’t there two USB sockets in the arm rest, only one of which works for connectivity to AMi?

Correct, only the one on the passenger side in the centre arm rest.

[AdamV12V]

If your car is 2016 them 100% it is AMi II not III if it has the waterfall dash.

AMI III was introduced from MY17.

Carplay is hugely over rated imho anyway, i literally never use mine. The nav in AMi III is really great but it seems from an earlier poster that AMi II has the nav from AMi I so not so great really. Guess thats one of the reasons they entice you to upgrade then.

As for carplay, Id love to know what the alure of it is for people and what app it is that everyone feels is so essential to driving that they have to have it running. Wayze is the usual one cited but AMi III does speed camera location warnings and shows the speed limit on the road you are on. Ok it may not be 100% up to date but thats what your eyes are for…

Edited by AdamV12V on Monday 2nd May 21:51

[AdamV12V]

LooneyTunes said:

BlackWidow13 said:

So if you have AMiIII you should see a greyed out circle with a right pointing triangle in it (far right of the onboard screen in the still for that YT video). That’s CarPlay/Android Auto. It operates like a separate source for the head unit. You need an official Apple cable to get your iPhone to speak to the car and activate CarPlay though. I tried a few non-official ones and none of them work.

Mine work just fine with non-official cables… I may be getting mixed up with another car, but aren’t there two USB sockets in the arm rest, only one of which works for connectivity to AMi?

These days all cables work, but early on in the product cycle apple changed the spec of the cables and added a chip to identify authenticity which threw the fake cable makers for several months.

[Davil]

AdamV12V said:

If your car is 2016 them 100% it is AMi II not III if it has the waterfall dash.

As for carplay, Id love to know what the alure of it is for people and what app it is that everyone feels is so essential to driving that they have to have it running. Wayze is the usual one cited but AMi III does speed camera location warnings and shows the speed limit on the road you are on. Ok it may not be 100% up to date but thats what your eyes are for…

Edited by AdamV12V on Monday 2nd May 21:51

Streaming very high quality music, Waze (it runs in the background as well and reports potholes, fixed and mobile speed cameras as well as police sightings, accidents etc), Apple Maps (the absolute best navigation, in Sydney anyway), iMessage receipt and dictation in a safe manner, voice control of everything integrated to steering wheel button.

[anonymous-user]

AdamV12V said:

If your car is 2016 them 100% it is AMi II not III if it has the waterfall dash.

AMI III was introduced from MY17.

Carplay is hugely over rated imho anyway, i literally never use mine. The nav in AMi III is really great but it seems from an earlier poster that AMi II has the nav from AMi I so not so great really. Guess thats one of the reasons they entice you to upgrade then.

As for carplay, Id love to know what the alure of it is for people and what app it is that everyone feels is so essential to driving that they have to have it running. Wayze is the usual one cited but AMi III does speed camera location warnings and shows the speed limit on the road you are on. Ok it may not be 100% up to date but thats what your eyes are for…

Edited by AdamV12V on Monday 2nd May 21:51

The only reason I was looking at CarPlay is purely for a better SatNav as I don't fancy having one stuck to the screen. Having been using an old Garmin for quite a few years I might be happy with the system in the car.

Not an audiophile so it wouldn't be for music purposes. When I was with the car, the quality of the sound via Bluetooth with my phone was ideal for my old ears. To be honest I'd mainly be more than happy listening to the noise of the car.

Waze could also be used via my phone for camera alerts etc.

[AdamV12V]

Davil said:

Streaming very high quality music, Waze (it runs in the background as well and reports potholes, fixed and mobile speed cameras as well as police sightings, accidents etc), Apple Maps (the absolute best navigation, in Sydney anyway), iMessage receipt and dictation in a safe manner, voice control of everything integrated to steering wheel button.

Well i use a usb stick for source input of high quality music of a fixed choice. I download or rip new music at home regularly to add to my collection, and uodate my usb stick simply and swiftly when i want to take that content to the car. never use things like spotify etc really either.

Ok maybe i can see the waze thing for potholes but thats not something that really affects me here in the uk where i drive and the police bit, again likewise really.

Apple maps is ok, but i genuinely prefer the built in AMi III nav to the apple maps on my iphone.

I have very few people whi txt me and i never feel the need to respond whilst im driving. I guess if i drove huge distances maybe but…

So well maybe thats why i dont feel drawn to use carplay as none of those things really offer me much if anything over what i have without it.

[IanV12VSRs]

AdamV12V said:

Well i use a usb stick for source input of high quality music of a fixed choice. I download or rip new music at home regularly to add to my collection, and uodate my usb stick simply and swiftly when i want to take that content to the car. never use things like spotify etc really either.

Ok maybe i can see the waze thing for potholes but thats not something that really affects me here in the uk where i drive and the police bit, again likewise really.

Apple maps is ok, but i genuinely prefer the built in AMi III nav to the apple maps on my iphone.

I have very few people whi txt me and i never feel the need to respond whilst im driving. I guess if i drove huge distances maybe but…

So well maybe thats why i dont feel drawn to use carplay as none of those things really offer me much if anything over what i have without it.

Adam, how often does the standard sat nav update and do Aston charge for doing so?

I only use CarPlay and do find the fact that Waze is regularly updated by users beneficial. I can’t believe there is somewhere in the UK where potholes aren’t an issue

It also means I basically use the same system across our three cars and they all have CarPlay - just makes life easier

[nickv12]

It was definitely only a 17MY thing. My mid-2016 V8S didn’t have CarPlay.

My 2018 Vantage has built in CarPlay. Even though I never used CarPlay before, it’s one of the key things I was looking for if/when I got another Vantage.

Even though it’s not a touch screen and CarPlay is really designed for that, it’s transformative to using the car. To a level I didn’t expect. I use Google Maps all the time, and reflected on the main screen, it’s perfectly crisp and clear. I also use Spotify and I can control that via the dash controller well.

You have to get used to how the control operates and navigates the screen. Perhaps not completely intuitive.

If you don’t have CarPlay in your Aston, I’d head down to Aston Installations straight away. If you have the older, low resolution screen, apparently they can even upgrade that.

[AdamV12V]

IanV12VSRs said:

Adam, how often does the standard sat nav update and do Aston charge for doing so?

I only use CarPlay and do find the fact that Waze is regularly updated by users beneficial. I can’t believe there is somewhere in the UK where potholes aren’t an issue

It also means I basically use the same system across our three cars and they all have CarPlay - just makes life easier

It seems to update certain things such traffic and new 3d building graphics automatically and very reglarly but Im not sure if it updates road layout changes or not. Theres some new roundabouts near me that i swear are less than the age of mh car but they appear to be on the maps, yet ive seen it get confused too with the odd new road change. Ive never asked about an update actually as on the whole ive not seen it be wrong enough that its made me want to ask - so maybe it is updating then??

I do live in the city though Ian so maybe thats why i dont have as much of an issue with potholes as the rural dwellers

[M1AGM]

I thought you would need a permanent data connection in the car for it to auto update the built in AMI maps? I.e. a sim card dedicated to the vehicle. Be interesting to know how its been working.

[anonymous-user]

Well after finding out my car has the AM11 set-up I bought a phone holder that clips into a vent and planned on using google maps via my phone.

All looked good however, after a 4 day trip around Scotland and Northumbria the car is now booked in to Aston Installations for an upgrade to the AM111 set-up which will enable CarPlay. The holder seems a quality piece of kit, just that it kept coming loose in the vent plus wasn't overly keen on the look of it in the car so decided to bite the bullet and do it properly.

Keeping in mind the car has been bought for touring I think it'll be a worthwhile purchase with the bigger screen etc compared to my phone.

Also having a front facing camera fitted at the same time. Main reason being the wide angle view (160 deg). Very noticeable over the 4 day trip that on some of the junctions on the narrow lanes it wasn't always easy to see if anything was coming either way (walls and high hedges). Hopefully the camera will save me having to slowly poke the nose out too much.

[AdamV12V]

M1AGM said:

I thought you would need a permanent data connection in the car for it to auto update the built in AMI maps? I.e. a sim card dedicated to the vehicle. Be interesting to know how its been working.

Not sure, and it's not an angle Ive looked into really as Im just happy it works. It gets all the Road Traffic updates too automatically so there is definately some mechanism.

[anonymous-user]

AdamV12V said:

AMi III does speed camera location warnings

Is there some setting to activate this? The Garmin bolt on in AMiII had this feature, but when I upgraded to AMiIII I could not find it in the native AMiIII satnav - hence I always end up using Waze within CarPlay in AMiIII.

And yes, eyes are there for a reason, but some cameras are carefully/carelessly hidden by foliage, and on at least one occasion Waze has told me that a white van on a very distant bridge is a camera van, before I had line of sight to it.

[M1AGM]

AdamV12V said:

Not sure, and it's not an angle Ive looked into really as Im just happy it works. It gets all the Road Traffic updates too automatically so there is definately some mechanism.

Would RT updates be via radio frequency, whereas the map updates are data files?