No pause button… update request

[James]

So, i’ve discovered a minor thing that’s actually a daily problem, at least for me. Im hoping to suggest a fix in future software updates.

firstly, there is no physical pause, or stop button for audio anywhere. The mute button strangely does not pause audio/podcasts/books playing on an iphone.
the infotainment screens will only let you pause content if you are looking at track info, not anywhere else in the relevant app, let alone if you are looking at satnav, phone, or any other function.

if you listen to podcasrs, lectures/ professional material, audiobooks etc it really matters not to miss content. Sometimes you have to pause becuase the traffic requires attention, sometimes to navigate, for endless reasons. It can take a long time of attention away from the road to get the screen to where you can pause it, many ‘clicks’ of small icons. Its impossible in reverse, or for a while after reversing.

hopefully i’m not the only one noticing, or being frustrated by this. I know, its not stopping forward motion, but it is a decent oversight, that can be programmed out…
Is this the best fix:
firstly, mute button to pause streamed content, secondly,
any reason we couldn’t choose to reassign the OK nutton on the steering wheel to pause/stop content? Effectively be another mute button?

i’d also like to choose that the car does not start playing something from my phone when i get in the car, without me starting anything. Often it just commences, like you always want noise. A config option would be good.

 

[DaveB]

So, i’ve discovered a minor thing that’s actually a daily problem, at least for me. Im hoping to suggest a fix in future software updates.

firstly, there is no physical pause, or stop button for audio anywhere. The mute button strangely does not pause audio/podcasts/books playing on an iphone.
the infotainment screens will only let you pause content if you are looking at track info, not anywhere else in the relevant app, let alone if you are looking at satnav, phone, or any other function.

if you listen to podcasrs, lectures/ professional material, audiobooks etc it really matters not to miss content. Sometimes you have to pause becuase the traffic requires attention, sometimes to navigate, for endless reasons. It can take a long time of attention away from the road to get the screen to where you can pause it, many ‘clicks’ of small icons. Its impossible in reverse, or for a while after reversing.

hopefully i’m not the only one noticing, or being frustrated by this. I know, its not stopping forward motion, but it is a decent oversight, that can be programmed out…
Is this the best fix:
firstly, mute button to pause streamed content, secondly,
any reason we couldn’t choose to reassign the OK nutton on the steering wheel to pause/stop content?

i’d also like to choose that the car does not start playing something from my phone when i get in the car, without me starting anything. Often it just commences, like you always want noise. A config option would be good.

the vehicle is just linking to your phone or mirroring your phone.
You would have to pause the podcast on the phone handset.

 

[Solmanic]

You know what, I don't think I've ever hit "pause" when listening to music in a vehicle. I usually just mute or wind the volume down - but never actually pause playing. In fact both our current vehicles only have skip forwards or backwards buttons. Pause is only an option on the music playback screen. And CarPlay usually pauses playback automatically when there's a phone call, so no need to do anything then either.

 

[James]

You know what, I don't think I've ever hit "pause" when listening to music in a vehicle. I usually just mute or wind the volume down - but never actually pause playing. In fact both our current vehicles only have skip forwards or backwards buttons. Pause is only an option on the music playback screen. And CarPlay usually pauses playback automatically when there's a phone call, so no need to do anything then either.

Carplay or phone integration does usually pause content if you mute it - weird omission on this car. Just configuring mute properly to do that would fix the problem.
again, noticeable problem with podcasts. I also found the car had been streaming music for an hour after i muted it - consumes data unnecessarily.

 

[James]

the vehicle is just linking to your phone or mirroring your phone.
You would have to pause the podcast on the phone handset.

Dave, other cars have not done this. Ie if im not listening to anything on my phone, it wont, and should not start playing just because i got into the car. It is just starting out of the blue in the grenadier. Often, but not all the time.

 

[DenisM]

I've been using Android auto. Same issue: music /podcasts from my usb stick in the usb A slot are not readily "accessible" other than to skip forward/backwards using the steering wheel controls. The vehicle is a handful as it is on a busy highway...
I'm sure there's a "fix"... perhaps I should delve into the instructions..

 

[DaveB]

Dave, other cars have not done this. Ie if im not listening to anything on my phone, it wont, and should not start playing just because i got into the car. It is just starting out of the blue in the grenadier. Often, but not all the time.

Yes, my wife has a mini and it has apple carplay built in.
So if you hit mute it pasies whatever you have playing.
My car doesn't have it but if I get a phone call or hit the mute on the steering wheel it pauses the music on the vehicle regardless of the source.
If i have my phone connected playing spotify or songs from memory the mute button on the steering wheel doesn't pause the songs
I have to hit pause on my phone.

 

[Solmanic]

I think the short answer is that this is not a fault, just a design choice that some people are used to, but others not depending on what vehicle and what media interface they're using. It seems pretty logical to me coming from two other vehicles that behave the same way. If the music is being controlled by an app, then you have to use the app to start & stop. Volume/mute buttons only operate the amplifier which is part of the vehicle hardware.

 

[James]

I think the short answer is that this is not a fault, just a design choice that some people are used to, but others not depending on what vehicle and what media interface they're using. It seems pretty logical to me coming from two other vehicles that behave the same way. If the music is being controlled by an app, then you have to use the app to start & stop. Volume/mute buttons only operate the amplifier which is part of the vehicle hardware.

Hmmm…
play, skip, reverse, make, end calls, and siri button all operate apps through car’s hardwired buttons. Given carplay/nav/usb is the only source by design, and also give this can be fixed with software tweak, I think it should be fixed. Dont care if its called a choice or whatever, but I’ve had a few conversations already with other owners who have also found it problematic, and surprising.

given the app interface is not available to you if you are using any other feature (reversing camera, nav, offroad, even other pages of the streaming etc etc) it’s a pretty evident need. I suspect it’s just an oversight, easily remedied.

even in quite old cars with any bluetooth or cabled phone integration, it is usual for either mute, or a phonecall to hold the content. It;s not complicated. Im not bashing ineos here - just looking to get the feedback into the ‘machine’ for a low hanging fruit remedy. Customer service’s response to me asking them to pass on a suggestion was not encouraging!

 

[Solmanic]

Hmmm…
play, skip, reverse, make, end calls, and siri button all operate apps through car’s hardwired buttons. Given carplay/nav/usb is the only source by design, and also give this can be fixed with software tweak, I think it should be fixed. Dont care if its called a choice or whatever, but I’ve had a few conversations already with other owners who have also found it problematic, and surprising.

given the app interface is not available to you if you are using any other feature (reversing camera, nav, offroad, even other pages of the streaming etc etc) it’s a pretty evident need. I suspect it’s just an oversight, easily remedied.

even in quite old cars with any bluetooth or cabled phone integration, it is usual for either mute, or a phonecall to hold the content. It;s not complicated. Im not bashing ineos here - just looking to get the feedback into the ‘machine’ for a low hanging fruit remedy. Customer service’s response to me asking them to pass on a suggestion was not encouraging!

That's true, but mute & volume knob are just dumb hardware controls for the amplifier and to give mute concurrent control of the device may not be possible. When connecting a CarPlay device, the device volume output gets set at a fixed level and the amplifier takes control. Other buttons have selected control of the device like track skip, receive & end calls etc. but these are only operating the device. I suspect they would need a hardware mute plus another software mute button, and that would be even more confusing. But who knows, maybe they can crack it if enough people complain however, given their current track record with software...

Neither of our current vehicles have pause & play buttons. Auto-muting when receiving a call is handled by the device as that is what is managing both the music playback app and phone, so there is total control. In older vehicles where playback is through the head unit via CD or USB or whatever, then the mute button is able to pause playback because it's just controlling the one piece of equipment. Likewise, with a basic Bluetooth phone connection, the mute button is still only operating the head unit so again it is able to stop playback when answering a call.

You are correct, when using the reversing camera or other vehicle systems screen, the CarPlay screen goes into the background, so you lose access to any soft controls until it is brought to the front again. And this is what at least every VW product does as far as I'm aware. So it's pretty common.

I'm just glad we even have a physical button for mute that's nice ad easy to mash with a fat finger.

 

[ADVAW8S]

I was looking at other forums to see if the inability to pause podcast was a Grenadier problem or a Apple carplay design. I found that Honda mini van had the same problem. The work around was asking Siri to pause the podcast. Hope this helps

 

[Solmanic]

I was looking at other forums to see if the inability to pause podcast was a Grenadier problem or an Apple carplay design. I found that Honda mini van had the same problem. The work around was asking Siri to pause the podcast. Hope this helps

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. Just use Siri for everything. That’s what Apple is guiding users to do.

 

[IG_in_AZ]

the vehicle is just linking to your phone or mirroring your phone.
You would have to pause the podcast on the phone handset.

During playback, my Kia and the Chevy Tahoe I had for work both had a pause button for podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, SiriusXM app or whatever. It's right between the forward and reverse arrows. It never occurred to me that this wasn't a universal function on every infotainment system.