Given that I’ve been writing about the fact that Canadian Hyundai owners didn’t get a free update to Android Auto and Apple CarPlay when our friends down south in the USA did, I was not expecting to get it in my 2016 Tucson anytime soon. But that changed after I had a conversation with Hyundai Canada about the situation as I was tipped off by a reader of the Hyundai Forums that they were offering the update for $235 USD on an SD Card with both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
Now that’s not inexpensive by any means. But here’s where I stand on this issue. As far as I can find, nobody was promised by Hyundai Canada (by that I mean their corporate offices and not your local dealer) that this update would be free for all. I also cannot find anything in the media materials or in the corporate marketing stuff that dealers get that this ever promised to be free or even possible. Thus it would be unreasonable for me to hold Hyundai Canada accountable for a promise that was likely never made by them. That also means that if I wanted this functionality, I need to pay for it. Now here’s the flip side of that argument. Hyundai USA, Ford and FCA are offering updates to millions of their customers that give them some or all of this functionality for free. Hyundai Canada from an optics perspective looks out of step here by not being able to do the same for whatever reason. From my conversation with them, they appear to want to deliver on this front on some level. I hope for their sake that they do so as based on the comments to my stories on this subject, not to mention e-mails on the subject that I have received, consumers really expect updates like these for free as a matter of course, and will make their vehicle purchasing decisions based on that.
In any case, back to how I got Android Auto and Apple CarPlay on my 2016 Tucson. Canadians can order it from MnSOFT’s Canadian web page. What comes in the package is an SD Card that you pop into your infotainment system. Then you follow these instructions [Warning: PDF] to install it. Be warned it takes 40 minutes and you have to leave your car running while it is updating or bad things will happen to your infotainment system. But once it is done, you will get two icons. One for Apple CarPlay:
One for Android Auto:
You’ll notice that they are greyed out. They only work when you plug a Android or iOS device into your infotainment system. Since I only had an iPhone 6 with me, I plugged it in and this is what I got:
The Apple CarPlay interface was available for use after I plugged in my phone and pushed the icon for it. I tested it briefly and Siri, Maps, Messages, Music and Phone and it all worked without an issue. Navigation through the user interface of Apple CarPlay was smooth and fluid with no stuttering that I could find. I plan on doing some in-depth testing of both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay in the coming days including doing video demos of both, so please stay tuned for that.
The bottom line is that Canadians who want Android Auto or Apple CarPlay on their Hyundai have an option via MnSOFT, assuming their car is compatible of course and they’re willing to pay. But while this might be good news for Canadians, it really does create a hell of an optics and PR mess for Hyundai Canada who have had problems bringing both to the Canadian market, never mind any talk of retrofitting cars that might be compatible. It will be interesting to see what happens on that front.