I am kinda happy today. On my commute home, I hooked up the iPhone and moved WAZE to the home screen. Sure enough it was displayed in the Mercedes CarPlay apps screen. Not only did WAZE display and show my route, destination, and speed limits, I was also able to go to radio and WAZE continued to do its thing. Even warning me of an accident ahead. This is what I had expected when the MB sales man told me the car had CarPlay. I am able to see my route, play my music and talk on the phone.

 

 

I did not experience any. Going for a longer drive tomorrow and will check out the interface.

 

Any issues with volume? Using Waze and CarPlay in a Volvo V90 CC, the instructions are TOO LOUD. I lower the volume during an instruction and the volume goes down, but at the very next instructions it's again TOO LOUD. Apple Maps and Google Maps work normally. I only experience this with Waze.

 

 

Ah! Thank you! I didn't know about that. I've lowered the app volume in its Settings and will try it again next time I'm out.

 

 

Hi Cambridgehank.......any chance you could post a tutorial for us "not too technical types"?......I do have Waze on my I phone, but could not get it to work on car screen. 2018 W213 E class. Thanks in advance.

 

I am not too technical also. But, here is what I did.
I am using an iPhone 8 and 8 Plus for my wife.
I selected the iPhone "settings" and in the long list of items is General and then select CarPlay.
Select that. And it will show the MY CAR and on my phone is MB Infotainment , select that.
You will see a home screen and you can move seated apps into the home screen. WAZE was on page two of my home screen.

When I connected the phone to the MB, the home screen with WAZE was displayed.
Simple as that if I can do it anyone can.

 

For Google Maps and Waze to work with CarPlay your iPhone will need to have the latest iOS version 12.0 which was very recently released on Sept 17, 2018. You also need the latest updates to the Google Maps and Waze apps.

So, be sure you've done Settings -> General -> Software Update to verify you have iOS 12 and then try App Store -> Updates to be sure Google Maps and Waze are also updated.

 

 

 

Two new cars are coming this year with MBUX. MBUX is the new infotainment system, which will eventually reaplce Comand in all their cars. MBUX is a touch screen. The A Class and upcoming just announced GLE will have MBUX.

Here's an article from a few months ago about the new system: https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/11/me...mart-ui-rocks/

Personally, I have mixed feelings. I like the personal assistant (think Alexa/Siri/Google) where you'll just say "Hey Mercedes" without touching a button and your car will say "How can I help you?" to which you can just tell the car to adjust the temperature, play a song, find an address, etc., but I'm perhaps too OCD to handle a screen in the car with fingerprints! LOL

 

I also dislike touch screens in a vehicle. I rejected buying another BMW highway car (540i) because it was hard to reach the screen from my arms out driving position. Fingerprints are a big issue as well.

 

Just my $.02:

My wife has the Ford Edge Sport with the touch screen: to change a radio station, or change from navigation to radio, I have to touch the screen which means I take my eyes off the road. I much prefer my Mercedes with the rotary dial to change stations, never take my eyes off the road and buttons on dash to toggle between radio and navigation - again never taking my eyes off the road.

Buttons work perfectly well:

Remember the old saying: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

 

People want touch screens. For Mercedes to stay current, they have to offer what people are asking for. Doesn't make me want a touch screen in my car, but I can understand why they're moving over to the MBUX infotainment system.

 

Touch screens are fine on a smart phone. They have a very limited use in a moving motor vehicle.

On the BMW board there are similar comments about gesture control (like automatic parking) use it once or twice for the novelty, then go back to the rotary dials.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

 

Maybe we should go back to the horse and cart as well

Technology moves on, the younger generations use touch screens without looking at them, its all muscle memory.

 

I'll pass on the horse and buggy.

But I know I'm an old fart now. And old farts are a dying breed. Most younger people can't recall flip phones or even phones without touch screens. Go to any restaurant and there's sure to be a table with a child and an iPad. As I said above, whether I want a touch screen in my car or not, Mercedes has to stay relevant and put in cars what the next generations want and expect. Time for us old farts to move over.

 

There are always voice commands. MB voice commands work exceedingly well with my voice, but the BMW voice commands fail more than half of the time.

 

I agree, voice commands work well for me. But, as has been stated above, some prefer touchscreens. I don't. I'm 42, so young or old, I see the benefit of input where my eyes remain on the road.

 

To me, young man, 42 is young! LOL

When BMW and Audi both moved to touchscreens, there's just now way MB couldn't follow suit. They can't afford to lose customers over something like this, even if logic suggests anything that takes your hand off the steering wheel, makes you a bit less safe while driving. I imagine the Voice Assistant in MBUX will be a great alternative to tapping a button or touching a screen and just using your voice to control most functions.

 

Great info here. I finally got Waze working in my car. Thanks.

 

I am 75 and loved the touchscreen in my 2012 Porsche Panamera. Having a bit of a learning curve with learning all the key phrases I need to use with Voice Control in the E300. Only issue was the fingerprint mentioned before. I coated the screen with a ceramic coating, CQ.UK 3.0 from CarPro so the cleanup was easy.

 

Does CarPlay zoom in and out by rotating the control knob for Waze or google maps?

or swiping on the steering wheel touchpad?
like it does for the built in navigation