Possible to get WAZE from iPhone onto SatNav Screen & HUD ?

dgw1 · July 18, 2022

450H 2018 Premier. Well, after a couple of weeks, almost everything is setup and I now certainly know much more about the car than the Lexus dealership where I bought it, not to say that they did not give me excellent service. As far as I can tell, the car probably has a router in the boot and you need a subscription to that SIM to get the car to function as a Hotspot for your Iphone and you then might be able to mirror the Waze Iphone screen on the Navi screen but with the extra cost of a monthly subscription. Is that right ?

And would the HUD then also work with WAZE - as it now does with the Lexus Navi ? Or did all this only become possible with the 2020 variant.

And is there anyway of doing all this without getting into a new monthly SIM subscription ?

Used to use maps and make a note with pencil and paper before setting out. Still do that sometimes ! Have things become easier ? Have we allowed our brains to become less active ?

Many thanks !

PDM · July 18, 2022

Hi,

Unfortunately you need the refreshed model from 2020. To mirror the phone screen on car display needs android auto or apple car play which didn't become available until 2020 MY. And even with the 2020 model you cannot get turn by turn onto the HuD. You need what is known as MM21 for that, which is the new infotainment system in the new NX and the new RX which is coming out later this year.

The hotspot subscription will not help you achieve any of these things I'm afraid.

Paul

Herbie · July 18, 2022

As Paul says, this just isn't possible without spending money to add in extra components.

I have a Grom Vline2 and at about £530 it's not cheap. Hell, it's not even perfect and it does have its foibles, but it has the potential to be perfect and it's close now. They're an American company so no language barrier when dealing with their great support team, if needed.

The great thing about it is that it's a full-blown tablet and whereas apple CarPlay or Android Auto are restrictive in what apps they allow you to run, with the Vline you can download apps directly to its internal memory and run them directly from there, without the need to invoke ACP/AA.

Have a look at my (admittedly poor) attempt at a review below:

dgw1 · August 1, 2022

Hello again Herbs. I am now seriously considering getting the Grom V-Line for my RX450h 2018 Premier which will be their LEX8 variant. As you have such a lot of experience with it, I hope you can tell me about the following which I am not sure about, even after reading their whole installation and instruction manual.

1. I will have it in the Glove Box for sake of easier install. But I don't want the GPS antenna in with it as it might be damaged from the other stuff that usually fills up my glove box. Do you think it would be ok putting the antenna somewhere out of view nearby. I don't want it stuck to the top of the dashboard as Grom recommend for obvious cosmetic reasons.

2. Which dongle are you using and does it connect to any USB port in the car? There does not seem to be a port for it in the V-line itself ?

3. Is it necessary to have an unlimited data sim if using WAZE or Google Maps a lot ?

Many thanks ! David.

Herbie · August 1, 2022

Hello David,

1. The glove box is an easier install and lots of people do put them in there, but if you're also going to continue to use it for other things, just remember to keep enough space around it for ventilation as they do get a bit warm.

As for the GPS antenna, it will work somewhere out of sight as long as there's not any metal above it, although it does work best if it has a clear view of the sky. Are you sure that you really couldn't live with this?:

2. I'm not using any dongle at the moment because my mobile phone is with Sky and if you don't use up your monthly data allowance, they roll it over to the next month and so on. I currently have 70GB data in my 'data piggybank' so I'll use that up first before needing a dongle.

I have the system set up so that when I start the car my phone pairs with the Lexus Bluetooth. When the phone detects that connection it triggers the phone to switch on its wifi hotspot, which the Grom then uses as a gateway to the Internet. When I switch off the car, the phone detects loss of the Lexus Bluetooth and so switches off its hotspot. This is known as 'tethering' but you probably knew that already.

If you want to go down the dongle route you can either get a USB modem that would plug into one of the Vline's USB ports, or you could go for a mobile hotspot like this one that connects to the Grom by wifi.

3. I haven't yet been on any long trips with the unit so I'm not sure exactly how much data it uses, but you can always download the maps for offline use (I think).

Something else to bear in mind is that there is a lot of input required when initially setting up the unit and the various apps, and it quickly becomes very tedious with the joystick so I bought one of these Wechip remotes and it works brilliantly.

Hope that helps :thumbsup:

dgw1 · August 2, 2022

Yes, all that really does help. Thanks a lot :thumbsup:

BTW, in case you don't know about it, I came across a way to put the key fob to sleep which is great for saving its Battery and also makes it impossible to steal the code using a transponder. You press and hold down the Lock button. Then press the Unlock button twice. Then wait for the red light to flash 4 times and then release finger on the Lock button. Very useful - why have it sending out signals continuously when you are away or even overnight. Pressing any button automatically brings it out of sleep mode.