2012 MyLink comments (possibly relevant to 2013 Volts)

[UltraVolt]

I've seen various reports that MyLink will be standard in the 2013 MY. If so, I'm going to guess that the 2012 MyLink package is just going to become the standard non-navigation system in 2013. Otherwise, the NRE cost of the 2012 system wouldn't make much sense...I don't know how many 2012's received MyLink, but since it only seemed to come with custom orders and was only available in the last 2 months or so of production, it feels like it can't be more than 100. The only other forum member that I've seen mention having it is drbruns.

I'm also selfishly hoping the carryover to MY2013 is true so drbruns and myself get access to some upgrades! Tens of thousands of owners is much more compelling to develop upgrades for than just the two of us.

So with the caveat that this information may not carry over, I'm hoping this little bit of info helps out future MY2013 buyers.

The key takeaway is that I've had great success with Android 4.04 (Nexus S 4G).

MyLink summary:
- Enhanced phone interface (downloads entire phone contact list, voice name dialing)
- Enhanced voice control (source selection, artist / album recognition, etc)
- Enhanced bluetooth (both handsfree phone and streaming audio)
- SmartPhone apps support (currently only Pandora and Stitcher, bluetooth on Android, USB on iphone)
- Theoretically SW upgradeable over USB (no announced upgrades, like Gogo nav, etc)
- No voice control / support of text messaging support


MyLink experience:
- SmartPhone Google (Samsung) Nexus S 4G with Android 4.04

- The handsfree phone interface has worked seamlessly
- Quickly pairs after powering the car up
- Told that I sound better in the car than using the phone
- Voice name recognition is "good". About 75% first try name hits, 95% on names I've called previously
- Paired easily and worked fine with an old Sanyo cell phone

- USB interface and voice recognition works pretty well
- Loaded up a flash stick with 6 GB of mp3's. Took a while to index (one time)
- Able to reliably choose artists / albums over voice control (a few exceptions)

- Not really MyLink, but the stereo only supports CDs (no DVDs, but does support mp3's, etc)

- The streaming bluetooth link has also been very reliable
- Stitcher has always responded to the integrated touchscreen interface
- Once, Stitcher locked up on my phone when exiting the car and had to force close, but I can't blame the car for that
- Also works very well using other smartphone apps (music player, etc)
- Pause, skip, skip backwards all work over the bluetooth link

Overall, the voice control works reasonably well once I learned the optimal speaking cadence and command sequence. It will definitely get tripped up if you say things "out of order"

My own "perfect solution" for my commute is the following:
- Android 4.04
- BeyondPod from the Play store (was $2 when I bought it)
- You can set up a Smart playlist that goes out at 5:20 AM over your WiFi network and syncs up the latest versions of your podcasts (news, sports, comedy, etc)
- This is like Stitcher, but doesn't rely on a live 3G streaming link
- Modify the settings in the app to support bluetooth audio control
And now selecting Bluetooth Audio automatically fires up BeyondPod to start playing the Smart playlist. Pause and skip both work, and it automatically pauses for incoming phone calls, etc. Works perfectly.

I can now get in the car, start driving, push the talk button, say "My Media", "Bluetooth Audio" and it starts playing the latest podcasts without taking the phone out of my pocket. No cables and it just plain works. It's just one of those stupid silly things that gives me pleasure since it further simplifies my life.

For longer trips I'll mix in some USB tunes, but for commuters who like podcasts, this works great.

[drbruns]

UltraVolt

Excellent summary! I am glad I waited for this option. It has worked almost flawlessly for me as well. I may check into PodStore app, but I am mostly an iPod music listener. I also use Pandora on occasions but haven't tried Stitcher. I am also waiting for a MyLink update to integrate new apps, hopefully a Nav app and perhaps text message support of some kind.

[gadgeTT]

I have a 2013 on order with the MyLink w/ Nav & Bose audio options. I've read all of the published info- forum posts, manuals for currently released models, etc., but couldn't get confirmation on whether the system voice-enables all names in the copied phone address book or still only enabled a choice few (20ish) to be voice tagged.

Just to confirm from the above, the new MyLink system (which should be similar to what my 2013 will have) will enable speaker-independent voice dialing any contact copied over from the phone's address book without recording voice tags, right? If so, that alleviates one of my greatest expected disappointments in switching over from my VW Eos to the Volt. I know it's minor, but I really didn't want that step backward in car telematics tech to have to record voice tags... BTW, it also appears that addresses from the phone's address book can be selected directly in the Nav system as destinations -that's another one-up on my current system. Another is the (perceived) ability to directly dial a POI's phone number using a paired BT phone. In my EOS' nav system, POIs have phone numbers, but they cannot be directly dialed - rather you have to remember the number, then dial the phone manually (or by voice). Conversely, in the Eos, addresses show up in the phone's address book, but cannot be used as destinations in the Nav - you have to enter them manually.

*sigh*. TPW 7/23 is way too far off for me! Frankly, the main reason I ordered the 2013 rather than taking a 2012 off the lot now was for the upgraded MyLink w/Nav option. I also ordered the new Safety Package 2 (collision avoidance, front parking sensor and lane departure warning), and will appreciate the extra 3 miles of electric driving on a charge, but the integrated MyLink w/Nav was the primary reason for waiting for the 2013. BTW, I think I prefer the prior year's 30GB HDD and black roof, but will cope with the body-colored roof and back and can deal with a 16GB SD card instead of the HDD ;-)

TIA.

[UltraVolt]

Yes, the MyLink phone interface supports voice contact dialing without creating a custom name tag. It imported all of my contacts (< 100, I'm not a power phone user), and it has successfully selected and dialed (sometimes took a few tries to get it to use mobile versus office) five of them (the only ones I'd quickly call in a car). The names weren't that exotic (Emily, Chris, etc), but it easily recognized them.

It also pops up the name of incoming calls on the touchscreen.

The 2012's don't support nav, so there's no POI support / linkage. Your nav system will likely be an upgraded version....I'd assume (w/out any factual data) that it will use the same basic architecture / SW but with additional features. Explains the drop of hard drive, DVD(?), etc.

[gadgeTT]

Can't wait to try out the new system. I guess the only thing that could make it better is to show caller's photos on the MyLink screen during a phone call - imported from the phone's address book. I'll cope without having that, as long as it name-matches and shows incoming callerID matched to the phone book.

[drbruns]

I have had no problem with voice dialing using BT on my android smartphone. I do have duplicate phone book entries in the Volt, but I use the voice dialing and rarely need to scroll the phone book, so the duplicates are not a real big issue.

I am not a fan of the new MY2013 body paint scheme. I have a White Diamond and in my opinion, the black accents give the Volt a real sporty look that will be missing on future model years.

I now use OnStar turn by turn where before I was using the Google andriod Nav app, so I don't miss the integrated Nav feature.

I use my iPod touch, so I don't miss the 30GB hard drive for storage, but it would be nice to have in order to pause live radio.

[iucpa]

Hi, new owner here. My 2012 has MyLink and all seems to work ok except Pandora and I can't figure out why. Using an iPhone 4s. I have verified that audio will stream via Bluetooth but the Pandora option on my home screen is greyed out. Finding "official" guidance anywhere has proven difficult.

Anyone been through this and have an answer?

I have tried opening the app on my phone and having it running but it doesn't make a difference.

Thanks.

[gadgeTT]

Have you tried by connecting your iPhone to the Volt's USB port via a cable?

[iucpa]

OK, so I plugged in my iPhone 4s via USB and the Pandora option lit up and my playlist appeared on the screen. HOWEVER, the sound didn't come over my speakers. Then I changed the source to iPod and it appeared on the screen like a song was playing, but again, no sound.

1/2 way there. Anyone else have ideas?

Thanks again.

[Sphyrna]

MyLink was THE reason I ordered a 2013. If I could have found a 2012 with MyLink and the other options and color I wanted I probably would have went with that, but there wasn't one. I'm glad to hear MyLink is working well! Can't wait to get mine!!

iucpa: with the iPhone, it has to be plugged in via USB to use the apps. It won't work via bluetooth streaming.