Apple Car Play download initially failed! NOW Finally available....

[Darth 'Nid]

When ACP works, my Sena S50 disconnects Mesh every now and then (not playing music thru headset) I turn the Sena off/on to reboot Mesh, and then ACP drops off! I have learned you can toggle thru the left-hand app control until Nav shows on the screen, click OK, and it goes to ACP map. Then use the OK button, by holding it up/down for about a second before the screen responds, to move around the screen, and push OK for desired Apple app. Until CarPlay goes buggy and totally drops off; then it's a full stop in order to use the touch screen!

 

[jfischer]

Finally got to do a nice long ride with the Gearelec headsets. Paired them up with the wife's headset and we did a 2-hour ride to Athens, and then 2 hours back. The headsets worked flawlessly both ways, navigation instructions worked fine, and the music playback worked as well. Even using the intercom feature did not mess anything up. It was nice to actually get to use ACP like it's supposed to work without dropouts, reboots, and just general flakiness that I had with my older Cardos.

 

[WRCLVR]

jfischer, Sounds great... I need to take my 2024 S2S in to have the update performed then. We use Samsung Androids Note 20 5g, so no ACP but it will then be fully up to date if we ever sell it.
Can you post a link to the Gearelec units, please?

 

[jfischer]

Here's the headset I'm using, thanks to @johndeeredoo for trying it first

https://gearelec.com/products/geare...pTfT5oAIdlrwXFTFgaAHPoCU66GsI-qH-U5VqmFvKg9a3

You can find them on Amazon too. You can do the update yourself over WiFi if you want, no need to take it to the dealer unless you have other things you want done. The hang tag on the bike said "Android Auto coming..." but wouldn't hold my breath.

It's not as fancy as my previous Cardo, but it does work. There's no voice control ("Hey Cardo") but that was unreliable at best for me. Also the entire unit clips to the helmet, you have to unplug it from the audio wire to actually take it off, and the audio portion is proprietary connection. But for the price I am willing to give up a few things. On the plus side, I think they sound better than the Cardos did for music, even with their JBL option. And with BT 5.2, the Gearelec has worked flawlessly with ACP with is a huge plus. The intercom also worked fine, that rarely worked on the Cardo. It's a "mesh" system but only compatible with the Gearelec headset, if you ride with Cardo or Sena users you won't be able to intercom with them.

 

[WRCLVR]

@jfischer :2thumbs:

 

[Kaemgen]

Howdy all,

Just got my 2024 Spyder F3-S yesterday and I'm trying to figure out the CarPlay. I skimmed most of the more recent posts but this thread is 16 pages so forgive me if these have been addressed.

I see jfischer mentioned they use Bluetooth 5.1 - Do we know if this is really required or not? If not technically then realistically? My Spyder seems to be having problems keeping the connection with both my phone and headset. I have an 1Phone 11 so it's a bit outdated (egads, 5 yrs old is outdate) and just Bluetooth 5.0 from a quick google of it. I did also just cheap out on the helmet headset and it is also 5.0.

Do we think upgrading my devices will solve the issue or is it likely something else?

Thanks

 

[jfischer]

The Chinese headsets I got are supposedly BT 5.2. My Cardos were 4.1 and didn't work well at all.

This is what works for me for Apple CarPlay.

Pair your headset to the Spyder
Pair your phone to the Spyder if you want
Connect your iPhone to the Spyder using the USB port. Once you get connected to ACP via USB I am pretty sure the BT connection drops anyway.
DO NOT pair your iPhone to the headset, I think this is problematic.

Then give ACP a try and see if it works or not. With my Cardos, I could never reliably get them to work, or get audio through headset reliably, etc. If I got a text message (even if I ignored it), that was enough to screw it up, cause ACP to drop out and come back, etc. Now I can switch audio on the Spyder between the speakers and my headset, audio and navigation directions all work fine. I have yet to actually answer a phone call but hopefully that works if I ever do.

If you're using ACP, then I would think the BT version of your phone isn't that critical since all the comms are now going over USB. It's the Spyder > Headset connection that I think is most BT dependent.

Again, this is just what I'm deducing from my own experience and that of others. It would be nice if BRP would come out with a detailed guide on exactly what works and what doesn't, and the recommended configuration.

 

[racoon]

My iPhone and the SENA headset in my helmet meet the Can-Am requirements for CarPlay, and I followed the directions in the 2024 Operators Guide that came with my Spyder, and in the Adobe Acrobat PDF copy of the 2024 Operators Guide that I downloaded.

I did get CarPlay to display maps on the Spyder's display, and was able to have it navigate to a destination, so the connection to my iPhone was working. But I was never able to get CarPlay to play the audio of the navigation directions in my headset.

I do have to point out that the SENA headset in my helmet actually supports three different Bluetooth connections. Two connections are for phones, and one connection is for a GPS device (the Can-Am Spyder, in this case). I tried pairing my headset to the Spyder as the second phone at first, but then switched it so the headset paired to the Spyder as a GPS. Neither connection option worked.

What was odd, was that when I did the Bluetooth pairing of my iPhone to the Spyder, it displayed a message on the display, and it played a connection message in my headset, so the Spyder itself was able to communicate with my headset, but the Can-Am implementation of CarPlay on the Spyder was not able to send audio to my headset.

I am back to using a Garmin Zumo XT GPS mounted on my handlebars, which is what I was using before Can-Am released the CarPlay update. The Zumo is Bluetooth paired to my iPhone and my SENA headset.

I haven't needed to take my Spyder back to the dealer yet, but when I do, I'll ask them about updating all of the software through BUDS and see if that makes it work. When CarPlay was finally released, I downloaded CarPlay using a connection to my home Wi-Fi network.

 

[Kaemgen]

1. Pair your headset to the Spyder
2. Pair your phone to the Spyder if you want
3. Connect your iPhone to the Spyder using the USB port. Once you get connected to ACP via USB I am pretty sure the BT connection drops anyway.

DO NOT pair your iPhone to the headset, I think this is problematic.

Huh. Ok so I deleted both phone and headset then started again from scratch. As you said, I did headset first... Then the phone... Then I connected the phone via the USB.

Initially no joy. Both looked connected but no ACP. I may have uttered a bad word. Then after a moment I went back to the phone and unlocked it... And joy was had. ACP seems to be working fine. Why specifically headset before phone pairing should matter (and if it does, why there's no instruction to this effect) is unknown to me but it seems to be working.

Test will be tomorrow when I take it out on a ride and test in real world conditions... But THANK YOU!

 

[CassND]

One thing that I had happen was I first used an aftermarket iPhone cord and it worked great. Then we used that cord on my wife’s Spyder and I used a cord that came from Apple and it was janky at best. If I tried to use Siri, it would actually power off my SENA with no notices. Sometimes my music would be playing on my phone speakers and different songs than were displayed on Spyder screen. Super janky.

So, if you’re having weird things happening in ACP, maybe try a different data cable.



While I was waiting for my SENA to arrive, I initially tried connecting Bose headphones, and Beats for a Bluetooth connection to try to get ACP working, with no success, none were 5.0 or, above. I went to target and purchased a $20 earbud set 5.1 Bluetooth and it hooked up instantly.

ACP works well now, but, I need to get another data cord that is reliable.

 

[jfischer]

Huh. Ok so I deleted both phone and headset then started again from scratch. As you said, I did headset first... Then the phone... Then I connected the phone via the USB.

Initially no joy. Both looked connected but no ACP. I may have uttered a bad word. Then after a moment I went back to the phone and unlocked it... And joy was had. ACP seems to be working fine. Why specifically headset before phone pairing should matter (and if it does, why there's no instruction to this effect) is unknown to me but it seems to be working.

Test will be tomorrow when I take it out on a ride and test in real world conditions... But THANK YOU!

I don't think the pairing order matters to be honest, that was just the order I recollected doing it in .

 

[jfischer]

My iPhone and the SENA headset in my helmet meet the Can-Am requirements for CarPlay, and I followed the directions in the 2024 Operators Guide that came with my Spyder, and in the Adobe Acrobat PDF copy of the 2024 Operators Guide that I downloaded.

Maybe I've asked before, but do you know what BT version your Sena headset supports? My Cardo supported multiple BT connections too, but made no difference which one I paired the Spyder to, it was just unreliable and flaky no matter what. My Cardo Freecom 4+ headsets were only BT 4.x.

I did get CarPlay to display maps on the Spyder's display, and was able to have it navigate to a destination, so the connection to my iPhone was working. But I was never able to get CarPlay to play the audio of the navigation directions in my headset.

This sounds pretty much like my experience with my Cardos. Enough to get CarPlay to display and show navigation, but the audio never worked right.

 

[racoon]

Maybe I've asked before, but do you know what BT version your Sena headset supports?

According to the SENA website, the SENA 3S Plus Boom Microphone Kit I have uses Bluetooth 5.1.

 

[bikerbillone]

Oh good, I have a 2020 RTL, I finally gave up on all that BRP loading business. I found that nothing works there, I gave it up and now enjoy the ride. Not looking start anything, that's just me.

 

[racoon]

Apple Carplay is wonderful, when it works! :yes:

Hardware:
2024 CAN-AM Spyder RT Sea2Sky with the Apple Carplay software update installed
Apple iPhone SE 2nd Gen with genuine Apple lightning to USB cable
Sena 3S Plus boom microphone headset

So I used the Maps application on my iPhone to map a route from my home to a local grocery store.
I chose that location because it avoids the busiest streets and freeways, but isn't just a straight drive to the location.

Turned on the headset in my helmet, turned on the iPhone, and connected it to the USB connection in the glove box.
Started the Spyder and Carplay was not active.
Then I remember that my Ridgeline prefers that I start the engine, and THEN plug the phone into the USB port.
So I unplugged and then replugged the cable into the USB port in the glove box, and then Carplay was active.
I carried the iPhone in a chest pocket of my jacket, with the cable draped over the handlebars.

So I told it to go to the destination.
And everything worked!

Well, except the directions were very soft in the headset, and since I was driving I couldn't adjust the volume.
The SENA headset has the volume controls on the microphone, but to reach them I would have had to open my helmet, press the volume up button, and then close my helmet.
Not something I wanted to do while in motion.
So I drove to the Food Lion and pulled into their parking lot.
I opened my helmet and turned up the volume on the headset.

I then used the Carplay app running on my Spyder to tell it to take me Home, which is a location already programmed in the iPhone maps.
The directions were loud enough and clear, but...

There's always a but, isn't there! :roflblack:

I didn't like the route that was suggested, so I ignored it and went a more convenient route.
After turning onto the different route, the directions paused for a moment, and then the display changed to the road I was on, and it calculated a new route using the street I was on.
And I confused it some more by going off the suggested route to stop and pickup some dinner.
After stowing my dinner in the top case, and starting the bike I plugged in the iPhone and it immediately resumed the directions to my home, starting at the location where I got dinner.

Here's what the display looked like at the beginning of this odyssey.
I blacked out the address of the Food Lion grocery store I went too.

 

[jfischer]

Apple Carplay is wonderful, when it works! :yes:

Ever since I got the cheap Gearelec BT 5.2 headsets, my ACP has been completely flawless every single time. I have not had one issue with it once I upgraded my headset.

I have no way to know for sure but it seems like the ACP really needs BT 5.2 or better to be reliable based on what I've seen. Some folks with 5.1 headsets are still having issues. I don't know if Can-Am has ever specified exactly what is supported or not, but it seems like anything less than BT 5.2 has issues.

Or maybe I just got lucky and these el-cheapo Chinese headsets just work and BT 5.2 is a red herring

 

[racoon]

Or maybe I just got lucky and these el-cheapo Chinese headsets just work and BT 5.2 is a red herring

I have a SENA 3S Plus Boom headset installed in my helmet. According to the SENA website, it's BT 5.1.

https://store-us.sena.com/products/3s-plus-boom-1

 

[jfischer]

I have a SENA 3S Plus Boom headset installed in my helmet. According to the SENA website, it's BT 5.1.

https://store-us.sena.com/products/3s-plus-boom-1

BT 5.2 has some significant improvements over 5.1 from what I read. Not saying 5.1 won't work just that 5.2 does have a few improvements over 5.1. I went from a Cardo BT 4.x headset that didn't work well at all, straight to these 5.2 headsets. Didn't make a stop at 5.1 to know if it would have worked for me or not. I just know that I have had no issues at all with these cheap headsets and they claim to use BT 5.2.

The ones I have now say "This helmet Bluetooth headset has dual V5.2 Qualcomm Bluetooth chips" for what it's worth.

 

[racoon]

BT 5.2 has some significant improvements over 5.1 from what I read. Not saying 5.1 won't work just that 5.2 does have a few improvements over 5.1.

I did some research, and I'll disagree with 5.2 having "significant improvements" over 5.1, and agree with "a few improvements".

Bluetooth 5.2

LE Audio Support: Introduces Low Energy (LE) Audio, which improves audio quality and allows for features like multi-stream audio, enabling multiple audio streams to be sent to multiple devices simultaneously.
Enhanced Power Efficiency: Better power management contributes to longer battery life for devices.
Improved Pairing: Offers faster and more efficient pairing processes.

LE Audio support - I don't need multi-stream audio, since the only source is my Spyder. And we're talking about a headset in a motorcycle helmet, so as long as the Carplay navigation directions are understandable the audio quality is fine.

Enhanced Power Efficiency - longer battery life is always useful, especially if I was riding cross country, but if I'm not going to be doing any cross country trips. The longest trip I am currently contemplating is 11 hours, and there is no way my behind could survive riding that many hours in a single day. So two 5 hour days is more likely, with plugging the headset in to recharge over night.

Improved Pairing - nice, but once it's paired that really isn't an issue.

So if I were shopping for a headset today I might consider the difference between Bluetooth 5.1 and 5.2, but I'm very happy that my SENA headset, which was released in January 2021, is not yet antiquated enough to consider an upgrade.

 

[KansasCrow]

I use a Cardo Edge which is BT 5.2 paired to the Spyder as rider headset. Not paired to iPhone 13. The only problem I have when using carplay is the phone app. I have never been able to make or receive a call. The call will connect but the system causes a huge delay in the call. Really hard to communicate like that.

What is the last version of software for the RT Limited? I got an email a couple of weeks ago that an update was available, but never show up on the dash.