Wish you covered the Navigation System. Thats one of the more important features, I want to see if the lag the plaques Subaru Infotainment system has improved at all in Forester 2016
It's not that bad actually. I saw a review of the 2015 system and it was noticeably slower than the 2016 version. I've seen better but I've also seen worse.
Mirrorlink is available in the US. Both the head unit and the phone needs to support it. Yiur legacy obviously support it but your LG phone does not. That's why it is grayed out. There are only a few phones that actually support mirrorlink. Sony and Samsung do support it. I have a sony xperia z2 and a sony head unit in my car and it works flawlessly. It mirrors the screen of the phone so if it's locked then there won't be anything displayed. That's why the phone will remain unlocked. When I connect my phone it launches this app that brings up quick launch buttons but I can touch the home button and I have full access to my phone. The response time would become even worse and will become very sluggish. Also, audio quality will suffer. My head unit doesn't have navigation so it's useful for that. Everything else can be very distracting.
Starlink is an utter dumpster fire of bugs and vulnerabilities. I have a 2017 Crosstrek, and it has had nothing but problems since day one. In my case, the first problem was that the phone would only connect 1 out of 10 times to the Bluetooth, Once it started connecting, I am now only getting track information on Bluetooth once in awhile, no real pattern to when it will show, and not show, also does not matter if its one USB or not. I have contacted Subaru about the problems as well, and in the case they say we have noted your problem, but do not give an ETA on when we will have a fix. My theory is that the fix will be released when these cars go out of warranty, and they can charge us for the patches. This is new car, with a head unit that should never have passed Quality Assurance with the shear number of bugs and problems it had.
It sucks ass...like its a real piece of shit. When I switch songs it takes like 8 seconds to do so. And it never changes on the screen. It just plays the next song...that star link app sucks ass also..shit takes like 10 minutes to load...but it gets the job done.
Alex, just wondering, is the system easy enough to use while driving or should you be parked while making adjustments? I have noticed systems of this nature which are not fully voice activated and you have to hit a number of buttons to make it work are not the easiest to use while driving. For example, can you pick "aha" while driving or have to get to the screen to select it? Thanks.
This is an option in the '16 Legacy Limited. You can even use voice to control the dual zone climate control independently. However I found it quicker to just push the buttons.
hi there, thanks for a great video. I have a 2019 forester sport. Do you know why I can't receive text thru my auto android and the text icon is disabled / gray. i can text out by using voice command, but can't receive any text. Please help. Thanks a bunch.
I just got a new 2017 Forester 2.5i. I had a USB memory key loaded with 250 mp3 files just to test the system. It worked fine. I later took a new key and loaded 1,425 mp3 files, but the system only sees 250 files and, on shuffle, wants to play about the same dozen or so songs. The new key also has a dozen folders with song collections which the system can see, but in the root folder it only sees 250 files even though there are 1,425. I can't find a way to make it recognize the new key and see the 1,425 files... it's driving me crazy. I can find no way to make the system reset. Have you got any ideas?
Got a brand new Outback in November 2016 (Australia). Mirrorlink system used on this unit wont work. I've tried connecting via pairing and usb. Dowloaded Starlink app and still no joy. Told by service dept that Mirrorlink not compatible with one of the most popular phones in Australia (samsung s6, s7 AND I have several ezrlier models). Wha a load of crock.
Where do I find software updates for Starlink? I just purchased a brand new 2017 Subaru Crosstrek. The Starlink infotainment system is incredibly slow, and is only capable of playing back music from my phone's built-in memory and *not* the music that is stored on the SD-card (which is where 99% of my GooglePlay music is stored. ) . Voice recognition for making phonecalls also seems very slow and cumbersome. Thanks
I have a 2017 Crosstrek as well, and had to take the car into the dealership to get software updates applied. Granted though that the updates made no difference, it's still slow. On top of these problem, 90% of the time, none of my music meta-data is showing on the screen, especially when playing over either Bluetooth or having the phone connected via USB. After these problem, opened a ticket with Suabru of America, and they confirmed this is a problem, and added it to there bug fix list. Honestly though, i belive it will be fixed, but most likely when the last of these cars go out of warranty, and can then charge you for the updates. Other then this the car has been great, but its like buying a new shirt with a huge ink stain on the center of the shirt at full retail price.
I just bought a 2017 Outback and I have to say the Infotainment system on this car flat out sucks. If it wasn't for the fact that my wife LOVES the Subaru (and the car is great) I probably would have went with a different vehicle just because this system.
Yea, it's awful, slow, and i can't even find the 'speed-dial' option in the phone menu. ON my 2016 Outback, I seriously doubt that it has a speed dial in there. From the main menu i attempted to his the "Off-Hook" steering wheel button and nothing as far as speed-dial. Surely, they thought of having a speed-dial so you can at least get your most called numbers all on the same screen? omg. The version is 2.0 when i went into settings
can u help me. when i plug my phone in the usb all my contacts and all that show up on the screen but it does not give me the usb option on the source screen even though its plugged into the usb??
Hey Alex (or anyone), I just bought a 2018 Forester XT Premium and love it. However I'm trying to make it so when I put my car in/out of park the doors will lock/unlock. Within "Settings" there is supposed to be another page that has "Vehicle Settings" but my Forester XT Premium does not have that second page. Do I need to update the dashboard software, or are those Vehicle Settings not available in my trim level? So flow to vehicle settings should be as follows: Home > Settings > Vehicle Settings (I can get to settings but again I don't have the second page within settings that would have vehicle settings listed). Any help would be greatly appreciated, I've been searching everywhere trying to figure this out and haven't found an answer!
MirrorLink is in the app list on my '16 Legacy Limited, but I tried it without success with a LG G2 (Verizon). I like Google Navigation more than Subaru's default onboard sat-nav, so hopefully they get it up and running soon.
I have a 2017 which I just bought used. Like the car however you did not cover how to reset, preset radio channels. It is virtually impossible so I'm stuff with the prior owners selection, which I can add to but they take up space. HELP
David, if yours is the same as mine (I have a 2015 Legacy), you just tune the radio to the station you want to "program" into one of the memory presets, then press and "hold" the preset "button" for about 3 seconds. The station will be programmed into that preset. I hope that works for you!
Jonnie, audiophiles still buy/use CDs. Until Subaru opens up their file format for USB to accept NTFS or exFAT, lossless audio will have to do, unless you play CDs. The Harman/Kardon system in the Legacy Limited is good enough to allow listeners to hear the difference between lossy iTunes and mp3 files and lossless CD quality. Even my wife commented how well the system performs with CDs vs lossy files, and that's saying something!
Agree there, put Adele CD in there and listen to the high notes. Pretty sweet for a factory system. Love the Stereo in the sedan. Nice and loud for a base system.
dimekoza, I have the 2.5i Limited with the 12 speaker 576 W equivalent system and I'm also a pretty stingy audiophile - I own > 600 CDs and have them backed up in FLAC. Anyway, if you're a lossless codec listener, there aren't many options except for CD, and BT streaming doesn't work very well with FLAC from a phone. Speakers are impressive though. Subaru has used the car's inside curvature to position sound optimally toward the driver & passenger. It is lush, deep, and bright, if your source recording was mastered properly. Only drawbacks for me is the EQ is limited to 3 bands: low, mid, high. Also this sytem is NOT for bass-heads (rap, hip hop, etc.). It has plenty of bass, but it is a warm, punchy bass with minimal decay, not the over-processed, sustained bass you hear from people who like rattling their license plates. I'm into progressive rock and it suits me perfectly.
Also, the USB ports in the Legacy are 'high drain' ports, which means you can plug in just about anything and it will charge. I have a LG G2 and I bought a small QI wireless charger and it fits in there just fine, and charges my phone without annoying wires all over the place. I mention this because the USB will accept music files on a USB stick for playback through the audio system. HOWEVER, the audio system is stingy about file codecs and USB drive formats. Your USB stick must be formatted to FAT32, which will limit drive size considerably (i think the max is 4 GBs). Your files can only be lossy codecs (all iTunes files, and most mp3s will work, but not lossless codecs like FLAC or ALAC). It would be sweet of they opened up the system to accept better drive formats like exFAT or NTFS, as well as allowed lossless file codecs, because the charging power of the USB ports would allow for a person to pick up a 1 TB USB 2.0 drive and just leave it plugged in all the time and have their entire library on a single drive. Maybe the next generation will fix this. I think the Harman/Kardon system is good enough but it's kind of disappointing that it is mostly tailored to lossy audio codecs because when you actually do drop a CD in this thing it really shines! So I've gone back to the days of having a little CD binder in the car with some good albums on it in order to get the system to play optimally.
+DoggerDog37 Thanks for the detailed information. I am an audiophile and i like having a good sound system in a car. I know that the H/K system in the Subaru is very good, but I was more interested in the lesser 6 speaker system. The problem i s that most Japanese car manufacturers group their extras in packages, so if you want to get a particular thing, you have to opt for a whole package with other stuff that you don't really want or have the resources to pay for. The H/K system in the Subarus is usually a part of the top trim level in which you also get leather seats (which I don't want), bigger wheels (also don't want) etc. etc. so If I were to buy a Subaru I would probably get the lesser sound system :( , or maybe do an upgrade myself. There was a redesign done of the Forester recently and was presented at the Tokyo motor show a couple of weeks ago. I have some info that the H/K system will be available with lesser trim levels, but It's not confirmed yet. Let's hope they do this.
dimekoza If you go with the Legacy Premium you can get the H/K system, but to your point, they'll make you get a bunch of other stuff to go with it like moonroof. HOWEVER, like you, I was after the H/K audio with little concern for everything else. I submitted quoted for the Legacy Premium through TrueCar (via USAA), and was quoted a Legacy Limited with option package 5 (all weather package) for the same price as a Premium online. I had to rub my eyes because I didn't believe it at first. So when the dealer called me I asked "are you aware you quoted me the Limited for this price?" and they said yes, so just by chance I went with the Limited. Wasn't even planning on it.
dimekoza Also, I cannot get an external hard drive to work even if I format to FAT32. However, all the USB flash drives I have tried I have formatted to FAT32 and put mp3s on them and the car picks them up just fine. So I have about 400 GBs of music on a NAS at home, all in FLAC. I am converting them to mp3 as we speak, using a 5:1 compression ratio, and then will be copying them to a huge USB flash drive I have which I formatted to FAT32. So my entire library will go with me now. Granted, it isn't lossless quality, but with ambient noise in a car it may not matter. So this plus Spotify makes for the most robust in-car library ever... :-D
A bird watching app. And no Car Play. Don’t even bother install Starlink, use Google maps on your phone. The lag on the Magellan map is ridiculous. So bad is not even funny. Pandora and the rest need subscription.
Anyone know how to get album art to display like his did? I have artwork embedded in my music on my flash drive but it never shows while playing. I have a 15 XV with the 6.2 screen. And does anyone know how and if you can update the system firmware? Under settings when I click update firmware it just says no USB detected. I called Subaru and they said you can't update it, but then why is the option there?
Steven Bickhart, I haven't figured that out yet. I embed 300 x 300 jpgs into the ID3 tags of all lossy and lossless music files on USB, mp3 CD, and mp3 on my phone, and none of them show up. Occasionally it will show an ARTIST photo while streaming from Spotify, but it is random and only shows up on maybe 10% of my music. It doesn't bother me all that much anymore; I'm just glad the music plays well.
Steven, one other thing. If you use the Subaru Starlink app from your phone, the artwork will transfer. If you don't use the app, then it's as I said above.
+DoggerDog37 I figured out using the app transfers album art, as well as using the pandora app. if I use an ipod through usb it displays art, literally everything but with Bluetooth. I can't figure it out. I have a galaxy s6
***** Well, I'm releieved that both you and me have wondered about the same thing, and that it's probably not the car itself. I don't care for the Starlink app, so I've just learned to live without album art, since most of what I stream is Spotify (again, about 10% of the time it shows the artist), or USB stick. I'm on a LG G2 and otherwise it works seamlessly with my car. Oh, one other thing, I tried changing the name of the cover art from "folder.jpg" to "cover.jpg" for USB files and it was still not showing up.
***** Steven, I tried using Starlink app in conjunction with mp3s on my phone and it worked fine. I think the app sort of nudges Gracenote in the right direction. I also noticed a higher success ratio with the USB thumb drive, but Bluetooth almost never works. I'm also thinking that if the car does not have an active Subaru Safety & Security account, the sat-nav connection won't allow Gracenote to retrieve album art. So keep that in mind too.
Oh god Subaru... I love your cars but your entertainment system is just dumb. It is on my Legacy and this is as well. Stop trying to reinvent something that others are doing much much better than you are.
Tech Defender They killed it off because sales were poor. I can't really say I am surprised since it was never terribly attractive, it was slower than most of the competition and really lacked much to make it stand out. (other than the looks)
+Alex on Autos As a multiple-Subaru owner (currently waiting on my 2nd one, a 2016 Outback, to be delivered), I'm not sure that very many Subarus have ever been that attractive. I liked the "pig-nose" era of Subies the best, but they certainly weren't what I'd call attractive. Subies are more like a functional tool. Akin to a loyal, but ugly dog. You love it, but it won't win any beauty contest. Not many cars from that area of the globe are really very nice-looking. A lot of it is the aero-sameness that affects almost all cars, because it's borne of the mandated and marketable quest for higher and higher fuel economy. It's mainly the front ends, noses, and grilles that the Pacific Rim rarely does well. Perhaps they need to hire a few Italians for their design teams, because those folks generally know how to turn out a lovely-looking car. It's probably a cultural perception of beauty or something.
