Skoda connect, infotainment, updates and user profiles

All Skoda Karoq related discussions
Post Reply
karoqy
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2022 2:23 pm

Post by karoqy »

Just got a 9 month old Karoq SE L and getting to know it.
Was looking on skoda website an found Satnav DB database update was available after I entered just the VIN number but not sure which version I already have (where do I find the current installed version?). Also wondered if these updates are regular or are only available for first 12months like the free infotainment access or is it just direct updates that will stop?
What exactly will I lose after the infotainment package expires?

I have not yet set up Skoda Connect, what does that get me? and what still works after the 12months expires?
I saw userprofiles in the settings but told me I needed to have skoda connect account for that.

Will user profiles stop working after infotainment expires? or am I mixing these things up?
The dealer wasn't much help as the just said "I dunno, don't use satnav and stuff, just use google apps"

Is it worth registering on skoda connect for 2-3 months left on the first year? Even if just to get off the software as up to date as possible before access is gone?

Cheers

User avatar
CJJE
Posts: 450
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2020 6:39 pm
Location: Stone, Staffordshire

Post by CJJE »

You can get details of the Skoda Connect system at https://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/skoda-connect

If you have a valid licence, then your car should download updates the the map database automatically when it finds an update. You will not get any indication of this however except that the system information screen will show an updated version number (mine is currently at 22.5) You will also get live traffic updates showing roadworks and delays around you, and which will be taken into account when it plans a route for you. (See Menu / Settings / System Settings / System Information on the main Infotainment screen)

After the first year, you can renew the Remote Access licence and Infotainment online licence independently via the Skoda Connect website (currently I am being offered another year of each for £36 and £44 respectively.)

Your dealer seems particularly useless at advising you, but if you read the paper manual and digital manuals they will help. (You did buy it from a Skoda dealer I presume?)

I also find the Skoda Connect phone app quite useful, but you will need to ensure the Skoda Connect settings in the car have been reset to the factory settings (hopefully the dealer will have done this to remove a previous owner's registration!) and then log yourself in.

Chris
VW Golf GT 1.9TDI from 11/98 to 3/06; Skoda Octavia L&K 2.0TDI from 3/06 to 12/11; VW Golf Plus SE 1.6TDI DSG from 12/11 to 2/15; VW Golf SV SE 1.4TSI DSG from 2/15 to 11/20; Skoda Karoq Sportline 2.0TSI 4x4 DSG from 11/20.
karoqy
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2022 2:23 pm

Post by karoqy »

CJJE wrote: Sat Jul 02, 2022 10:48 pm You can get details of the Skoda Connect system at https://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/skoda-connect

If you have a valid licence, then your car should download updates the the map database automatically when it finds an update. You will not get any indication of this however except that the system information screen will show an updated version number (mine is currently at 22.5) You will also get live traffic updates showing roadworks and delays around you, and which will be taken into account when it plans a route for you. (See Menu / Settings / System Settings / System Information on the main Infotainment screen)

After the first year, you can renew the Remote Access licence and Infotainment online licence independently via the Skoda Connect website (currently I am being offered another year of each for £36 and £44 respectively.)

Your dealer seems particularly useless at advising you, but if you read the paper manual and digital manuals they will help. (You did buy it from a Skoda dealer I presume?)

I also find the Skoda Connect phone app quite useful, but you will need to ensure the Skoda Connect settings in the car have been reset to the factory settings (hopefully the dealer will have done this to remove a previous owner's registration!) and then log yourself in.

Chris
Thanks,
I went ahead and set up connect account and did the activation with both keys. The license showed 2 months left for remote and infotainment and after actually activating, this now shows 6 months and 9 years on the proactive license.

Noticed the additional traffic information on the nav which was nice, but assume it needs to be online to keep up to date.
Setting the Primary User kept getting interrupted and asking again and again if I wanted to become the primary. One of the interruptions was a system update which said it was going to happen in the background and then locked up the screen :)

Yes was from a Skoda dealer. This wasn't the only question where they gave me vague answers so I have been looking through the manuals but wasn't clear to me what belongs to which license.

Does the remote access need a built in esim then? Can't see it would be much use to me except maybe the driving data. I'll see how we go with the infotainment most of that seems available in android auto too, but by the end of the year, we will know which we prefer. I assume that android auto and the wifi hotspot function will continue without the infotainment license...


When the infotainment expires, can you still access offline map updates?

Cheers, thanks for the help.
User avatar
CJJE
Posts: 450
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2020 6:39 pm
Location: Stone, Staffordshire

Post by CJJE »

There is a built-in SIM since MY21 cars to enable the emergency call system (which is licensed for 10 years).

I don't use the Android apps but presume they will connect via your phone's SIM and so use your phone's data allowance rather than the car's?

I can't see Skoda allowing unlimited access to data via the WiFi hotspot function without charging you for it via a licence, unless it is accessing your phone and using its data allowance. That is certainly true for the Web Radio by the way - I struggled for months with that before discovering I needed to buy an additional licence or use my phone as the data source!

Although Skoda provide offline map updates and say these can be installed via the USB-C port in practice I have never been able to get this to work as there is no download/update command in the menu system. This seems to be common to all VW/SEAT/Skoda cars using the MIB3 infotainment systems (the ones with USB-C ports rather than SD cards.) The only people who seem to have got it to work are those in countries where there is no online update system. However my maps update automatically every couple of months now, and as I'm happy to pay for the Infotainment Online licence I've not pursued it recently. I THINK that the online Voice Control also requires you to have the licence if you find that useful, as well as being able to send a destination from your phone to the car rather than entering it on screen.

As far as dealers are concerned, I must admit I find their service staff better clued up on the electronic systems than the sales staff! I collected my car from my dealer's Sales Manager as the salesmen had been sent home due to covid restrictions, and he didn't have the detailed knowledge to answer my queries correctly. He even told me that the third key I'd ordered wasn't supplied anymore, only for me to find it sitting in the mobile phone compartment.

Best Wishes,

Chris
VW Golf GT 1.9TDI from 11/98 to 3/06; Skoda Octavia L&K 2.0TDI from 3/06 to 12/11; VW Golf Plus SE 1.6TDI DSG from 12/11 to 2/15; VW Golf SV SE 1.4TSI DSG from 2/15 to 11/20; Skoda Karoq Sportline 2.0TSI 4x4 DSG from 11/20.
karoqy
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2022 2:23 pm

Post by karoqy »

CJJE wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 9:30 am There is a built-in SIM since MY21 cars to enable the emergency call system (which is licensed for 10 years).

I don't use the Android apps but presume they will connect via your phone's SIM and so use your phone's data allowance rather than the car's?

I can't see Skoda allowing unlimited access to data via the WiFi hotspot function without charging you for it via a licence, unless it is accessing your phone and using its data allowance. That is certainly true for the Web Radio by the way - I struggled for months with that before discovering I needed to buy an additional licence or use my phone as the data source!
I have unlimited data on my phone and assumed that was being used from the moment I paired it to the car.
So now I'm not sure if that is being used for all data. Also assumed that the mySkoda hotspot was using my phone data.
Not sure what will happen when I'm not in the car with my phone or find myself in poor phone signal area.

When I say hotspot, I am thinking more about using phone data rather than Skoda sim plan. I don't imagine that would be as good a deal.

If I have this straight, The car has a built in hotspot which can connect up to 8 devices, but that hotspot needs to connect to a separate source/hotspot for internet.
That separate internet source is either esim data plan, or a hotspot shared on my phone.. ?

My phone got connected to this car hotspot when I paired it to the car but probably only the android-auto is able to use that data, what data connection is the infotainment using?
I guess I have to try the online services with the phone in flight mode... I might have to draw a network diagram here :D
User avatar
CJJE
Posts: 450
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2020 6:39 pm
Location: Stone, Staffordshire

Post by CJJE »

Normally the car uses its pre-paid e-SIM connection even when you've paired your phone to the car, but you can change this by going to Menu / Settings / Data connection / . When I first got my car I could not get the Web Radio to download stations because that was not permitted within the Skoda dataplan (I would have needed to buy an additional dataplan from Cubic Telecom to do this). But instead I switched the car's data connection to use my phone instead and then it worked fine. (Having proved it worked I then switched back to the Skoda dataplan rather than use up my phone's data allowance!)

When your phone is paired with the car it lets you use it as a handless phone, and my understanding is that the Android Auto app in the car lets the phone offer up Google Map etc to the Infotainment screen but still uses the phone's data allowance to do it.

I don't use the WiFi hotspot feature so can't comment on that.

Chris
VW Golf GT 1.9TDI from 11/98 to 3/06; Skoda Octavia L&K 2.0TDI from 3/06 to 12/11; VW Golf Plus SE 1.6TDI DSG from 12/11 to 2/15; VW Golf SV SE 1.4TSI DSG from 2/15 to 11/20; Skoda Karoq Sportline 2.0TSI 4x4 DSG from 11/20.
karoqy
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2022 2:23 pm

Post by karoqy »

Sounds about right, I put the phone in flight mode and got in the car, the nav told me it had received a route ( i sent earlier on with connect app). So the esim provides limited data access and the various licences authorize the use of specific services.
When I use Android-Auto is asks me to confirm that I am allowing AA to use my phone data.
It's all starting to make sense :D
Post Reply

  • You may also be interested in...
    Replies
    Views
    Last post