Volvo Cars 4+

The car’s built in nav interface rarely finds the destinations I am searching for. Because of this, I greatly prefer using the phone interface to search and send destinations to my V90’s nav unit. After this update , the app thinks I am in France instead of the US and I can no longer find the destinations I am searching for. I realized that the reason the nav search is broken is that the app no longer knows where I am when I am in the car. It now has a message explaining that for safety reasons the location is hidden and app to vehicle communication is disabled when the vehicle is in use. UGH! This is very disruptive change to the app and takes away much of its usefulness to me. Suggestion for the next update: If you feel the need to continue with the “safety” argument and keep communication and location hidden during use (I would like to know where valet drivers are taking my car), please enable the app to use the phone’s location instead to search for, select and send destinations to the car Navi while the car is in use (please). When the car is not in use, use the vehicle’s location just like it did before. Clarification: The developers have done a great job with this app but the new policy change preventing the app from working when the car is in use is very disappointing.

UPDATE: Volvo responded to my concerns with 5.8.2. The latest version fixes my concerns! (Yay!)

this app can do so much! I was not expecting to be able to start my car without getting something installed by the manufacture. I was totally prepared to do that until the dealer informed me that all I would have to do is download the app and sign up for a membership. Actually the membership came free for the first couple years with this car! I was so pleasantly surprised. But even more pleasantly surprised by the functionality of that. I agree with Philip you about the things that the app should be doing like accessing the cameras when the car is off, however what it does do now is absolutely fabulous! I love that I can unlock the car and lock the car from wherever I am. I love that I can start the car! I love the pre-conditioning feature because in the summertime I’d rather do that then start the car. End it really does cool the car down versus turning it on and using the AC. I love the map feature and I love that I can switch cars between other members of my family. My mom always forgets to start her car before she leaves the house and now I can start her car and mine because were both in the same family and both have a Volvo! I could go on and on. The app is worth this high car payment, i feel like i am really getting my monies worth.😊

The app works flawlessly. Maybe it’s because I just downloaded it and it looks like the app is updated very frequently, but we use it on three phones to control two cars, and it’s problem-free. Sending commands does take about 30 seconds (lock/unlock, etc.), but given that it runs through a cell network and isn’t direct to the car it makes sense. It’d be nice if the phone could communicate directly with the car to speed this up if it’s nearby! Charging/plug-in-related alerts are awesome, as is seeing how much gas is left in the car.

Please consider adding a few features - roll up/down windows, close sun shade, and turn off anything activated in-app (flashing lights, lights & horn, etc.) - this would all improve the experience somewhat. Overall a super solid app, though. At $200/year for this + auto 911 calling for accidents + stolen vehicle tracking, it’s a fair deal.