OTA Updates?

[tem]

Has anyone got any idea how many steps/stages there are for an OTA Update from the Server, to downloading/installing in the car?
With some of the problems that some have experienced, I wonder if it is possible for corruption to be picked up along the way?

To date, I have been reluctant to update the maps OTA and wait until I can download to a stick, via a desktop. At the end of the download, it is verified.

But if the apps will not work because of a pending update, then how are we to know what we have installed?

Maybe I am being over cautious, due to lack of knowledge.

tem.

[njpollard]

It's very unlikely that any software problems would be caused by corruption during OTA updates. That's not to say that in fixing one problem, the software developers won't have introduced others, though.

[Quacker]

Around here the mobile signal is faster and more reliable than the land line

[tem]

Maybe it is just me.
I just like to know what is being download and installed.

tem.

[familymangreg]

Originally Posted by tem

Maybe it is just me.
I just like to know what is being download and installed.

tem.

Its a bit of a black box really, your car communicates with the 'Volvo Cloud' and we have no idea of how complex or robust it is. I've seen so so many issues over the last year with app updates, spotify streaming, VoC connectivity from the car and indeed the very flaky Volvo Owners area of the website, that I have little faith in how robust the systems are.

Having said that, I have done 2 map updates OTA and not had an issue with either of them. The more frustrating OTA issue is when you fire up an app and it won't let you use it until you have installed an update: This forcing you to install the update right away, while driving, is a very poor implementation. What's more, you usually have to have a full restart before the app will work after the install too, so I've set off on a several hundred mile journey, looking forwards to using Spotify, only to be forced into an update which then renders the app useless until my journey is complete.

The effort to bring a cutting edge interface and apps to the market is commendable, but Volvo's ability to deliver is well below standard.

:wq

[Lexman8]

^ +1

After installing the latest version of Spotify yesterday (which meant I couldn't use it for ~30 mins) both last night and this morning it was constantly buffering.

Is it the new version that's causing it, the Three network being busy, the crap 3G modem in the car, Volvo's servers or what? Who knows. There isn't much point in going to the dealer with this type of issue because there are just too many variables for them to cope with, even if the guys there were fully IT literate. And don't get me started on the length of time it takes for Spotify to actually start playing. Wtf is it doing?

I doubt if things are going to get much better now that Volvo have committed to Android as their car OS as that's where the focus will be from now on.

Rant over.

[njpollard]

Not being able to use an app until it's been updated is very poor.

The problem is that creating and maintaining quality software is hard, and car manufacturers have little experience in that area.

My biggest worry is that older cars stop being supported, so (for example) Spotify might stop working in 3 years because Volvo don't want to maintain the app on older platforms.

This is already starting to happen with my 2-year-old Samsung Smart TV. I'm finding the list of apps that work is reducing all the time, presumably because they're concentrating their efforts on their latest models. If Volvo switch to Android, I think we can forget about them maintaining the 'old' Sensus apps.

[familymangreg]

Originally Posted by njpollard

Not being able to use an app until it's been updated is very poor.

The problem is that creating and maintaining quality software is hard, and car manufacturers have little experience in that area.

My biggest worry is that older cars stop being supported, so (for example) Spotify might stop working in 3 years because Volvo don't want to maintain the app on older platforms.

This is already starting to happen with my 2-year-old Samsung Smart TV. I'm finding the list of apps that work is reducing all the time, presumably because they're concentrating their efforts on their latest models.

Yep, have a nice little Sony TV in the bedroom which is working absolutely fine and I would hope to have no need to change for many years to come, but Sony have just dropped BBC iPlayer support for the model. I certainly won't be swapping the TV, will just pop a spare Roku or similar box I have underneath it (which has a superior interface to Sony anyway!).

Worrying how many smart tv's with nothing intrinsically wrong with them we'll be seeing at the tip over the next few years! And the same goes for cars... I've often thought about getting an older low millage car (RS6, 760li etc), but would be frustrated by old tech.

Maybe Android is the way to go for Volvo, at least someone else will be keeping the technology going longer.

:wq

[Milliner]

I agree that it's a shame there is no log of updates and the bug fixes/features listed after apps have updated. I believe that's only displayed before the update is installed. I'd like to see the option to update in the early ours (a little bit like the Apple updates) too.

I recently got the Spotify update and found it unresponsive afterwards. I was sat in temporary traffic light queue, so switched off and opened/closed the door a fraction to restart the system. Neither an elegant, nor safe solution....

Interestingly I spoke to a Tech giving me lift back to my office after dropping my car in. He asked if I liked my XC90 and sounded a little relieved when I said yes. I asked him to elaborate and he said they'd had loads of complaints about them, mainly to do with the technology and controls.

He said it was nearly all from the older customers (his words - not mine!), most of whom wished they not traded their original XC90 in.

Maybe this will shape future software direction and design?

[familymangreg]

Originally Posted by Lexman8

^ +1

After installing the latest version of Spotify yesterday (which meant I couldn't use it for ~30 mins) both last night and this morning it was constantly buffering.

Is it the new version that's causing it, the Three network being busy, the crap 3G modem in the car, Volvo's servers or what? Who knows. There isn't much point in going to the dealer with this type of issue because there are just too many variables for them to cope with, even if the guys there were fully IT literate. And don't get me started on the length of time it takes for Spotify to actually start playing. Wtf is it doing?

I doubt if things are going to get much better now that Volvo have committed to Android as their car OS as that's where the focus will be from now on.

Rant over.

Yep, I've always had this issue with Spotify in the car, playback buffers far too much.

What I can't understand is that when the car is using my phones 4G connection via Wifi or Bluetooth, then why does Spotify perform so much more poorly than the Spotify app on the phone. I.e. I can pretty much always play instantly on my phone app (bluetooth streaming to the car), with very rare buffering or breaks in sound. But then if I immediately switch to playing via the car app, it buffers a lot lot more frequently, the difference is night and day. Spotify on my phone is also set to stream in highest quality. I can be up in the North York moors and Spotify rarely buffers on my phone, but then the car app can buffer in the middle of York where 4G coverage is fantastic.

My only guess is that Spotify in the car only buffers the track a few seconds ahead of the current play position, whereas the phone buffers a lot more, getting hold of a lot more of the track upfront and is thus a lot less susceptible to momentary slow down in data. In fact, I don't know if this is correct, but I once read that the Spotify phone app downloads the full track as quickly as possible, so if you're on 4G, you could have the whole song within a couple of seconds of it starting.

My other theory is that Volvo might be proxying all data downloaded to the car via their own servers. So data from Spotify isn't coming direct from the Spotify content delivery network, but rather via Volvo servers, which would also create a huge bottleneck when their servers get busy, less likely, but not entirely impossible.

:wq