Apple Car Play & 296

Its a common complaint of the new set up.

When the CarPlay screen is active you can wake the controls and then press and hold the home button for a few seconds, it will flip you back to the main/ tachometer/ screen.

When the main tachometer screen is active, you can wake the controls and I forget now, but you navigate to CarPlay and that will let you gain access to the CarPlay screen.

I just leave it on the tachometer screen and if a text comes in I just wake and then press and hold the voice button on the steering wheel (press and hold gets you Siri) and then I ask it to read my messages, and it will read them while leaving the tachometer screen (I think, again going from memory). I just let waze run in the background so while I dont see it on the screen if there is something to note, it will alert me via audio….

It seems to me they tried to make an interface for a modern car without a central screen, but, clearly, its needed, just look at 12 Cilindri, its a shame they took this long to get there.

 

After you set it up a long push of the home button should revert the screen to tacho etc. You will need to re enter Apple car play each time you wish to change your Spotify

 

As others have noted, you can switch between the tach screen and carplay apps while letting Waze run with alerts in the background but I find that a bit cumbersome. I prefer to mount the phone to the windshield via RAM mount suction cup, use Waze on the phone so I can see the map and then only connect via bluetooth for the audio features. Its far easier to switch songs via Spotify that way than to fumble between apps on the haptic touch controls.

The only problem - sometimes bluetooth fails and stays grayed out as a source option under the 296 audio sources. Then I have to suck it up and use carplay via the cable and I'm back to the fumbling. Hopefully there's a software fix that eventually makes bluetooth more reliable.

And sadly I prefer the solution for my 2018 Q7. A center mounted screen that rises up off the dash and can be sent away with the touch of a button. Far more elegant than a single screen competing for both driving and infotainment information.

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This is worth a watch/read...

https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/auto/smart-guide-296-gtb/296-gtb-steering-wheel

 

Thanks for sharing. Personally I love driving the 296 and find it is such an engaging driving machine that I can tolerate the interface shortcomings. While I don't find the wheel a deal breaker at all, I do think that the entire haptic button control is at odds with the Ferrari statement "Eyes on the road, hands on the wheel". Example, if you use the haptic e-manettino control to select from Performance to Qualifying mode there's no way to be sure it took effect without looking down at the screen and the wheel. Whereas with the ordinary manettino rotary switch, there's absolutely no need to look down at all - fingertip feel and memory is all that is required.

I expect to never get my way, but if I could pay extra to get my desires filled I'd have zero haptic touch controls on the wheel - only physical switches and buttons. Put the infotainment controls / non-critical car settings down near the shifter on the center console and those can be haptic touch if need be.

 

Similar sentiments as no clue who the engineers/drivers were who designed the absolutely pathetic haptic interface. It’s the most distracting and slow tech I have ever used and it makes my Range Rover tech feel modern.

i daily drive a 22 M3 and the iDrive interface as so good puts the Ferrari to shame.

that said I love the car and outside of changing music I set it and forget it before I start to drive. Just enjoy the car - unplug from texts and everything else works. Bluetooth for calls is easy and streaming.

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