Hey all,

I just wanted to give a quick report on the InControl Apps for my 2016 since I hadn't had a chance to play with them until now.

The Music App is a huge step forward from the regular in-car audio interface. It's like night and day in terms of sophistication. The App allows scrolling with your finger like on the iPhone's touchscreen which is a lot easier to navigate than the arrows on the regular system display. Also, you get full album art and a much slicker interface with two view options (large art or half art / half track list).

It seems to play only off bluetooth which seems odd since it's plugged in and could (should?) use the lightning cable. No big deal since audio fidelity seems solid after a quick listen.







The Calendar App seems somewhat useful. It loaded up and displayed my work calendar from my iPhone with no problem. Not especially pretty, but sufficient. I guess it could be useful since my phone is stuck in the console, but I don't normally check my calendar while in the car.

The Contacts app is somewhat barebones, but it also allows touch scrolling and also shows your contacts pictures. Again, nothing special overall but a slight notch above the usual phone interface I suppose.

I haven't really given the other apps like Rdio, Stitcher, etc. a go yet, but I'm not terribly excited about them, either. I also haven't tried the Sygic GPS App since I still don't think it's worth $80 plus $30 a year for traffic.

I really can't wait for the JustDrive app!

 

By the way, sorry if this might be old news! Just thought I'd add my two cents.

 

My Biggest disappointment with the contacts app was that it in no way integrates with any other part of the car. I can't click a contract and have it bring up the gps. Super disappointing. The rest have just been kind of " meh". Not really something I care about. Siri is more valuable most of the time.

 

Not shure if I want to have a car that interfaces / is intergrated via Apps....:


Hackers Remotely Kill a Jeep on the Highway?With Me in It | WIRED

 

+1

 

I'm not worried about hacking...someone has to care enough about me to do it, and have the expertise ....very unlikely....

 

True, for now, but the threat will, no doubt, grow. Both stolen passwords and credit card data used to be exceedingly rare.

In the case discussed above, the hackers had access to FCA's UConnect system, which lists the names of subscribers. That would make it rather easy to target anyone who gets on someone's radar screen.

 

The reason this can happen is because the developers of the Uconnect software and the car manufacturers were not thinking about security when they designed their software to hardware interface. Those systems are pretty much unsecured. Right now, if a car has its own cellular connection, all a hacker needs to know is the IP address of the car and some details about the software it runs (uconnect for example) and they can remotely access the car's infotainment software. Once there they can gives themselves access to any connected hardware systems via the system command bus.

The above doesn't mean we should develop less sophisticated interfaces between our devices or limit the amount of remote access capabilities. It just means that software and hardware developers need to employ best practices relating to security in everything they do now just like the rest of the world has to do with internet facing applications development. Until now, this hasn't been a priority (or even a concern I suspect), but the visibility of this demonstration by these researchers is changing that.

 

Actually, all they did was scan random IP addresses in the Sprint network (as that is what uconnect uses) and probe them for the open port associated with Uconnect. Using this method they were able to locate cars at random, and if they had a better connection they could have found every vehicle on the network. They didn't have access to the subscriber list directly. Once they located a vehicle, they could pull up its VIN# and any subscriber information that was stored in the vehicle systems.

 

I totally agree that as cars become more and more connected with our mobile devices that security is going to become a major issue. Luckily, the InControl Apps themselves require a wired connection to your phone via USB and your phone acts a a bridge to the system using the phone's data connection and not the car's.

However, I definitely think that security is a concern for MY 2016+ with the InControl Remote function since it's connected directly (via satellite, I think?) and allows remote start/stop, climate control, locking, datalogging, etc. I really like the function since it's amazingly useful, but yeah--I hope Jaguar is thinking ahead about hacking!

Back on Topic: Rdio is kinda crappy in that they require an "unlimited plan" to allow you to use music streaming in the car. That's like $15 / month.

 

Thanks for the write-up and photos. First time I've actually seen what it looks like. I'm a big Stitcher App user on my smartphone for podcasts, would be handy. Luckily at least we have the BT connectivity so I can still stream it.

 

Stitcher seems pretty good overall. Here's a picture of the app running:



For anyone wondering, here's a pic of Rdio running. I used their 48 hr trial to check it out. I find their interface to be pretty barebones.

 

All true, but I'm not feeling very good these days about anyone's internet security measures. It seems that hackers are finding it all too easy to get past whatever the so-called "best and brightest IT security experts" put in place.

 

I could go into this subject all day. But in many cases this is due to a general lack of understanding of good security practices. Far too often people depend on the firewall to protect them and don't think to build security into the application and protocols themselves. Smart security includes a multi-layer approach and each part of the whole has to assume the rest is insecure to really be effective.

I'm sure the car manufacturers haven't spent much (or any) time or money on security since they tend to focus on solving the problem they know instead of the problem they don't. I'm also pretty sure that they're all now scrambling to hire security experts.

 

I work for a major telecommunications company, and I know that at least some car manufacturers are partnering with technology companies to build and integrate some of these new features.

 

Looks like Fiat Chrysler just released a statement indicating a 1.4 million car recall in the U.S. to patch the software of their vehicles to "insulate connected vehicles from remote manipulation."

Though it is amusing that at the bottom of the statement, they say "no defect has been found. FCA US is conducting this campaign out of an abundance of caution."

 

Thanks. I own the Trailhawk version of the very Jeep they hacked with the same top-of-the-line infotainment system, with all kind of apps, and and wi-fi hotspot.

It works extremely well and put's even the '16 JLR updated system to to shame. Hearing this news, my dilemma will be, do I take it in and risk having the "patch" screw everything up?

 

Hi guys,

I am doing research in connected car technologies. At the moment I am interested in hearing about the owners of Jaguar and Land Rover experience in using the latest connected car technologies and services, with the focus on InControl Apps. Bellow you can find the link to my 1 minute survey with only 3 multiple choice questions, which is completely anonymous. I would appreciate if you could help me in my research by forwarding this email to any owner of Jaguar or Land Rover that might be interested to help.

Please find the link for the survey here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FZQNDLF .

Many thanks and in case you need any additional info please don't hesitate to ask.

 

Done! Not sure who you are, but if you're from JLR please either get JustDrive out and introduce the option for Carplay/ Android Auto. Incontol will never be as good a system and support as much as Apple and Google can churn out.

Carplay in particular would would great on the touchscreen in the F Type