I've been struggling to get my MY19 F connected to-- well, something-- so that I can use the Remote phone app. I'm a couple of days into this now, and even after an hour long phone call with Jag, I'm no more clued into how the system should work than I was when I started, nor do I have a functioning Remote app. Sure, I'm not the most tech savvy guy, but does anyone understand the bewildering, chaotic jumble of nomenclature and multiple websites? I'd love a primer if anyone can explain it.

Really, I don't understand what InControl even is. It seems to be the umbrella under which all the connected services operate, except that navigation is excepted, existing under an entity called Here.com. Or, since I can't confirm through function since nothing works, it could be that some navigation is handled through InControl and that Here just handles route planning. Whatever the case there, I can see there is a separate app for Jaguar Route planning from the Remote app, so let's just keep that aside for now.

If I go to Jaguar.com and go Owners>Infotainment & Connectivity>Subscriptions (because I did pay for 2yrs Remote & Protect on some online portal while working on the phone with a service rep; I have the email receipt!) and scroll down to InControl website and click "Find out more" it opens a new website InControl.LandRover.com! What??

It's emblematic of the cluster**** this whole system is, and I could elaborate more examples, but I'll spare you the insanity and just reiterate my plea for some guidance in getting my head around what is supposed to be happening here! I'ma call Jag here again right now...

Ugh. I can't help but think a remote start key fob would have saved Jag a lot of money and headache. It would have saved me some, that's for sure. I mean, I have CarPlay so I'm not even inclined to use the onboard navigation or any of the other stuff, but if I'm paying for some kind of connected services, I'd like to at least know what they are and how they might be used. Cripes.

 

When you park the car in the driveway and go inside do you turn around and take a last look at how beautiful it is?
Everything else is secondary.

 

I feel your pain not being able to connect your F with the Remote and protect app. I also understand your confusion, as I had to figure out that the Nav system and its update process isn't the same as the R & P. They are two different entities. InControl is the umbrella title for the nav, the Remote app and some useless other apps available on Playstore.

You have a 2019 and I have a 2017 (but my tech tells me it has components of a 2016 due to its build date). I wanted to be able to update the nav in my car. It seemed simple enough. Go to some HERE site (I think they bought the nav tech), put in your VIN, download the map updater, pay your update money, download the update and install. The problem I had was that the HERE site told me I wasn't entering the correct VIN. The instructions also referenced downloading the NAV update to an SD card, for which my car has NO provision. I called and talked to a JLR person (among many other hours scouring the internet) and he INSISTED that I had to do the download to an SD card.
I was also working with my JLR tech. He had a car that he could try the procedure on. What he discovered for the NAV, was that if I entered my car as a 2016, that a USB update was available for $150, but he couldn't guarantee that the update would work. He did offer to pay for it if it didn't. The kicker to that was that the UPDATE was already 5 years old (last done in 2020 and no more planned) and by this time we were in 2025. Since I would only be getting 3 years newer info (2017-2020) and there's not much road change around here (central Wisconsin) I opted to forget about it. I still use my nav and it has not steered me to any useless destination.

As for the Remote and Protect app. I started that subscription in 2024. I was able to enter my VIN to add the car. I was able to track the car, lock/unlock doors, see journeys, etc. I have a manual, so remote start was not available. Note that 2G/3G network shutdowns were happening WAAY before this. Recently I did find info that Jaguar said they were going to continue the 3g ONLY for these safety-related features of Remote and Protect. My Remote and Protect worked fine the rest of 2024, all of 2025, until mid December, 2025. I made an 8 mile trip, parked the car, came back, started the car and came home. Washed the car, covered it essentially for 'winter' storage. I frequently check on the car wherever I am via the app, just for info. I was surprised, then, the next time I opened the app, to see that it had the car at that last location 8 miles away, parked, and 'driving', which locks out accessing ANY of the safety features. The app also said the car was 'asleep', which is what the Telematics unit does to itself, when the car hasn't been driven. The app says to 'drive the car' to restart R & P. The shortened story is NOTHING I did, reboots, restarts, etc. did ANYTHING to reconnect.

From what I understand, it's all in the TCU. There is a non-user-accessible SIM in it. I also had pre-emptively changed the battery in the TCU 4-5 months before connectivity ended (the OE battery was a 2015). Research I have done online for TCU issues is that an upgraded 4G/5G TCU is needed, at least for me.

I have NOT removed my car from the app, because I am fairly certain that R & P will not be able to add it back in. I am waiting for a break in the weather to take the car to my dealer and see if there are any current codes that my tech can find that may provide more information.

By chance, I found this site, it may be an option. I contacted them earlier in the week, with no response as yet, so maybe yet again , another dark rabbit hole.

https://sx-tool.com/en/what-is-jlr-tcu/

1. It's possible your 2019 TCU is shot, and your 5 year warranty is done, unless you bought an extended.
2. It's possible your "2019" TCU is really a TCU from some earlier year, and is affected by the G networks shutdown.

These are just WAGs.

3. You do have to go through the connection steps out in the open, not in a garage since a clear path to the satellites is needed.

Hope this makes sense, maybe helps. I would sure like to get that connectivity back, as I live in a rural area and vehicle tracking might save a life.

 

^^^ Stories like this are the reason I updated to the CarPlay/AA update. Google maps are always updated (so far).

I still have a Garmin GPS that is entitled to free HERE map updates (HERE is the company that provides the maps), They are the source for Garmin and other GPS companies.

It is easy to create wandering driving routes on that device, and I still use it to provide Scenic Drives and Spirited Drives for the car clubs I work with.

 

I have the same system as yours in mine and can't really help because it was too long ago that I set all my stuff up but I can confirm that it's all pretty confusing. I think the main steps were to set up an account through their website, get the mobile app and log in from the mobile app and from the car system. Some features also require putting your own SIM in the car and in my case the dealer had to do something to get my SIM working.

The main upsides of the InControl subscription are being able to locate and monitor the car remotely, some basic remote control stuff like locking/unlocking it remotely, and getting your trips logged in the incontrol app.

One thing for sure is that HERE is a separate (Dutch I think) company that provides the navigation software and data. I think you need to register with them to get the route planner app and everything in the onboard navigation to work. If you buy a map subscription you get (or at least used to get) map updates and live traffic data but but it's basically worthless. Their prices are ridiculous and their live data is clearly worse than what you get through Google Maps, Waze and Apple maps so I wonder why anyone would pay them in this age of CarPlay/Android Auto.

I run CarPlay 99% of the time in the car and only have my built in navigation as a backup solution and sometimes use it to browse maps because the interface is much quicker and smoother than anything through CarPlay. One nice little feature is that you get live google mape style satellite views through the system if you install a SIM with a data plan in the car, and you don't need any paid HERE subscription for that to work, but that's all pretty pointless when you have CarPlay.

 

I have an 2018 with the 8" touch screen. The issue I had was the unit was set up for 3G not 4G, the dealership remedy that issue. In the upper right hand corner of the screen you should see a 4G, if not that may be your issue. I also had to call JLR North America in New Jersey.The woman who helped me was spectacular, she had me connected in 15 minutes after the upgrade to 4G. This was years ago, so I can't remember what the issue was exactly, obviously operator error. Call JLR back, hopefully you will get a person that can walk you through it.
There are threads on here about connecting to the incontrol app. I went down that rabbit hole, none of it worked for me due to the 3G to 4G issue. Also I thought that this was all worked out by 2019, but I could be wrong since 3G ended in 2022

 

Thanks, folks. I called Jag support again and they pushed the info update, getting Remote & Protect working, so I’m all good on that count.

My main complaint was just about how confusing the “connected” stuff is with this car. I mean, I have three different login profiles for associated websites! And I’m not sure why; okay, Here I kinda get, but Incontrol.jaguar.com vs jaguarlandrover.com?

And the thing no one talks about: Pro Services. WTF is that? I know it “adds a suite of connectivity features like Live and in-car hotspot,” none of which work without a data plan. But why is it an expiring service, and is it like theother InControl services, something you have to pay for? In any case, is it a service when it doesn’t do anything? Why is it separate from the data service or not just part of the standard car features? It’s like saying you have the speedometer service but it doesn’t work unless you have the optional wiring package. Seems freaking crazy to me.

I’m ranting, though, since as someone else mentioned, having CarPlay is better than any of the Jag-native stuff and I have the Remote app, so really I should just shut up and drive!

 

All told I find the InControl feature fairly useless and Jaguar GPS the same.
I do wish Jaguar had provided the remote start feature on the key FOB like every other auto maker I'm aware of.

 

Me too. It was a peculiar decision, I think, and Remote app did not preclude fob start from a tech perspective, so why they went app only is mysterious.

 

All this connected stuff was more relevant when it was new back in 2018 or so, before CarPlay was so common and when Jaguar were still investing in the in car software. There were more features back then like apps that you could install on your phone which were mirrored in the car, and there was some kind of integration with GoPro so you got speed etc overlayed if you recorded track driving. There also used to be more info shown through the Live feature like detailed weather data and other stuff. Another thing was music streaming from Spotify, Tidal etc straight to the car via the Live service. I used that for some time but don't know if it still works.

I think their thinking was InControl for basic remote access stuff for the car, Live for additional internet data and streaming stuff (requiring an own data SIM) and Here for navigation data. Still confusing and the setup process with all the accounts was always a total mess.

As said a lot of these features have been discontinued and anyways became pretty irrelevant due to CarPlay/Android Auto.

 

No mystery at all. When it's on your fob, there is no revenue stream. When it's on an app, you have to pay to use it. Almost all the luxury automakers are switching (or have switched) to this model because it provides a certain amount of recurring revenue that shareholders love to see. The lower tier automakers provide it on the fob because their customers won't pay for the recurring services. It's a marketing exercise.

 

Good point, and totally possible. However, the assumption there is that buyers only care about fob remote start while the app is more than just a remote start fob replacement; it offers better remote starting and a whole suite of additional features well beyond what the fob can do. It’s not immediately obvious to me that app service for $100/year would have been an easy pass if the car had fob remote start, particularly to buyers plopping down $90-$100k. Also Ford offer both app and remote, so apparently some downmarket buyers do pay, and I’m one of ‘em, for our ‘24 Ranger. That I’m also paying Jag remote app service on a 7 year old F that cost me $15k less than the Ford truck also raises questions about your basic premise, although for sure I’m not representative of the market in general.

 

That’s a great point about pre-CarPlay days! Jag tried to build their own ecosystem, but simply couldn’t compete with what they didn’t see coming.

And thanks for the explanation of the Jag system is built; I was coming at it from the current perspective, without any experience of connected car features from 10 years ago or so, so I was especially confused.

 

The benefit of the app is that the range of the in-car SIM is a wee bit further than that of the fob.