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Toyota infotainment woes grow.
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By John Goreham Sep 18 2018 - 11:26am

Toyota's Infotainment Woes Mount - Drops Pandora Integration Along With Other Popular Apps

Toyota has been struggling to keep up in the ever-changing infotainment landscape. A new development should be concerning to anyone who enjoys Pandora.
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Toyota owners have been notified by Toyota that, as of November, their Entune infotainment system will stop supporting Pandora. What that means is the app will no longer integrate directly. Functions such as the thumbs up and thumbs down and the station listing will no longer be part of the on-screen menus.

Pandora is neck an neck with Spotify as the most popular online music provider in America. The app has over 73 million active monthly listeners and about 2.5 million active sessions on average according to Statista. Amazingly, 23% of the population of the United States reports using Pandora in the past week. To say that Pandora is one of the most popular in-vehicle apps in America is a huge understatement.

This is not Toyota's stumble with regards to infotainment. The company has only just started to roll out Apple CarPlay on select 2019 models, and Android Auto is not available on any. That excludes the fully 43% of users who own and use Android devices.

entune ratings

Entune, Toyota's native app that organizes the third-party apps in an owners Toyota has a terrible 1.4 stars rating on the Google Play Store and about a thousand reviews. In many Toyotas, Entune works with Scout Navigation. Scout GPS Link has a 2 out of 5 rating with just a couple thousand reviews. By contrast, Pandora has 4.5 rating and about three million reviews. Android Auto has a rating of 4 and about 300,000 reviews.

Any vehicle with a USB interface or Bluetooth can connect to Pandora and simply stream the music from your smart device. However, as Pandora users all know, the beauty of Pandora is the ability of the user to switch channels and modify their playlist on the go. Starting in November some Toyota owners will lose that ability, which came with the car they purchased.

Torque News reached out to Toyota for confirmation of the letter above and received it. We also asked for any updates on Android Auto. A spokesperson for Toyota Told Torque News, "We do understand there is demand for Android Auto and have not forgotten our Android customers. We have taken steps to support them, including enhancing Entune 3.0 to allow third-party app developers, like Glympse, to become directly compatible."

Image Note: Top of page image of Toyota letter courtesy of Eric Roper, Facebook Tacoma World member.

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Comments

Greg wrote on September 19, 2018 - 7:56am
What kills me is that when I got the email from Toyota/Entune, I thought it was going to be good news like they were adding apps or upgrading Entune or something..... In this case they are removing apps with no replacements of any kind. Not surprising I guess, Toyota just doesn't care. To be honest I have abandoned the whole system anyway. I just use the Bluetooth function and have android auto running on my phone. Everything just works better coming from the phone.
rac wrote on September 19, 2018 - 12:11pm
entune is the worst. totally useless. makes me rethink reuppping the lease ones it's up. get with it toyota!
Jerry Mollner wrote on September 20, 2018 - 12:50am
Toyota’s Entune app is useless. The only app I’ve used on it is Pandora so now that will be taken away. Also, Toyota’s voice recognition for both navigation and making phone calls is terrible. I have a friend with the same problem. We do not have accents and have done the voice training multiple times. Had I known the infotainment was this bad, I would not have purchased my 2017 Avalon.
H R Roberts wrote on September 20, 2018 - 12:30pm
Cant believe Toyota is getting rid of Pandora in their app suite - its the only useful app as far as I am concerned. I have been a loyal Toyota RAV4 owner for my past 4 vehicles. I will have to reconsider purchasing a Toyota in the future. It was bad enough that Entune works 1 out of 3 times its launched, I have to reboot my phone every time I get into my vehicle for it to work properly - I even got used to dealing with that stupidity but now, the 1 App I use wont be available? Have to say that I also own a Mazda and using Pandora in that car is seamless. In 3 or 4 years, a new Mazda sounds about right. (I have no cd player and never uses the radio so Pandora as all I have in the car for music.)
NP wrote on September 20, 2018 - 3:36pm
Toyota is taking a step backwards in safety. Entune allowed users to use Pandora and change music hands free. Now, the user will need to control the phone to change Pandora music. With new hands free laws being rolled out, this is a major step backwards.
Craig wrote on September 29, 2018 - 8:25am
Agreed, In Texas we have handsfree law. Now I’m being forced to use my phone to change songs if I want to listen to my music. I guess if I get in a wreck due to this, Toyota will be held responsible for the downgrade in the audio system that forces us all to use our phone. They charged me to upgrade to the premium audio system in my truck. The way I see it, they owe me a refund.... then I can use that to get a new head unit.
Valerie Hall wrote on October 2, 2018 - 3:53pm
Unbelievable! The only app on that is worth having and they are doing away with it! Update is normally to make the app better or to add features not to make the app worse and take features away...way to go Toyota! Not a good look! Bring back Pandora!
Jennifer wrote on October 3, 2018 - 4:19pm
I wonder if this is why the app hasn't worked well the last few months. I've done every update I can think of to my phone, deleting and reinstalling software - everything!- and 85% of the time I get some sort of error message from the Pandora app. ONLY the Pandora app. I'm conflicted about the fact that it will just be gone now, but it hasn't worked for me and has been very frustrating the last few months - especially on longer rides.
Keith N Gillis wrote on October 4, 2018 - 1:50pm
My guess, too many folks using Pandora and not buying XM...
Tony wrote on October 4, 2018 - 10:25pm
Sirius-XM just bought Pandora...if you can’t beat ‘em, buy ‘em! May be the beginning of the end of the free Pandora services we all love...
Shana wrote on October 18, 2018 - 10:49am
I cannot believe the only useful thing [Pandora] on this horrible informant system is going away....Tech should improve over time not go downhill. l thought Toyota would have more pride. Don't they realize unsatisfied buyers equates to people abandoning their brand. Not smart business at all.