I just bought an iPhone SE and would like to use it for voice navigation in my 2013 Honda Fit. The phone struggles to be loud enough to be heard at highway speeds, so I wanted to pipe the voice instructions through the car audio system. At the moment, I'm hesitant to use Bluetooth (BT), which I've never used before, because of the security concerns that I've read about. But I'm wondering, if I only activate BT on the iPhone when driving, does that reduce the risk? Any way of describing how much the risk is reduced? My plan was to leave BT enabled on the car (assuming that I can do that) and selectively enable BT on the phone when driving. Does the fact that it is left enabled on the car introduce zero additional risk due to the fact that the car is typically turned off when not in use?

Now assume that I go with my current plan, which is to find the best way to make it work without BT. If I connect to the phone's Lightning port to the car's USB port (which I've read about in the manual thus far), does that connection allow me to pipe the voice instructions into the car audio?

As an alternative, I read that you can pipe the voice commands through the audio jack. Would the car be smart enough to mute out any prevailing music (e.g., from the radio) during voice instructions?

Finally, do any of the answers change if I were to use a non-native navigation map, like Google Maps (or any of the handful that are lauded onine)?

Thanks.

 

Oops. Scratch the bit about USB. Mine's is only the 2013 LX, which doesn't have it.

 

BT pairs with a code so you should be safe. i mean i use BT on a daily basis on a lot of my gear and it is very convenient.

best way would be to install a new HU (pioneer AVH/NEX) with BT compatibility, second best would be a BT speaker phone... but remember, if you want voice recognition, you'll need a good mic with noise cancellation if your cabin is so loud that you cant even hear your iphone... lol

i use the iphone's speakers while in my rentals for nav and ive never encountered this.

 

Hi, Ken,

I was wondering, are you familiar with the vulnerabilities of BT? Many people don't worry about them, and I'm not an IT security expert. I just read all about these vulnerabilities, and was wondering how much they are mitigated by the specific circumstance of pairing between car and phone, if one only enables BT on the phone only for pairing with the car.

You said that you never had a problem with the volume, and referred to the mic. The 2013 Fit actually has a lot of engine noise when accelerating, and much highway road noise, and the iPhone SE is one of the smallest iPhones today. Those factors contribute to the problem. Regarding the mic, I was referring not to my voice commands to the navigation, but rather, to the audio instructions from the navigation app. So at least for now, I'm not worried about the mic picking up my voice in the noisy environment of the car.

 

I am also not an IT security expert, but I don't know of any security issues with pairing the iPhone to a BT unit for the purposes of transmitting audio, including nav audio.

I use my iPhone SE plugged into my 2012 Fit Sport's USB connector all the time, including for Apple Maps turn-by-turn nav. Another alternative might be to use the AUX port and get a regular AUX cable to plug your phone into the stock HU. I have done that in the past when my battery needed quick charging, because that frees up the Lightning port for plugging into a quick 12V port charger.

Hope this is helpful.

 

Unfortunately, the 2013 LX doesn't have a USB port.

Regarding the BT security, I was hoping that someone who is familiar with the security issues might be able to comment on the relative risk in the usage scenarios that I described.

Having spent today test driving with the iPhone SE, however, I'm finding that the volume isn't quite so bad, so long as I have the windows closed. I might be able to get away without connecting to the car at all. And I always have the option of using the standard audio jack. I appreciate your confirmation that it works, based on your experience.

Nos all I need is a phone holder. Bit more googling to day.