Carplay for Kia Sportage 2017

Ruth,

I am a salesperson for my local KIA dealer. The Apple Carplay is now available. You need to log in to your myuvo.com account and click on support at the top for the instructions on how to add this feature to your vehicle. it loks as simple as downloading it to a thumb drive, inserting it in your USB port and following the instructions.

Hi Ruth,

I also called Kia's customer service and got the may 1st (today) date for a release...but through the Kia map update website, which is www.mapnsoft.com. According to the customer service rep, we should download the update from the website, onto a USB drive, and then plug that into the Sportage.

i just went onto the website and found nothing for the 2017 Sportage, though :/ Let's wait

That's a deal Ruth. I just called Kia customer service again and they said they are looking into late June now. (supposedly they are waiting for Apple authorize it). And that we won't need to do anything, it will just show up on screen (because it is already installed, just not enabled) . I find this strange... So just to be sure, make sure that at least you have your car connected to your home or other wifi network, if that is available to you. (if you park your car close enough to a wifi network, for example)

I am considering buying the 2017 Sportage SX and won't do so unless I can guarantee that Apply CarPlay will be available. I have had numerous conversations with both Kia and my local dealership. While everyone is telling me that it will be available, no one will "guarantee" that it will be available for the Sportages that are already on the lots. That said, the dealership told me today that their rep said July, and I called Kia who told me June. Kia said that it would come via a firmware update most likely. Also, the new brochures, the Kia website and national tv ads are showing Apple CarPlay for the Sportage so I guess it's true...just not certain when (and possibly if)?

Called Kia Canada 10 days ago and agent said they had no information about a release date. My salesman and dealership don't have a date (and to be honest I'm not sure they fully understand what I'm asking about). Asked three different Kia twitter accounts about release date and heard nothing back.

Saw a U.S. commercial that said in fine print that CarPlay would be available "mid-2016."

Wouldn't trust that it could be downloaded or updated at later time, so will wait until the Sportage I actually pick up at the dealership comes loaded with CarPlay.

For the fun of it I pressed the voice recognition button (not Siri) on my 1 week old 2017 Sportage. When prompted i said "carplay"

The response said "this command is not available in this mode"...it did NOT say "error" or "invalid command" or anything like that.

I thought that was interesting and am hopeful that carplay is already pre-loaded into the car.

I too am trying to find out how carplay will be activated for cars that have already been built.

UPDATE #2 FROM KIA.....

I just got off the phone again with Kia. The young man I spoke with said that he has fielded a lot of phone calls regarding Apple CarPlay recently and the 2017 Sportage. He was adamant that Apple CarPlay will be available for ALL Sportages, but not until June or July. He said what that means is that those cars being built and shipped on and after June or July, will automatically arrive with Apple CarPlay installed in the Sportage, the same way that Android Auto currently is.

I asked him about the current Sportages on the lots now that don't have it preinstalled, and he confirmed that it will be available for a FREE manual download from Kia's map site (MnSoft.com), downloadable to the SD card that comes with the Sportage. 🙂

I specifically asked, is this going to be a situation where Kia is very well intended in offering Apple CarPlay but for whatever reason Kia and Apple can't agree to terms, and then no Sportage gets the software? The young man replied, no, that will no happen.

Take the above info with a grain of salt, as I spoke with someone else from Kia just prior to speaking to this man (I got frustrated and made the second call), and he was of no help whatsoever. In fact he was surprised that I was calling asking about Apple CarPlay as he said that as far as he was aware all of the Sportages already had it installed. 😟 He offered a PO Box number so that I could write a letter to the President of KIA...I don't know now that would be helpful at this point?

Thanks for the info DeMe262. We'll just have to be patient. incubus23, an SD card is an external memory card, just like a jump drive... And no, no SD card came with the card. What they meant is that you'll have to download the update from www.mapnsoft.com, place it onto a jump drive, then stick into your car.

Honestly, I'm don't think they really know how it's actually going to work, not until the update is available. Then they'll be instructed on how to proceed. That's really what I think.. So we'll have to wait until June/July to find out :/ this does suck

UPDATE #3

Last night after speakign with Kia I stopped at the local dealership where the GM is a friend of mine. He had just received an update from his rep that reconfirmed what Kia told me yesterday....those Sportages that are being built now will arrive at the lots with Apple CarPlay already enabled on the vehicle(won't arrive on the lots until around July). Those cars that are on the lots now and don't have Apple CarPlay will be able to download the software to the vehicle.

With regard to a flash drive versus SD Card...I believe that Apple CarPlay is only available with the radio head unit that includes GPS mapping. This would be the 7 inch (larger of the two available radio head units). I believe that this is where the SD Card comes into play...the GPS uses the SD Card for the maps. I drove the SX last night but forgot to look where the SD Card lives...if I am correct then it is most likely hidden around/in that radio somewhere.

Hopefully this helps everyone...I feel fairly confident in my friend's facts. Good luck.

Good stuff DeMe262. Thanks for chasing this and keeping us updated. Regarding your comment about carplay only on the GPS head unit, i don't think that is true.

I have the EX model with the 7 inch screen WITHOUT the NAV...Android Auto is already installed and visible as an icon, so that tells me carplay can work without the NAV option.

Also, the brochure lists two options that have carplay, one is the 7" touch screen uvo eServices package W/OUT NAV (standard on the EX) and the other is the uvo package WITH 8" touch screen WITH NAV (standard on the SX).

Also, I have the LX model, no NAV, an Android Auto is running fine... So pretty sure the update will be made either through the USB port (no SD reader required) or through Wifi (that would be awesome).

Yes I stand corrected, the Apple CarPlay is available with the 7" or 8" radio head unit. I have a note in my brochure from when I spoke with Kia...the 2 things that are required on the vehicle in order to be able to have either Android or Apple....UVO3 adn AVN4 head unit. I believe that both the 7" and 8" meet both of these requirements.

The maps are updated via the SD card that controls the NAV unit. So it would seem that if you don't have a NAV unit then the update would be done by a USB thumb drive...not sure about the WiFi download? I know that a lot mfg's are trying push more firmware updates via a GPS signal and/or WiFi signal in lieu of having to head back to the dealership for the update. I think that this all depends upon the size of the file that they are attempting to push to the vehicle.

If I learn of anything else that is more concrete I will pass it along.

I think you mis-read it. if you have nav OR UVO3 you are OK.

Do you have a LX with upgraded UVO, an EX, or SX? Those are the 3 that are compatible;

The article says the 2017 Sportage is the ONLY KIA that has UVO3. So ANY model (with or without NAV) will be OK to receive the update

There were a bunch of articles that came out a few weeks ago. Says 3rd qtr (so Jul-Sep) Here is the CNET one...

http://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/apple-carplay-arrives-on-kia-vehicles-starting -with-sportage-optima/

Here are some quotes...

To start, Kia will roll out Apple CarPlay to two vehicles -- the 2017 Sportage crossover and the 2016 Optima sedan.So long as either vehicle possesses the right level of infotainment system (navigation is not required), owners will be able to plug in their iPhones and have access to several on-phone apps

Vehicles will come preloaded with CarPlay starting in the second quarter of this year. If you bought one of the aforementioned models before the CarPlay rollout, you're in luck -- Kia will offer a downloadable upgrade for qualifying vehicles. However, you'll have to wait even longer, as that won't arrive until the third quarter.

Hi all...just happened to check the apple site today to see if the list of cars carplay is avail on has been updated to include the Sportage...and it has!!!

This at least tells us it is avail on new models BEING built. We still need to find out when it will be avail for that ALREADY built. But this is an important first step and tells us the software is live. They did say 3Q so that can be anytime through Sept.