skyshadow

Just new, Lexus wants to sell new cars not help make old ones more enjoyable as to keep longer. Think of it as a business.

olgzr

threefiveo

Yes, this exactly. The Toyota Entune and Lexus Enform is already one of the lowest rated infotainment systems from any manufacturer, but customers accept it for the other positives with the Toyota / Lexus brand. Its one thing to discontinue updates. Its another to remove a feature all together and not replace it with something comparable. I'm glad to see Toyota and Lexus are FINALLY rolling out CarPlay and Android Auto in new models, but if you have the resources to roll out an update to remove functionality from the current and prior models then you should replace with something comparable.

skyshadow

Again, they are not going to update your older cars to do things a newer car does. It will not happen, Complain, throw a fit, stomp your feet... Will not change anything. The update taking away Pandora probably has something to do with SXM purchasing Pandora. Carplay on an older car is not as easy as you are assuming. A 15 and older yr model processor probably can not even handle it.

Also, I'm confused you said having repeat business is a plus and we can't **** of existing customers. 1)1700 total users of the Pandora app through App Suite. So tops, we pissed off 1700 people and 2) you said it, repeat business is the "plus". Lexus does not get repeat business from giving features to a 14,15,16s that 18,19s have.

threefiveo

For clarity, its not just Pandora, also FB Places and Open table. So XM acquisition of Pandora could only be part of the story. I suspect there are even less users for the other apps. Toyota is also removing these apps from Entune, which is likely a much larger user base than Enform. 1700 only counts users who actually used it, not the millions of others who tried but found it slow, buggy, and possibly purchased an alternate brand with modern connectivity.

r4nd0

Pandora via Enform on my '14 GS was always hit and miss and stopped working entirely over a year ago. Looking at forum posts, many people had similar experience throughout all Lexus models. That being the case, it's sort of silly to quote how few people use a feature that was already broken, as justification for literally removing a feature that was part of the car as marketed and sold. When it worked, it was my primary source of listening. Lawyers being what they are and doing what they do, I wouldn't be surprised to eventually see a class action around this, if Lexus doesn't eventually step up and offer some sort of concession.

donaldsa

So to use Pandora, you need to create an Enform account.... Log into the account on your phone - and re-login every time you reboot your phone potentially while driving.... Then Click on Apps on the screen... Wait 15 seconds for Apps to start up... Then click on Pandora and wait another 15 seconds for it to start. Then when using Pandora you only have limited functions available while driving. No wonder only 1700 people use it. The Enform Pandora App was doomed from the start.

I used to use Pandora all the time through enform but it just became too much of a hassle. I can run Pandora on my phone and connect with a blue tooth link. I just have to control pandora with my phone instead of through enform.

threefiveo

Well that's a bummer. I'm not sure what's going on with your setup but mine was as follows:
1) Download Enform app and create Enform Account (1 time setup) I'm using an iPhone, possibly different with Android.
2) Within the Enform App on your phone, Login to any app you want to use (such as Pandora / Spotify) to link Enform with your accounts.(1 time setup)
3) Jump in the car, wait a bit, Select the App you want to use in the car (its true the app is slow to load)
4)Enjoy

When starting the car, mine picks right back up streaming with the same app/station I left off without any input. I don't need to do anything with my phone and I don't need to log back in or re-enter credentials for Enform or any of the apps, ever. Occasionally when starting back up it can be a bit slow to connect since it connects up Bluetooth, transfers any contacts, etc before streaming music. The UI is slow, granted, but once open it works fine and it beats pulling the phone up, navigating to the app on the phone, selecting the station, and controlling from there (at least in my opinion, yours may vary).

crmajor

skyshadow

Are you going to make me go into deleted emails to show you the numbers? I can guarantee, as a employee of Lexus that deals with this app and the Enform Suite on the daily, it had a very low usage rate. In fact, until Enform Remote was paired to Lexus Drivers and the app was un-f****ed it as well had a very low usage rate. The other apps, Facebook and Open Table were so low usage rates that I personally NEVER once helped a customer pair their accounts to the Enform Suite.
You said you wanted/needed/possible class action lawsuited for a concession. You have it, Lexus offers Slacker Radio on all App Suite 2.0 vehicles. It works like a charm, launching within seconds of start and going right back to the last station you had playing. You can voice command stations, artists, songs.. etc.

Back to my original statement, you are looking at a complex issue with blinders on. You are a crowd shouting "give us this thing" without analyzing if it's possible. You ever wonder why Pandora was sketchy on older vehicles? The processors were so slow on 13-15 models that the vehicles needed 6 seconds to fully boot before driving. If attempting to drive before that you would get bugs... Like Pandora not working. (six seconds is much longer than you think. Try counting to 6 before putting your car into gear) It didn't get much better in 16. For a limited time in 16-17, the processors were essentially over-clocked previous versions, but at the same time Lexus turned boot up time down to 3 seconds (for legal reasons). This resulted in things like the side mirrors going down for reverse but never coming back up or phone contacts not indexing. That was because the driver attempted to drive before boot up completion, causing sub (secondary) systems to be put on eternal pause so that main (safety) systems could use the limited processing power.
This was addressed and fixed halfway through 17 but I would still suggest counting to 3 before throwing your car into gear. Putting it into gear (before boot initialization) forces the CPU to prioritize systems.