New Toyota RAV4 to offer Apple and Android connectivity…Corolla and Camry to follow
After holding out for years, Toyota has finally announced it will offer Apple and Android smartphone connectivity in new RAV4 (sort of), Camry and Corolla.
The all-new Toyota RAV4 launched this week (road test embargoed until next week) but you can read our international drive review here, and it will become the first Toyota vehicle to be offered with Apple and Android smartphone connectivity. However, it’s not quite as straightforward as that as the first vehicles arriving into Australia won’t have this functionality and will need to have the infotainment system updated for free by a Toyota dealer. The second batch of RAV4s arriving towards the end of the year will have Apple and Android functionality as standard from the factory.
“All RAV4s delivered from the fourth quarter 2019 will have the feature already installed. Customers taking delivery of their new-generation RAV4 before that time will require a quick visit to the local dealership to have it installed at no additional cost,” Toyota announced.
Toyota also announced that it would look to roll out a retro-fit patch for some of its other latest-generation vehicles, including Toyota Corolla and Camry. “Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will be rolled out progressively as a standard feature across select Toyota models from the fourth quarter of 2019 onwards. It will also be available for retro-fit via a simple dealer service for a number of current generation models including Camry and Corolla hatch. More details will be provided later in the year,” Toyota said in a statement.
Toyota Australia Vice President Sales and Marketing Sean Hanley said: “We know that today’s customers want to be able to access their smartphone apps anywhere, anytime and these systems offer a safe and convenient means of doing that directly through the advanced in-vehicle multimedia system,” Mr Hanley said.
“For RAV4, we are offering the added functionality of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto at no extra cost,” he said.
