Should I have access to navigation app?

[jshone93]

Hi all,

I bought a 2016 Jazz on Sunday, and there is no navigation app on the home screen. When I bought it it was waved off as 'oh, you can just download it if you want it', but if that is the case, I can't figure out how to do that.

I have Honda App Centre on there, but the outline of the app is red and when I try to open it, it says 'Activation has failed. Please try again'. Is this even where I would download it anyway?

Or maybe this car never came with navigation as an option and I can't get it? I have no idea.

Any help would be appreciated!

Jack

[trebor1652]

The car was sold as ex navi, for example, or plain ex, I'm guessing that it is locked by Honda and probably only Honda can unlock it.
I'd like some smart tech person to prove me wrong!

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[jshone93]

Ah, if this is the case, I see some people online installing apps as a 'developer' on their Hondas, should I be able to do that with the a 2016 Jazz? The majority of the examples I saw were people with Civics.

The final option would be a 3rd party head unit, I guess?

[trebor1652]

You could always ask your local honda dealership if it's possible for them to do it, it could be the cheapest option.

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[ColinB]

The Mk3 was sold with two variants at each trim level. If yours is a "Navi" version (which came at a premium price), you should have the onboard satnav. If not, you haven't got it and I'm not sure it can be retro-fitted (ask a Honda dealer). If the salesman told you it was there or could be enabled yourself, then you have a case against them for misrepresenting the product.

There are reports of people downloading a nav app to the infotainment system, but it involves hacking the OS to remove legal safeguards such as enabling viewing of videos whilst driving,  and I'm not really sure it offers many advantages over simply using a phone (in a suitable holder, of course).

[Kremmen]

I agree, plus the Navi versions, if the same as the Civic, will have a GPS module under the dash somewhere with additional wiring in the loom

[jazzaro]

The Mk3 was sold with two variants at each trim level. If yours is a "Navi" version (which came at a premium price), you should have the onboard satnav. If not, you haven't got it and I'm not sure it can be retro-fitted (ask a Honda dealer). If the salesman told you it was there or could be enabled yourself, then you have a case against them for misrepresenting the product.

There are reports of people downloading a nav app to the infotainment system, but it involves hacking the OS to remove legal safeguards such as enabling viewing of videos whilst driving,  and I'm not really sure it offers many advantages over simply using a phone (in a suitable holder, of course).

Not exact.
Jazz 2015-2018 was sold in 3 trims, S, SE, EX: the two upper levels, SE and EX, could have the infotainment system with or without navigation system, in case of NAVI level the unit had also DAB radio receiver, cd player and shark fin aerial.
The two units, standard and navi, are different both in hardware and software, the NAVI has different settings and a GARMIN android app for the sat-nav:it's not possible to add this Garmin app on a standard unit, even if the software looks the same of the navi level.
But....
Even if the standard level has no sat-nav apps, it has the navigation hardware and the car has the satnav aerial. So it's possible to add another satnav android app such as Sygic, Copilot, Waze (not the Garmin as I wrote before), legally removing some software locks in your unit.
How to do this: follow the turorials here https://www.cmdroid.com/ download your apps and install them.
PS the website is set for HR-V brasilian models, so left hand drive, but apps are the same for all Jazzs. Only the unit firmware is different.
Installing apps is possible only for unit firmware RC 6,1 or earlier, check your version.
Honda app center, as far as I know, has been set off.

[HertsHonda]

@jazzaro & OP
Interesting info! My (second hand) 2017 Jazz EX I-VTEC CVT which I believe to be a mk3 has a CD Player, DAB Radio and Shark aerial. - But NO Sat Nav!
I use a 'droid Smartphone with Waze app, blue toothed to the infotainment system so the instructions emerge from the vehicle speakers.
At some point in its past my Jazz has had the service reminder system disabled - shame but I can live without  it nagging me!
Several friends with built-in Sat Nav, (not Honda) complain that they are often driving 'off the map', and dealer updates are expensive. (Recently I down loaded the S/W for updating Kia S' Nav it looks like it can be a DIY job - ther owner however is nervous about the process, so it's 'on hold'!). With a 'phone app updates are not a problem and you're tied to one brand.
Has anyone fitted voice recognition to command the ventilation system on the mk3? Stabbing at the screen is a real pain and dangerous!

[ColinB]

Jazz 2015-2018 was sold in 3 trims, S, SE, EX: the two upper levels, SE and EX, could have the infotainment system with or without navigation system, …

Correct, an error in my post, I was forgetting about the base model S.

… in case of NAVI level the unit had also DAB radio receiver, cd player and shark fin aerial.

Incorrect, all early Mk 3 Jazzes, whether Navi or not, had these features (although I think I saw a report somewhere that the later ones might not have had the CD player?). AFAIK, the only way you can tell if you have the Navi variant is if you have the app on the infotainment system. No app, no onboard satnav. Honda charged a premium for the Navi variant, so it wouldn’t have been in their interests to make it easy to convert non-Navi to Navi.

The procedure described by Jazzaro for loading an app is what I was referring to as “hacking the OS”. You’re backing out of a system update, with attendant risk of bricking the unit and re-introducing whatever errors the updates fixed, and then overriding certain software settings (which may or may not be legal in the UK). That seems risky and not worth it when the simple way to get satnav is to just use a phone in a suitable hands-free holder. 

[jazzaro]

Incorrect, all early Mk 3 Jazzes, whether Navi or not, had these features (although I think I saw a report somewhere that the later ones might not have had the CD player?). AFAIK, the only way you can tell if you have the Navi variant is if you have the app on the infotainment system. No app, no onboard satnav. Honda charged a premium for the Navi variant, so it wouldn’t have been in their interests to make it easy to convert non-Navi to Navi.

Sorry, I've talked about european Jazzs, left hand drive (Italy, Germany, France, ..): in these models, DAB was not standard, it came with the navi app, maybe right hand drive models have a different setting so for your hondas DAB is standard in both units.  LHD Jazzs without DAB have a traditional short aerial, the shark fin is for DAB units and since DAB comes only with NAVI, we can easily understand the trim of a Jazz.

The procedure described by Jazzaro for loading an app is what I was referring to as “hacking the OS”. You’re backing out of a system update, with attendant risk of bricking the unit and re-introducing whatever errors the updates fixed, and then overriding certain software settings (which may or may not be legal in the UK). That seems risky and not worth it when the simple way to get satnav is to just use a phone in a suitable hands-free holder.

I've successfully tried this procedure in my EX NAVI, quite easy to installa other navi apps (Sygic) to have also real time  traffic informations. It worked fine until i asked the dealer to solve some bugs in the software unit (not depending from the hack) and he updated the software from RC6.1 to RC8 which is no more "hackable". Better, I could hack it again but the procedure would be more complex, so I'll keep the RC8 with the standard navi app.

[ColinB]

… It worked fine until i asked the dealer to solve some bugs in the software unit (not depending from the hack) and he updated the software from RC6.1 to RC8 …

Well, yes. By reverting to an earlier software state, you’d likely re-introduced the bugs that the later updates were designed to fix. That’s one of the risks of doing what you suggest. It’s hardly surprising that the dealer’s fix for the bugs was to re-install the update(s) that you’d removed.