NG Yaris - Nav guidance volume in Android Auto

[CPN]

Although the system indicates that you can adjust the guidance voice volume (whilst it is speaking) with the controls in the car, I have tried all the available controls but none of them work? Has anyone else discovered this?

[Devon Aygo]

It can be done on the head unit, Press setup button scroll down on LH menu, select Voice and set as preferred,

[CPN]

19 hours ago, Devon Aygo said:

It can be done on the head unit, Press setup button scroll down on LH menu, select Voice and set as preferred,

Thanks for responding Lee. Ok, I think you meant to set "Android Auto" as "preferred", yes? With Android Auto connected and running, selecting "Voice" (as you suggested) then gives an on-screen "manual" volume control for the voice prompts in order to turn it up or down but this is not what I was on about?

Firstly, when you say "Hey Google" or "Ok Google" to invoke the Google Assistant, the first thing that happens when the system responds is that it mutes/drops the volume automatically of any currently playing audio which is what I would have expected to happen but this does not happen when you have a journey planned/setup and the voice guidance comes up? (no auto-mute during navigation prompts)

Secondly (see link below to video), when you bring up the AA settings on the head unit (cog icon) over a live map and touch the "Guidance audio" setting, then touch "Play test sound" and then try and vary the volume with the head unit's volume control, you'll notice that it varies the main audio volume (radio audio that you can hear) but does not change the volume of the test sound one bit and this is the same for the steering wheel controls also. So, it would seem you cannot do what the voice suggests you can, while driving, as this would mean going through the setup menu etc... ...and worse than that is that when the guidance voice speaks, it doesn't auto-mute the playing audio from whatever source it is coming from... The really important point is that there seems to be no way of varying the nav voice guidance volume whilst driving without having to touch the head unit's screen and I used to regularly do that in my last Yaris Excel (from the steering wheel controls), with built in SatNav, as the surrounding ambient traffic noise demanded on occasion?

Trying to change volume of voice guidance

I hope that there is a way around this or else perhaps it should be reported to Toyota GB as a major safety related issue with the head unit's software?

[CPN]

Addendum: You'll notice that the Nav Voice guidance volume in the video is quite high and this is because I used the manual volume control via the "Voice" menu to change the level "6" from its default of 4 but I wouldn't necessarily want it that high at low speeds and this is why it is essential that you are able to change the volume from the steering wheel during periods when the surrounding ambient noise is at a low level...

[Graham47]

I wonder if “.....but only when it’s speaking ..” means, literally, just that ?
You ere trying to adjust the “test voice” and maybe that’s not what Toyota mean.

I assume you’ve tried adjusting navigation voice as it is “speaking “ via HU or SW ?

[CPN]

3 hours ago, Graham47 said:

I wonder if “.....but only when it’s speaking ..” means, literally, just that ?
You ere trying to adjust the “test voice” and maybe that’s not what Toyota mean.

I assume you’ve tried adjusting navigation voice as it is “speaking “ via HU or SW ?

Absolutely I did. Neither have any effect whatsoever on the volume of the nav voice prompts. The only way is as I described above by drilling down to the menu under setup on the HU.

[Silver Yaris]

CPN - did you ever resolve this as I am having exactly the same issue in my new GR Yaris & it is driving me mad. No one seems to know how to resolve it and it only seems to be an issue with Android Auto which is weird as it worked perfectly fine in a previous older Toyota. I don't have this issue when using my phone in our Cupra as that does exactly as you would expect, i.e. ability to change the navigation volume when it is speaking / giving directions.

[FROSTYBALLS]

6 minutes ago, Silver Yaris said:

I am having exactly the same issue in my new GR Yaris

Please update your profile to include the GR.

[Silver Yaris]

17 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Please update your profile to include the GR.

Frostyballs, I got excited then for a minute thinking that you had the answer to our problem 😜

CPN - I found the answer! After much searching online, I stumbled across a 228 page manual for the multimedia system on the GR, which bizarrely didn't come with the car, so you end up stuck with these problems as no one knows how to solve them, not even my local dealer!

Anyway, the solution is very easy as per the attached pic. You need to go to 'Voice' within the settings and simply turn it up. I had seen this setting previously but ignored it as I incorrectly assumed that it was to do with voice commands and not the voice announcements. Mine was set to 2 I think and I have turned it up to the max which is 7 in the GR. When connecting to Google Maps & Waze whilst sat in my drive, the difference is immediately noticeable. If it turns out to be too loud when on the move, then at least I now know how to adjust it.  

[Silver Yaris]

On 11/27/2020 at 3:20 PM, CPN said:

Absolutely I did. Neither have any effect whatsoever on the volume of the nav voice prompts. The only way is as I described above by drilling down to the menu under setup on the HU.

Have you seen my response on how to sort this?

[CPN]

3 hours ago, Silver Yaris said:

Have you seen my response on how to sort this?

I have now! 🙂

[Greybeard]

Wow! Thank you very much. I have spent half the morning trying to reduce the volume of Android Auto google maps in the car with no success until I search for and found this thread. It worked! Thank you.