SUBARU STARLINK

I traded up to a 2020 Forester a few weeks ago, and installed this app. It causes a "Speed Limit Exceeded" verbal alert to be played over the car speakers every 30 seconds, even if you're only 1mph over, based on the local speed limit of the road you're on. It interrupts the car radio to do this, and the radio stays off after the alert is complete. Super annoying! It wasn't obvious where the alert was coming from. My Subaru dealership had no idea. Googling the issue revealed it to be a common problem that many Subaru owners have been experiencing recently, not just in Foresters. The only fix seems to be uninstalling the Subaru Starlink app. There's no setting for it in the app that you can turn off. I finally found on one of the Subaru owners forums that Subaru of America have acknowledged this as a known issue that popped up after a recent app update, and that they're working on a fix. Until then, the only solution seems to be uninstalling the app. No problem. I can't see what value the app added anyway.

This app is actually a black eye for this company. I love my car but this app lacks any usefulness what so ever. It actually shows the lack of technology this company is willing to add for a user experience rather then improving on current functions. I had high hopes for this. Then I realized it was such an epic fail. This app soils the bed for Subaru. What would we want? Something to expand the cars functions or entertainment value. It’s great we have that big old screen in the dash that’s basically a glorified radio. The only app that is semi useful is the app to get the car to unlock but you guys don’t even give any trial to that software. It cost me 100$ just to get functions my wife’s Chevy offers for 1 year free! Granted I get it can’t be free forever but my god if the car wasn’t a reliable mode of transportation I would have drove it back on the lot and bought a different vehicle. Please do something useful with this app or just remove it from the App Store. The ratings don’t lie! It’s a pile of burning trash.

I think the developer’s description of the latest update (“Changed some functions”) aptly shows that they put as much effort into this app’s development as they do in explaining what they updated. This app is actually a companion to the app in the Subaru. Apparently, you must have this app on your phone, in order to use the app in the Subaru...which means that it uses your phone’s data. The sub-apps it provides offer little over what you already have on your phone. However, it does offer you the ability to view some info on, and interact with, the screen in the Subaru, rather than your phone’s screen. Many times when looking at the details of a sub-app, you can’t scroll the screen. So, you have to go back, and click on the sub-app again, in order to scroll and read about the sub-app. Not a big deal, but it reinforces the idea that if they can’t get something as simple as scrolling to work, one wouldn’t expect other aspects of this app to work well either. The real value this app does provide is access to the vehicle’s Quick Reference Guide. However, after a few months, you probably won’t need that. All-in-all, a disappointment.