Voice control in a moving vehicle is a
beautiful thing.
In states like mine (Michigan), it’s actually illegal to touch your phone at any time that the engine is turned on, even when stopped at a traffic
light. So knowing how to use those voice controls is imperative.
Even if it’s not against the law in your state, it’s much safer to keep your eyes on the road at
all times and not touch your phone.
The 2025 Toyota 4Runner I’m test driving this week has easy-to-use voice control. You even have multiple ways to engage with it.
You can press the switch on the steering wheel that has a graphic of someone talking, you can touch the magnifying glass image on the touchscreen, or you can simply say “Hey
Toyota,” followed immediately by a command.
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The things drivers can ask for help with include navigation, multimedia control, hands-free phone operation for both calls
and messages and screen display switching. You can even make commands like “Turn on the air conditioner,” “Set the temperature to 70 degrees” or “Turn the fan speed
up.”
With multimedia, the command “Mute audio” is an especially beautiful thing if you are listening to a game and an annoying ad comes on the radio.
I drove 200 miles roundtrip during an excursion over the weekend (the vehicle’s seats get an A+ for comfort) and never touched my phone a single time -- but managed to listen to and
answer text messages, find and listen to several podcasts, and find and get directions to a coffee shop on the way home.
Toyota announced today that it’s going to make a good
thing even better.
Enhanced Toyota Audio Multimedia experience will launch with the 2026 RAV4 before rolling out to future models in the Toyota lineup.
It
will feature the first integration of AT&T 5G network connectivity, which will help bring more reception areas through AT&T’s network across North America, along with increased speeds
and expanded features.
The intuitive, smartphone-like design offers customizable widgets on the head unit home screen. The configurable home screen will allow users to customize
their preferred look using individual widgets for navigation, drive mode, audio, connected smart device and weather. The widgets can be grouped into combinations of two or three, providing
easy-to-view access.
Other enhancements include new embedded Voice Assistant functions that will enable faster responses to “Hey Toyota” prompts.
Turn-by-turn navigation will incorporate full screen on the digital gauge cluster, a first for Toyota Audio Multimedia. The new system also includes the launch of standard built-in Drive
Recorder, a feature that can use exterior cameras to capture both manual and triggered events.
Development of the current and newest versions of the Toyota Audio Multimedia system
took shape with a focus on customer and dealer feedback. What’s really cool is that the new system will allow continual improvements, including over-the-air updates, which will further
improve the ownership experience over time.
Thankfully, listening to customers included keeping wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto compatibility, which many of us depend on for
connectivity while in our offices on wheels.
Never mind “Hey Toyota.” To that news I say “Thanks, Toyota!”
