Sensus experience

russ399 · Feb 12, 2019

I see a lot people have responded to this thread https://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?591219-V90-V90CC-Discontinued-for-North-America.

Looks like a great mix of ages.

So my question is how do you like the Sensus interface? CR has consistently knocked it saying it is too complicated and requires too much attention to operate.

Do you find Sensus overly complicated or have you gotten used to it?

FusionRedXC60 · Feb 12, 2019

russ399 said:
I see a lot people have responded to this thread https://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?591219-V90-V90CC-Discontinued-for-North-America.

Looks like a great mix of ages.

So my question is how do you like the Sensus interface? CR has consistently knocked it saying it is too complicated and requires too much attention to operate.

Do you find Sensus overly complicated or have you gotten used to it?

I can never imagine how to have those options and apps in a small non-touchable screen UI. And Sensus looks very stylish.
It is one of the most important reason I like these new Volvo cars.
I learned to not mess it up quickly at boot time, and don't operate it when watching the busy road. There is always safer time at traffic light or safer situation.

Bl3nder · Feb 12, 2019

The interface is straightforward in my eyes. Really only three pages total: main, “buttons,” and apps. I hate apps on all platforms. Liquidy smooth once it’s fired up. Just like a modern phone. Sensus’ slow start kills me only because i have to wait to disable start/stop.

As far as complication to use I dont really need to mess with it too often. Auto climate does its thing and my music streams. Only music volume and track skip are used daily and they are physcial controls in two spots. I dislike the trackpad control other manifacturers are migrating to.

I will admit the all-touch interface makes some tasks require looking at the screen. I cant drop the temp one degree with a no-look motion nor can i flip off the heated seat while moving. Not a big deal to me since i’m not a fiddler.

VLD1 · Feb 12, 2019

Much less of an issue than I thought it would be (I'm not a tecki freek). The only thing I really fiddle with while driving is the Nav. Radio and Climate I do by voice command and have had zero issues doing so, even with my vocal chord damage. Certainly makes for a clean looking dash.

rdr854 · Feb 13, 2019

I find Sensus fairly straightforward to use. Most settings were made when I took delivery of the car. Other than Nav (which is a pain on most cars I have driven), I rarely have a need to move the display from the main center screen or otherwise touch the screen (except when I want heated seats and steering).

As far as boot up time goes, by the time I close the door, set the car to Eco and have buckled my seatbelt, the system has usually finished its boot cycle.

scootss60 · Feb 13, 2019

Hm.. Well I've really enjoyed mine. It's pretty simple once you get the hang of it.

chillg8r · Feb 13, 2019

Prefer it over the menu driven systems, I find it simple and intuitive.

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porschie356 · Feb 13, 2019

It's sort of like the fancy six-way power driver's seat in our V90 T6. Since my wife and I are roughly the same size and like the same seating position, the controls haven't been touched in the last 15,000 miles. I rarely mess with Sensus because I don't need to. It's a car, it drives, good to go.

Teleman · Feb 13, 2019

I like it in general save a few niggles. Would like the screen list of stations to move when using the wheel selection button. Right now you move right off the screen and can’t see what you’ve selected. Would also prefer a knob for resizing maps as VW does. Pinch zoom sucks while driving. Some menu buttons need to be bigger with clear touch zones. Otherwise, it’s fine.

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LowlyOilBurner · Feb 13, 2019

I wish you could configure the tiles. Is there really a need for each tile to tell me that phone, media, nav are “via Apple CarPlay”? Then again, what would you assign to each tile if you could?

2018VolvoV90CC · Feb 13, 2019

Teleman said:
I like it in general save a few niggles. Would like the screen list of stations to move when using the wheel selection button. Right now you move right off the screen and can't see what you've selected. Would also prefer a knob for resizing maps as VW does. Pinch zoom sucks while driving. Some menu buttons need to be bigger with clear touch zones. Otherwise, it's fine.

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This is a very good example of poor design (and/or shoddy QA).

LowlyOilBurner said:
I wish you could configure the tiles. Is there really a need for each tile to tell me that phone, media, nav are "via Apple CarPlay"? Then again, what would you assign to each tile if you could?

I agree - when CarPlay is active, the other 3 items should take up much less space than they do, whether I want to reassign them or not (which I might).

matt1122 · Feb 13, 2019

I really like the way Sensus looks and for the most part the way it functions.

It's very premium looking.

A bit slow at startup sometimes, but generally fully usable within 1-2 minutes of starting the car.

The 4-tile system on the main screen leaves a little to be desired. CarPlay and Android Auto should really replace the Phone tile and leave the bottom tile available for other apps, for instance.

I wish I could hide SXM since I'm not subscribed.

I'm sure the next iteration (powered by Android) will improve on its minor shortcomings' considerably.

cometguy · Feb 14, 2019

I love Volvos but I hate Sensus. I can't wait until Volvo puts Google Maps (and Android OS?) into the computer for 2020, and I'm waiting to buy my next Volvo when that comes out, not before. Car manufacturers should stop trying to re-invent the wheel regarding navigation and let the big computer giants do it for them.

My wish list for Volvo main computer screen:
(1) Google maps with Google traffic flows (coming). Yeah, you can kinda do this with Apple Carplay, but it is really a very degraded form of what you actually get on your iPhone.
(2) Put the computer to sleep -- not turn off -- when the car ignition is turned off. This way the computer screen would come up immediately (or with a 1- or 2-second delay) instead of having to boot up from scratch. This would take very little battery juice. Build in a time limit so that the battery is not drained, in which the computer would be turned off after a certain amount of time -- like perhaps a couple days.
(3) Move all climate controls back to buttons, and out of the computer screen. Many manufacturers do this still in 2019 -- both the lowest end of the car industry in terms of cost and the highest end (Rolls Royce has buttons/knobs still for climate control, as does Porsche).
(4) Allow permanent OFF to be chosen for auto-start/stop in the computer screen; short of that, you need a physical button, preferably on the steering wheel.
(5) Move the drive-mode button from the center console by cupholders to the steering wheel (this is in the computer screen also, but not really useful there when driving).
(6) As somebody wrote above, add in a physical dial like in other brand cars for zooming in and out quickly in the map -- great feature when driving, to keep driver less distracted.
(7) Completely re-design the layout of the home page to make it more practical, especially for the driver to lessen distractions. Too many steps to get to some things. Let the owner easily design their own configuration of the home page, as other infotainment screens allow in other brands.

RandyNC · Feb 14, 2019

cometguy said:
I love Volvos but I hate Sensus. My wish list for Volvo main computer screen:
(1) Google maps with Google traffic flows (coming). Yeah, you can kinda do this with Apple Carplay, but it is really a very degraded form of what you actually get on your iPhone.

You mean Google maps as a replacement to Sensus nav? I assume that is it since you already have Google Maps and/or Apple Maps (getting better every month) and/or Waze via Apple Car Play. My main complaint is with ALL THAT SCREEN SPACE, why limit Apple Carplay to such a tiny tile space? Surely it could have been enlarged a little bit. I have an 8" screen in my 2016 GMC Canyon truck, and Apple Carplay looks 10x better on that screen than on the S90.

chillg8r · Feb 14, 2019

cometguy said:
I love Volvos but I hate Sensus. I can't wait until Volvo puts Google Maps (and Android OS?) into the computer for 2020, and I'm waiting to buy my next Volvo when that comes out, not before. Car manufacturers should stop trying to re-invent the wheel regarding navigation and let the big computer giants do it for them.

My wish list for Volvo main computer screen:
(1) Google maps with Google traffic flows (coming). Yeah, you can kinda do this with Apple Carplay, but it is really a very degraded form of what you actually get on your iPhone.

I use Waze all the time via Apple Car Play and it's fine, IMO.

(2) Put the computer to sleep -- not turn off -- when the car ignition is turned off. This way the computer screen would come up immediately (or with a 1- or 2-second delay) instead of having to boot up from scratch. This would take very little battery juice. Build in a time limit so that the battery is not drained, in which the computer would be turned off after a certain amount of time -- like perhaps a couple days.

I believe that is the way it works. My display is very quick after the first start of the day. And even first thing in the morning the backup camera is almost instantaneous

(3) Move all climate controls back to buttons, and out of the computer screen. Many manufacturers do this still in 2019 -- both the lowest end of the car industry in terms of cost and the highest end (Rolls Royce has buttons/knobs still for climate control, as does Porsche).
(4) Allow permanent OFF to be chosen for auto-start/stop in the computer screen; short of that, you need a physical button, preferably on the steering wheel.

We have a physical button for that, it's called individual drive mode

(5) Move the drive-mode button from the center console by cupholders to the steering wheel (this is in the computer screen also, but not really useful there when driving).
(6) As somebody wrote above, add in a physical dial like in other brand cars for zooming in and out quickly in the map -- great feature when driving, to keep driver less distracted.
(7) Completely re-design the layout of the home page to make it more practical, especially for the driver to lessen distractions. Too many steps to get to some things. Let the owner easily design their own configuration of the home page, as other infotainment screens allow in other brands.

Totally agree. The nav map is wasted space for me while I use CarPlay.

Some replies in your box above....Jmo

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cometguy · Feb 15, 2019

RandyNC said:
You mean Google maps as a replacement to Sensus nav? I assume that is it since you already have Google Maps and/or Apple Maps (getting better every month) and/or Waze via Apple Car Play. My main complaint is with ALL THAT SCREEN SPACE, why limit Apple Carplay to such a tiny tile space? Surely it could have been enlarged a little bit. I have an 8" screen in my 2016 GMC Canyon truck, and Apple Carplay looks 10x better on that screen than on the S90.

There have been numerous news stories about the change in the past year, such as:

https://jalopnik.com/praise-high-for-google-maps-is-coming-to-volvos-1825854430

volvoxc9008 · Feb 15, 2019

I love Sensus, I find it super intuitive, easy and fast

pocholin · Feb 15, 2019

I find Sensus easy to learn and operate. Once it completes its slow-wake up routine it is responsive.

I agree with several comments above, radio stations and USB songs should scroll up or down in the center display when you move them with the steering wheel controls. Android Auto should be able to be seen full screen. We should have the option of choosing which 4 tiles we want in the center display.

Most annoyingly, to me, is the fact that it is very good at showing your finger prints ALL OVER the screen, I have read that screen protectors aren't any better...so, to that effect I bought finger sleeves, they work great! I keep 4 around the car in case one gets lost by my child or eaten by my dog.

Teleman · Feb 15, 2019

All these comments have reminded me how much I like Sensus vs my wife’s Audi MMI. Ohmigod does that system suck. Even the worst faults of sensus don’t come close to being as bad as Audi’s pathetic knob driven pos. We’re quite lucky to have something that pretty much functions the way it should minus a few quibbles.

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dbetterton · Feb 20, 2019

LowlyOilBurner said:
I wish you could configure the tiles. Is there really a need for each tile to tell me that phone, media, nav are "via Apple CarPlay"? Then again, what would you assign to each tile if you could?

CarPlay and Android Auto should have the option to expand, just like the native nav tile does. It is ridiculous to have 3 tiles all saying, in effect, 'this tile is useless right now, look at that bottom tile".

Sensus experience

russ399

FusionRedXC60

Bl3nder

VLD1

rdr854

scootss60

chillg8r

porschie356

Teleman

LowlyOilBurner

2018VolvoV90CC

matt1122

cometguy

RandyNC

chillg8r

cometguy

volvoxc9008

pocholin

Teleman

dbetterton

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