Chevy’s MyLink Revolutionizing Road Trips
As a road-tripping family, we log many hours in the car. My kids were raised taking long car trips, so they are used to entertaining themselves in the car. However, when I told them about the new MyLink infotainment system in the 2015 Chevy vehicles, they wanted me to plan a road-trip ASAP.
What is MyLink?
MyLink is a touch-screen infotainment system that pairs with your phone to allow you to safely talk and drive. It connects you to several different music applications and even gives passengers access to the Internet. Most cars that are available on the market have the capacity to do this, but after spending the day learning about new Chevy vehicles at the recent Travelingmom retreat, I found some cool things that MyLink does that you probably have never seen before.
Time Shift Radio
Have you ever listened to a talk radio show and found yourself not getting out of the car when you arrived at your location because you wanted to hear the end of the show? Not anymore. MyLink offers Time Shift Radio, which acts like a DVR, recording the last 25 minutes of what you are listening to. You can back up if you missed a joke and fast-forward through commercials. And if you need to step out of the car for an errand, you can record the next 10 minutes and listen to it when you get back in the car.
Pair Your Phone
MyLink will partner with your phone to allow hands-free everything. MyLink will access your contacts in your address book to provide you with turn-by-turn directions. MyLink will answer your incoming text messages with pre-programmed answers such as “I’m Driving. Talk to you later.” And of course, MyLink will offer hands-free phone calls.
WiFi Signal
Chevy partners with On-Star to provide you with a WiFi signal that can hold up to seven devices in one vehicle. Passengers have the ability to watch streaming movies, stay up-to-date with their favorite social media networks, or even get work done. The 4G LTE signal, provided by AT&T, is promised to be more reliable than a hotspot on your phone. And Chevy will be offering an AppShop on MyLink that allows customers a range of apps that include iHeartRadio, Priceline, The Weather Channel, NPR, Slacker Radio, TuneIn Radio, Cityseeker, Eventseeker, Glympse and Kaliki. The pricing plans have not been announced yet.
MyLink also has these cool features:
- Connect to your Pandora account through your phone
- Over 140 SiriusXM Satellite Radio channels
- Save your favorite artists, playlists, songs, and genres through Gracenote Technology
- USB connectivity to listen to music from your phone, iPod, or flash drive
- Voice Control
- On-Star turn-by-turn navigation
- And you can store up to 60 contacts, radio stations, destinations, or songs right to your home page.
Last week, I had the opportunity to play with MyLink in the 2015 Chevy Impala at the TravelingMoms Retreat and the biggest questions I had were: how complicated is it? Is it easy to learn? Is MyLink easy to navigate for a passenger?
I tend to really like gadgets and will take the time to learn them, and I found MyLink to be really easy to use. As there are a lot of moving components to the system, it might take a few weeks to learn them all. It’s pretty intuitive and once you get it down, it would be easy to show a passenger. And children will have no problems figuring it out.
Because it does offer so much at your fingertips, if you are going to invest in a car with this system, take the time to learn it. There is so much capability with MyLink that it would be a waste to not learn how to use it.
But don’t take my word for it, see for yourself all the cool features of MyLink:
Systems like MyLink in vehicles make road-tripping so much easier. Not just because it allows for a unique way to entertain children, but the navigational help is priceless. We can book hotel rooms, find the nearest gas station, & look up restaurant reviews as we are cruising down the road. I think I’m ready to go!
