PUMPKIN CAR STEREO SUPPORT CENTER

Hi Jammy,

I bought my AE0373B-01A VW Passat 2006- unit from amazon.de yesterday. I mainly decided to buy this one because of its good support. Unfortunately I ran into some bugs... I have factory firmware. If you provide new, I update my list below.

1. Answer call (green) button is visible but inactive for skype/messenger/viber calls from the phone. It cannot be pressed on the screen, only on the phone. Interestingly the red hang up button is working fine. For the GSM phone calls both buttons are working. (Phone: Samsung S7)

2. The "long turn" of left tune knob (increment/decrement the radio freqency) is does nothing. It should be search to next available station as on the original radios. Really hard to tune the radio by 0.05 MHz increments one by one. From screen is ok, but the left knob is useless as it is.

3. Any future plan to make the unit compatible with Android Auto? This is a big selling point of other units.

4. Is it possible to make a split screen for 2 apps as on the Xtrons Android 8 unit? The floating app screen is too small. Any way to enlarge it?

5. Widgets can be selected only from the menu, although should available by long clicking the background. (Now long click gives only background select)

6. If I have a front camera then is it connected to Video In? So I cannot attach any other video signal then?

7. Any way to rearrange home screen with any widgets?

8. After testing it for 2 hours it got really hot, although I turned off the music so the amps were not generating any heat. Is it usual?

Kind regards,
OD

Hi,
1.there really some third party app incompatibility problem happened on android 8.0 new unit as you said here , sorry that there is no effective way to solve it but our engineers are still fighting.Hope your kind understandings.
2.the left knob is volume knob.I guess you must mean the right knob(tune knob),this knob only can adjust the frequency by 0.05MHz one by one, not for next or previous saved station.
3.currently there is no plan for android auto app .However ,we provide an auto play box NA7005W to do as you want.You can refer this video.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7cZ9ErRN-w
4.this unit support split screen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgnuzffNlYI
5.You said is right.Thanks for your advice.
6. it support DVR .You can find an DVR icon on the menu page.You need to connect the camera via USB .
7.i guess you mean how to change the program icon on the buttom of the home page .Because you knew how to move the widget in the point 5. You can long press any program icon and the unit will pop all program icons list up,then you can change them.
8.normally the unit works around 40 degree without running programs .While running several program,it is normal under 70 degree.
More query,you can directly contact our pumpkin customer service or write to support@autopumpkin.com .
Regards

I really appreciate your quick reply, as customer support is key to success in this business. Good job! Please find my answers below.

I do think this is a good product, but... As an embedded developer myself, I think this product just need some time to finalize. I hope you find my feedbacks helping that. Before I continue testing, is there any update package for this unit? MCU version: MTCE_KLD_V2.80_1, Android version: 8.0.0

1. I would not say it is a deal-breaker bug, but a bit unsafe to take out my phone from my pocket every time while driving. I hope we can find some solution in my 14 day return period, because I use these third party apps mostly instead of GSM and I am sure others too these days.

2. A dedicated knob is to make it possible to grab it blindly while driving to select the next stored station or to search a new one quickly and easily! Now it is not possible blindly, one has to look at the screen and push button on screen. Not safe! Nobody is searching any station in 0.05 increments while driving. Especially not click by click. As it is a not free rotating knob, click means rotate and release every time, what is even harder to do. Again it is not a deal-breaker, but this is a waste of a dedicated knob as it is now.
I found a workaround to make the knob select next station in the factory radios in "Factory Settings" / "Key Study". But then I had to reprogram all the other buttons too, one by one. (Key Study overwrites all other button functions, not just the one you want to reprogram.) Not really good workaround for users. Also, it might mess up other functions of the buttons/knobs.

As the factory radios are free rotating knobs + dedicated search buttons and this product has only one not free rotating knob for these, I would suggest the following to make it more useful in real life driving scenarios:
Short click: Next/Previous stored station
Long click: searching available stations up/down

But in the radio app searching/tuning screen:
Short click: manual 0.05MHz increment/decrement (this is where this function makes sense in real life!)
Long click: searching available stations up/down

BTW, the search station function is available on screen in the app already. Just not programmed to the knob yet. These are small details what make a product GUI more user friendly. But agree, give a hard job for the programmers to consider all of them. This is where user testers help.

3. Not having android auto is a deal-breaker for a lot of people. (Look Amazon feedbacks!) This is one of the reasons we buy such a smart device to help handless operation while driving, therefore more safety. I hope the limitation is not in the hardware, so a solution can be found by your engineers. Because connecting another android device to this (on its own quite powerful octacore) android device with Auto Play is not really a convincing workaround. Especially, as the Auto Play is optional, and not really cheap. If Android Auto support is not considered on this product or cannot be solved in the near future, please let me know.

4. Thanks! Was my Oreo inexperience.

5. Happy to help in testing.

6. Great! This raises a question what I have not tested: is it supporting USB HUBs? I will need at least 3 or 4 USBs later on.

7. Thanks! Was my Oreo inexperience again.

8. I could not find idle/operational/peak power info about the device. "Specs" on your the product page gives an empty page. Any numbers?

Kind Regards,
OHD

After further testing...

4. No, almost all of the default apps say "App does not support split screen". Badly enough those ones where it would make sense in a car.
Non working: Radio, Music, DVD, GPS info, Vehicle, DAB+, AVIN, Amplifier, Launchers (home screen)
Partially working: Phone (bluetooth app) It crops the right side of the screen, therefore cropping dial/hang up, etc buttons. Am I using an old firmware (MTCE_KLD_2.80_1)?
Working: Google maps, Torque, File browser.

7. No, I mean changing the home screen upper, widget part. The default clock and radio cannot be changed or removed, although changing radio widget to mp3 music would make sense for a lot of people. Also, time is already at the status bar, I would rather use that space to something else if it would be possible. I understand that I can install anything on "screen 2", right next to the default home scree. But as the homescreen is reseted after turning off the device, it is inconvenient to start with a left swipe each time I sit into my car.

9. (new) Messenger gives an error message every 5 mins in split mode: UI has Stopped. Working on phone, but here.

Kind regards,
OHD

Hi, firstly,thank you very much for so many advice and feedback.
1.to be honest,it is hard for our engineers to solve these third party app issue within 14 days.
2.thanks for the suggestion about the tune knob.According to what function you said, it need to change the knob in bulk, so hope this will be put in practice as soon as possible.
3.We won't do this,because it need an embedded module and it increase our cost much.Hope your kind understandings.
4.thanks for remind us of this ,we will try our best to perfect the software.
6. Please notice ,the support circuit of the USB slot is 1 A at max.
7.Currently it is impossible to change the original clock widget because we think it is showy for you to see the time. I also reflect this to our engineers.In fact ,you can change an launcher/theme to solve this issue.
9.also is a third party app incompatibility issue,it need times to solve it .
More query,you can directly contact our pumpkin customer service or write to support@autopumpkin.com .
Regards

Thanks for the answers. You have not answered one of the most important questions. Is there a newer firmware?

I contacted you on email, but got an error message: 550 Mail content denied. So, I repeat my text here.

Actually the third party app compatibility (picking up the call on screen or using split screen apps together with navigation) is the deal breaker for me right now. Inflexibility of the launcher is another. User customization in general is really key for android phones/tablets. Same here. Users do want to customize the look of main screen to their taste without doing the same repetitive steps (changing screen, starting apps, etc) every time they turn on the device. I do have nova launcher prime, also found workarounds for many of the issues. Probably I would find solution for all of them with some more work. But they are workarounds... These are ok for an engineer and a 40 EUR raspberry, but not for a 350 EUR user end product.

On the plus side: the hardware is really good, more than capable of doing many things. The look and feel also decent quality. Support of many cars is also a big plus! (...and an engineering challenge for sure) But software is "just working", lack of small details, unfinished. Probably rushed to the market. As it is, the product is a good beta for beta testing. But the 350 EUR price isn't reflecting that. There are cheaper options on the market with the same specs. For sure, with similar problems.

Now - I am really, really sorry to say - it goes back to amazon. Let me know if you need beta test engineers. Development is my profession and hobby too, so I am happy to test your products. I am sure this product can stand out from the crowd and beat all of their competitors with some more testing+development and good support.

Hi, no matter what ,thank you very much for pointing our so many suggestion.
Regards

Was thinking to get the same for my golf mk6 , but now i got second thoughts...