Intelligent Assistant - has it been downgraded?

Discussion in 'Gen 5 Prius Audio, Electronics and Infotainment' started by broderp, Dec 3, 2025 at 11:25 AM.

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  1. broderp

    broderp New Member

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    When I first bought and drove my new Prius (January 2024) the voice assistant seemed to have more functionality. At some time within the last year I noticed one feature specifically that stopped working. I use to be able to say "Hey Toyota" what's the weather this week" and it would respond with some short response but more importantly display the weeks weather on the display like a phone widget with icons.

    Today if i ask it responds with a similar voice prompt, but the screen just goes to a solid blue screen with no information. The screen stays blue for what seems like a minute or two then goes back to what ever it was displaying.

    Did Toyota downgrade their voice assistant (Intelligent Assistant) because it's not as intelligent as it use to be or is this function and possibly others dependent on some subscription?

    Thanks for any help.
     
    #1 broderp, Dec 3, 2025 at 11:25 AM
    otatrant likes this.
  2. otatrant

    otatrant Active Member

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    Hey Toyota requires an internet connection. Can either connect the car to a wifi hotspot you have ie from a cell phone or tablet or subscribe to Wi-Fi Connect through AT&T. If you connect to a mobile hotspot you will not be able to use wireless Android Auto or Wireless Apple CarPlay.
     
    #2 otatrant, Dec 3, 2025 at 5:36 PM
  3. broderp

    broderp New Member

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    Interesting thought. Are you sure or making an educated guess? I'm in the office but will try this next chance I get. I don't recall ever using a mobile hotspot when this feature worked, in fact not even sure where those settings on my phone or Prius are!
     
    #3 broderp, Dec 5, 2025 at 9:22 AM
  4. otatrant

    otatrant Active Member

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    I have been using a Starlink Satellite Mini on my car. ‘Hey Toyota’ works really well when the Toyota multimedia audio system is attached to the Starlink WiFi and the Starlink Mini has a clear view of the sky. My cell phone carrier T-mobile works as well as a WiFi data hotspot connection but T-mobile limits the amount of data I can use when I use my iPhone as a hotspot.

    What I am also certain about is that ‘Hey Toyota’ like every other smart assistant ie Siri, Alexa, Chat GPT, Google Assistant, etc. all require an internet connection. The Toyota multimedia audio system can connect to the internet either through the built in AT&T 4G LTE connection which requires a subscription or by a WiFi connection to a wireless router/hotspot. The Toyota multimedia audio system can have one WiFi connection at a time so if you use a mobile hotspot/router to connect for the ‘Hey Toyota’ assistant you can not use wireless Apple CarPlay or wireless Android Auto at the same time.
     
    #4 otatrant, Dec 5, 2025 at 5:19 PM
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