Is it worth trying to update my 2019 12" Uconnect, or just leave it alone?

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RamDiver

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I never said nobody has had issues updating. But all your examples are several years old, except one that appears to be user error. And my answer would have maybe been different a few years ago. When I first joined the forum back in 2020, the forums were full of complaints of problem systems and updates gone wrong. When I ordered my 22, I was very worried about the 12" U5 system it came with. But about the time I received that truck (2 years ago this month), Stellantis finally seemed to get on top of uConnect. The complaints dropped off to next to nothing since then, at least for the newer systems. This forum is almost dead compared to what it was 2+ years ago. It was one of the consistently busiest forum back then.

Don't do the updates, do the updates, doesn't matter to me. Just saying I've had good luck with all the updates to my uConnect systems.

I admit to being biased against large companies and do not trust microsoft, google, or any group caught red-handed exploiting our personal data.

Uconnect or stellantis falls into that same category for me. Their maintenance upgrades are less related to improving the end user's experience but more to their own needs.

Stellantis has been caught selling our driving habits to insurance companies, that is evil, AFAIC.

Now that they're in a financial pickle, I would expect that process to grow because it's easy cash for them.

I was once an upgrade proponent, back in the days of windows 3.1 and windows 95. Then I found the reason that hard drives always contained more data than the file manager displayed.

Microsoft was stock-piling our personal data on every site you visited and every action performed with the PC, and filing this information in hidden drive locations.

I know that stellantis is not the same as microsoft but the concept that the Uconnect radio contains a wireless card capable of reporting your location and driving habits is highly suspicious and sounds very much like the old microsoft data stock-piling days.

I understand that some upgrades can be useful but I have my eyes wide open and am not interested in gambling on the basic operations of my vehicle with the Uconnect 4C radio.

Perhaps the U5 and later versions have improved. I honestly wish you good fortune and hope you never experience the grief of your radio causing your truck to become a nightmare.

Thanks for contributing your positive experience.

.
 

suicideking

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I admit to being biased against large companies and do not trust microsoft, google, or any group caught red-handed exploiting our personal data.

Uconnect or stellantis falls into that same category for me. Their maintenance upgrades are less related to improving the end user's experience but more to their own needs.

Stellantis has been caught selling our driving habits to insurance companies, that is evil, AFAIC.

Now that they're in a financial pickle, I would expect that process to grow because it's easy cash for them.

I was once an upgrade proponent, back in the days of windows 3.1 and windows 95. Then I found the reason that hard drives always contained more data than the file manager displayed.

Microsoft was stock-piling our personal data on every site you visited and every action performed with the PC, and filing this information in hidden drive locations.

I know that stellantis is not the same as microsoft but the concept that the Uconnect radio contains a wireless card capable of reporting your location and driving habits is highly suspicious and sounds very much like the old microsoft data stock-piling days.

I understand that some upgrades can be useful but I have my eyes wide open and am not interested in gambling on the basic operations of my vehicle with the Uconnect 4C radio.

Perhaps the U5 and later versions have improved. I honestly wish you good fortune and hope you never experience the grief of your radio causing your truck to become a nightmare.

Thanks for contributing your positive experience.

.

Really the only way to prevent your truck from accessing the Internet is to not have it paired with your phone. Though if anything is reporting back to the 'mother ship' about your data, habits, where you go every day, etc that's your smart phone. So if you want to stop all tracking, get rid of your phone and never connect to the Internet from home. Though they're still going to track you from work if you use it there.

Personally, I could care less. I like my electronics and don't really care what data is tracked and sold. This forum is a good example. It's not here to be helpful, it's here so the owners of the site can sell advertising. Most Internet forums and major websites are owned by companies looking to make money. They will sell your data to anyone that pays enough money.
 

RamDiver

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Really the only way to prevent your truck from accessing the Internet is to not have it paired with your phone. Though if anything is reporting back to the 'mother ship' about your data, habits, where you go every day, etc that's your smart phone. So if you want to stop all tracking, get rid of your phone and never connect to the Internet from home. Though they're still going to track you from work if you use it there.

Personally, I could care less. I like my electronics and don't really care what data is tracked and sold. This forum is a good example. It's not here to be helpful, it's here so the owners of the site can sell advertising. Most Internet forums and major websites are owned by companies looking to make money. They will sell your data to anyone that pays enough money.

What do you think the wireless card in your Uconnect radio is doing? :cool:

It's not communicating through my phone, AFAIK.

I have my phone & PC locked up, although I allow certain apps to call home.

Smart phones are the worst for privacy violations unless you root them, lock them up with a good privacy tool, or leave them at home.

You might want to educate yourself on the use of AI concerning data gathering.

AI development is speeding ahead in leaps and bounds and soon, every business will know your business and everything about you.

How long after that will nefarious users start exploiting that data resource?

Senior AI developers have been sounding the alarm but most are deaf to that concern and live in the happy land of denial.

I worked with data encryption/transport in IT for most of my working years, I know what's coming. :cool:

.
 

Docwagon1776

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Really the only way to prevent your truck from accessing the Internet is to not have it paired with your phone.

The truck has a sim chip and can communicate with the cell phone tower system on it's own. That's how it "phones home", not through the paired cellphone.
 

jejb

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I know that stellantis is not the same as microsoft but the concept that the Uconnect radio contains a wireless card capable of reporting your location and driving habits is highly suspicious and sounds very much like the old microsoft data stock-piling days.
Agreed. I looked for ways to turn that crap off. Bothers me quite a bit too. Like you, I have my phone and laptop locked down, but I know that only slows them down a little.
 

RamDiver

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Agreed. I looked for ways to turn that crap off. Bothers me quite a bit too. Like you, I have my phone and laptop locked down, but I know that only slows them down a little.

Like Costco and WallyWorld, I have a love/hate relationship with my Android phone.

I'm getting closer to acquiring that old and dumb flip phone and a Faraday bag for my android phone but...

Until then, the only thing with location enabled is the weather app.

I'm using Netguard to allow 8 apps to have network connectivity and prevent the other 471 apps from calling home.

My android phone is an A52 5G with the 5G disabled. It never makes me wait unless connected to the local rural cell towers.

That's another feature of living in a rural environment, most older cell towers here don't have a fibre interface, and they can be as slow as molasses in February.

If I'm in an urban area, it's lightning fast, with no slowdown caused by Netguard.

My laptop is a 6-year-old MSI gaming laptop running windoze 10 pro.
I've modified the OS to report new updates but not install anything automatically. I've also tweaked the hardware a bit. :cool:

I review the offerings from microsoft, choose what I believe is useful, and hide the remainder.

Almost anyone can reclaim their autonomy from microsoft by searching and reviewing articles at tenforums.com .

Or, elevenforum.com for those with newer PCs.
Fantastic support for technical or non-technical users at both sites.

My laptop boots in 10-12 seconds, no slowdowns are experienced there. :cool:

I'm going to call Crutchfield to learn which radio can replace my Uconnect and free my truck and personal data from the spying eyes of stellantis.

.
 

suicideking

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Like Costco and WallyWorld, I have a love/hate relationship with my Android phone.

I'm getting closer to acquiring that old and dumb flip phone and a Faraday bag for my android phone but...

Until then, the only thing with location enabled is the weather app.

I'm using Netguard to allow 8 apps to have network connectivity and prevent the other 471 apps from calling home.

My android phone is an A52 5G with the 5G disabled. It never makes me wait unless connected to the local rural cell towers.

That's another feature of living in a rural environment, most older cell towers here don't have a fibre interface, and they can be as slow as molasses in February.

If I'm in an urban area, it's lightning fast, with no slowdown caused by Netguard.

My laptop is a 6-year-old MSI gaming laptop running windoze 10 pro.
I've modified the OS to report new updates but not install anything automatically. I've also tweaked the hardware a bit. :cool:

I review the offerings from microsoft, choose what I believe is useful, and hide the remainder.

Almost anyone can reclaim their autonomy from microsoft by searching and reviewing articles at tenforums.com .

Or, elevenforum.com for those with newer PCs.
Fantastic support for technical or non-technical users at both sites.

My laptop boots in 10-12 seconds, no slowdowns are experienced there. :cool:

I'm going to call Crutchfield to learn which radio can replace my Uconnect and free my truck and personal data from the spying eyes of stellantis.

.

If you're that concerned about privacy, you might want to look into Linux distros. Though if you have Windows specific apps, they won't work. You can run a VM for Windows if you don't need them full time. I've tried many of them, though not really for privacy reasons. I work with Windows all day and would rather have something different at home.

For Crutchfield, I'm curious what they will tell you. At least per the website 'You can't replace the radio in your vehicle because of dash configuration, safety issues, or electrical compatibility.' If you talk to a sales rep and explain that you're ok with using idatalink, not sure if they'll be willing to recommend anything. I prefer Alpine, Kenwood would be my second choice.
 
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