I don't think anybody here has said that they don't want MB to fix this. We are just pointing out the reality, and how decisions are made in big companies like MB.

I myself am a Software Engineer and my role has required presenting information to the leadership with the data required to make key company decisions like these within a very large company, weighing tradeoffs among multiple options, feasibility analysis, building bridge solutions, etc. and just pointing out typical management practices.

Of course as I said, if the executives higher up do feel inclined to hear these concerns and address them, I wouldn't mind. I encourage folks to contact mbusa and complain about these issues. At the same time, do not maintain unrealistic expectations that you will see this addressed.

 

I see a future (2021 or possibly 2022) where this will be fixed for a price. You will be able to pick what options you want and even be able to get ED for it. Price will be for a new vehicle.

 

Hi,
does anyone have android auto connectivity issue?
When I connect my phone, android auto is loading in and in 5 seconds phone or the car is cuting the connection.
A differebt phons is working with the car (same cable) and the phone is working with a different car as well.
I have absolutely no clue what the issue might be.
Thanks for your help, Z

 

Try using a high quality cable. It's possible that doing so will solve your issue.

 

The second generation of AAWireless dongle now supports use of the full screen for Android Auto. Once the dongle is connected to your car, just go to the the AAWireless companion app and select the AA over Carplay protocol - one time setup. It worked flawlessly!

AA delivered a solution for $69 where Mercedes failed.

My car is a 2017 E300 and my phone is a Pixel 5a running Android Auto 10.96.

 

Thanks, this looks very promising. I see a lot of reviews of connections keep dropping between the phone and the device. Have you had any connection dropping issues?

 

I've been using the Ottocast Pro for the last 2 years because it provides Widescreen for AA as well. I haven't had any issues with dropping. But alas the Ottocast wasn't just $69.

 

So far no connection issues. Please be advised that the AA over Carplay protocol is still in beta. So you can expect to experience some stability issues while they resolve the bugs.

 

Thank you both for the great info! And @ardenne90 for bringing this up again with a solution. Very cool.

I'll probably go with the Ottocast in the hopes a higher price may possibly equate to a higher quality.

I had AA in my W205 and I miss it. I have not used AA since I bought my W213 for the same reason I would not watch a television where the whole left 1/3 of the screen was black with a Sony logo.

 

I wouldnt go with Ottocast if I was you. It had some issues with being stretched few pixels out of the screen. Mainly the bottom bar was little bit off.

Any way, I have one very important question about AAWireless and Ottocast. Since it uses Carplay protocol, does it also mean that Waze/Google maps wont show in hud? Currently Headup display shows navigation for android auto, but doesnt work on carplay. So I wonder if using Android via carplay protocols means only fixing the screen space, or also crippling the navigation on hud. Can @ardenne90 give some insight?

 

I've never noticed that Android Auto showed on my Heads Up Display. In full disclosure, I actually preferred the MB Comand set up for navigation but after I found out that I wasn't allowed to subscribe to have traffic alerts and map updates after the original free period, I jumped to AA. I already use AA in my other vehicles and with Satellite view it looks to my eye quite amazing in the W213 since it fills the whole screen.

 

All the AA apps are available.. Google Maps is actually shown in the photo I shared in my original post.

 

He's asking about whether it shows up in the HUD, not on the center infotainment screen. If it shows in HUD (Heads Up Display) could you take a picture?

 

Thanks. Do you know what model/version had this display issue? The one I'm eyeballing is the U2-X Pro 2 in 1, which appears to be a fresh version that may not have this issue.

 

Like many I was very unhappy when my MB Navigation subscription expired and not interested in paying the expensive annual prices, so I turned to Android Auto for my Samsung 22 Ultra phone.
I have the 2017 S213 wagon with P3 package including Heads Up Display, 12.4" LCD speedometer cluster, Distronic cruise control, and radar based accident prevention (the main reason for getting the P3).

I have used several AndroidAuto wireless adapters including the AA Motorola, Ottocast (two generations) and AAWireless.
I love the convenience of just getting in and driving with nothing to connect, especially when I have set up the destination on my desktop/laptop and sent it to the phone, or already set a destination in the house and the phone stays in my pocket.
Battery life can suffer on long trips, so I just make sure to power it with a charging cable in the console.

The AA Motorola device is reliable, but does not support firmware updates for bug fixes, compatibility and features.
When connecting it for Android Auto (AA) over the Android Auto interface (/AA) or "AA/AA", it does show the directions in the Heads Up Display (HUD), and in the secondary navigation display in the speedometer cluster when selected in the customization.
It does not take advantage of the extended Wide Screen Display resolution (WD), and instead shows the annoying Standard Display resolution (SD) Android Auto logo.
Connections are reliable and easy, it's a good unit for AA/AA.

My AAWireless device works about the same as the AA Motorola device in AA/AA mode, but with the benefit of control, customization and updates through their Android App.
It supports the additional Second Screen (SS) in the speedometer cluster and HUDbut just standard display resolution (SD) on the 12.4" center LCD - essentially the same as the AAMotorola device.
Connections are also reliable and easy.

When I tried the OttoCast devices (older and newer generations) it was similar similar to the AA Wireless, except for the App for updates and Beta program, so I returned them both.

I have been working with the AAWireless folks as a Beta tester and provided significant feedback. images and videos to get the unit working with Android Auto over CarPlay or "AA/CP"
The first was to get the MB controller dial to work and allow clicking and jogging to switch and navigate active Apps - and they have fixed, broken and fixed again that for me - and you :-)
Beta firmware updates are as often as weekly or even daily to support different vehicles and fix bugs - I appreciate they are very active.
It now properly supports Widescreen Display (WD) with a larger and detailed map using the full space. No noticeable stretching of fonts - you can select from several resolutions. Text is slightly on the small size - especially to the big fonts used in CarPlay.
Jogging the controller goes between Android Apps and rotating scrolls through the icons.
A long press of the Voice Control (VC) button triggers the Android voice input for navigation and other commands.
I immediately found that the icons for Android App selection were partly blocked from view by the steering wheel, so I switched the icon position from Auto (car detect) to fixed, pushing them to the passenger side, in the Android Auto App options on the phone.

Unfortunately the AAWireless in AA/CP mode does not support HUD or the Second Screen (SS).
The HUD is a big deal in city traffic or at busy exits. I have often thought things like the HUD, Keyless Go, auto high beam dimming, Wireless AA, were gimmicks, but quickly found they are very convenient features I don't want to lose.
I am not sure the HUD is actually a supported feature in CarPlay, as when I connect an iPhone to the car with a cable in CP/CP mode, the HUD and Second Display (SD) are not shown either.
This makes me believe the CarPlay interface in the S213/W213 does not support HUD, so getting that functionality in AA/CP is unlikely to ever come along.
I have asked AA Wireless about supporting the HUD but not got a reply on that - so the answer is probably no.

Probably the end of my story is that I have both the AA Motorola device, and will plug that in if I need the HUD.
For everyday use I keep the AA Wireless device plugged in for the widescreen benefit.

If anyone has got the HUD display working on CarPlay either AA/CP or CP/CP - please post which iPhone version, S213/W123 year, model and options package.

 

I cannot find this option in the app (AACP protocol). Possibly bcz my car is a W222, but I would think not. I searched the app, even turned on Developer mode but don't see any way to select this protocol. Can you tell me in which menu this appears? I have a 2018 S560 and the AAWireless has worked fine except I would prefer the widescreen image.

 

The AA over CP protocol option is only available for GEN 2 devices for AAWireless. Also, make sure you have the latest beta firmware installed. Mine is currently at 3.2.1 (see screenshot below).

 

In the AAWireless App on our phone click on Settings (cog icon) in the top right corner.
Scroll down and set the CarPlay (Beta) slider option.
Then in your car go to the Connect option and look for your device in the Apple CarPlay list.

 

Thanks for that. I suppose my device is Gen 1 but I didn't see anything that clearly says that, nor on the AAWireless site. I guess I could buy another one if that's the case and would immediately if I didn't lose HUD just for the widescreen. Maybe when both are available. Thanks again.

 

Thanks for very detailed and extensive information!
If I could clarify some points:
"AA Motorola" point - AA/AA works the same with most of the phones (I have tried Google Pixels, Samsungs) - both work great aswell, limitation is the car implementation.
"AAWireless device works same as Android device in AA/AA mode, but with the benefit of control" point - Main problem here is that limitation is the Car implementation, so we cant get much benefits. Updating the AAwireless dongle doesnt mean updating the cars AA implementation unfortunatelly.
"If anyone has got the HUD display working on CarPlay either AA/CP or CP/CP" point = I have tested lot of the iphones, various iOS versions. HUD doesnt work, but Its not because of Carplay in generall, Its because of W213 preFL Carplay implementation.

We basically got car, that has buggy both AA and Carplay implementations. But both have different bugs:
W213 AA protocol/implementation = not full screen, hud works, different audio profile.
W213 carplay protocol/implementation= Almost as good as carplay can get, but without HUD (=hud is bugged/non existent), different audio profile. Audio in carplay is much more flat, but there is less cut of frequencies (sounds better, if you can fix your EQ). Also has better resolution than Android Auto.

=Used phone doesnt matter, car headunit protocol selection between AA or CP decides what will work.
But, If AAWireless team could teardown, how the protocol works (what "code" does working AA HUD use to work) compared to Carplay, maybe they could help us with some hybrid solution built up into the AAWireless dongle.

Other than that, only future command (car SW) update can help us. But even the latest version of SW from 2021 still has this problem, and Benz wont probably release any more updates for preFL.
I am also thinking about enabling engineering mode in my car (basically coding inside headunit), to see if there are any relevant parameters to change to fix the AA/Carplay issues. Without EM, there is only ability to change call volume, volume separation, dynamic volume and other useless crap.

 

Thank you all for your inputs and detailed info here. This is very useful to me, and I'm sure many others.

I'm probably just thinking out loud here, but I'm leaning more towards the AAWireless box now.

Myself, I'm just looking for a stable solution to provide full large screen AA display without audio quality loss from what I currently get from my phone's Bluetooth direct audio connection.

I can live without the instrument cluster and HUD nav options, but it would be a cool bonus.

 

Mine is the U2-X Wireless CarPlay/Android Auto 2 in 1 Adapter × 1 which can do both CarPlay and Android Auto.

 

Cool, thanks man. If you're into music, have you noticed any audio quality or audio levels issues when piping audio through this box?

 

Thanks MatrixHaj for adding the clarifications!

I was not aware of the differences in audio quality between AA/AA and AA/CP, and now ill probably be more disappointed!

Bottom line, we are likely stuck with the current choice:
either HUD + SS + audio + Logo or Widescreen Display (WD)

I understand that retro-active software changes to debug and support newer hardware on a huge number of vehicles and options is a big deal for the manufacturer.

 

I am coming from a W205 2019 C63S which uses a similar in-car hardware as the W213. I have ordered the AAWireless dongle after seeing all these recent posts about being able to utilize the full width of the screen.

I don't have HUD in my car, but I do have the in-dash AA view that shows up when I turn on Navigation using AA. Most likely I will lose this once I enable carplay mode, but I can live with that since I don't use that view most of the time, especially if I can get a full widescreen view on the main display.

I will share how it goes once I receive the dongle this week.