Yeah.
Plugging in my iphone every time and dealing with the wires was giving me the ****s. I thought I could do it but - man I'm lazy. Also worried about the port on the phone with my old eyes and trying to stab cables into the right places... Plus I hated having to find my phone in my pocket first, after already rolling and realizing I didn't plug it in...

 

Wireless CarPlay adapters aren't flawless, but I genuinely believe Carlinkit outperforms other brands. Here's a comprehensive review of the Carlinkit 5.0.

https://carlinkitcarplay.com/blogs/g...er-full-review

 

I know it is for Android auto and not carplay, but I use the Motorola MA1. I have it double sided to to top of the lid so that I can still use the wireless charging pad and both cup holders. It is barely noticeable and works like a charm. I wonder if someone makes a small unit like that for Apple.

 

Yeah, the bulky size, boot times and the addition of at least some lag has so far detracted me. The thing with Android Auto is that it natively supports bridging, and the MA1 takes advantage of that, whereas with CarPlay, the whole adapter has to pretend to be a head unit and for example decode the compressed audio to turn it into lossless audio for wired CarPlay.

 

I have the Android Auto version of this and it has been flawless:

Wireless CarPlay - Wired CarPlay Convert Cars Wireless CarPlay，Wireless CarPlay Adapter，Apple CarPlay Wireless Adapter，Plug & Play Fast and Easy Use Fit for Cars from 2016 & iPhone iOS 10+ https://a.co/d/fvfvLQ6

 

Just came across this if anyone is looking for a deal

2023 Carlinkit 5.0 (CPC200-2AIR) - Auto Wireless Adapter for OEM wired CarPlay and Android $39
This deal is back, enable wireless connectivity to the existing wired Carplay + Android Auto in your vehicle.

Use code: CP51 to bring the price down to $39 shipped before taxes. Remove shipping insurance to get the price.

https://www.lightinthebox.com/en/...43179.html

 

I've bought from that website before and everything came as ordered, no issues

 

Works great

 

Good unit, COMAND would disconnect every 5 mins until I changed the frame rate in the settings. Not sure if MBUX has the same problem.

 

So far so good and it boots up FAST compared to the other brand I had in the W212. It's ready to go as soon as the car is on and I'm reversing out of the garage.

The only "glitch" was I did not read the directions and tried joining the WiFi instead of the Bluetooth and nothing worked. As soon as I joined the Bluetooth with my phone instead of the WiFi it worked immediately. No idea why but that's good enough for me.

 

I believe the BT connection is used as the handshake in order to connect to the Local Area Network WiFi that it creates and for higher bandwidth. Once WiFi is established, the BT connection disconnects. I believe they do this for easier security and a bit of automation, forces your phone to connect to the dongle's WiFi once you're in your car, instead of remaining connected to your home WiFi for example while you're in your garage.

 

In a nutshell. Also, the Wi-Fi connection that CarPlay uses is not a routable data connection, otherwise the phone would try to access the Internet through the CarPlay adapter. It's a connection to exchange video and audio data. Joining the Wi-Fi sets up a routable data connection, not a video/audio connection, so the connection is established via BT, and then the video/audio connection is established over Wi-Fi to get the higher bandwidth required to stream video.

 

Thanks guys! Learn something new every day!

 

@superswiss definitely knows his stuff. Thanks I didn't know there was a WiFi protocol specifically for Audi and video.

 

Hey do the Carlinkit or Ottocast, support full screen and also allow you to play other apps like YouTube, Netflix etc? thanks

 

Resolution depends on the headunit you connect to and host negotiates it during handshake. As for youtube on AA you can try this little hack

https://www.slashgear.com/1291027/es...oad-right-now/

 

this link is for Android users right? I have wired CarPlay in my 21 gle 53 and using iPhone,

 

Try this one, worked for.my pal

 

Cool, this might work for YouTube needs specifically, I'm looking for something that will allow me to use my own apps on my phone, Idk if there is such a product but appreciate the info

 

This was interesting and I just did more research on it and it unfortunately doesn't support IOS 17+ so that's a no go

 

this looks interesting

 

Oh, check out the latest arrival: the Carlinkit Tbox UHD. Its standout feature is the ability to connect to another screen in the back seat to display videos.

https://carlinkitcarplay.com/product...with-hd-output

 

Dumb question. I've been researching these adapters and my understanding is that android auto/carplay component is going through wi-fi and BT is used for calls.

If this is the case, does this mean you're solely reliant on android auto/carplay for calls, or does the conventional Bluetooth calling from phone still operate? In parallel?

If not, how's the experience on phone calls? My concern is everything in this arena has been flakey...and I'd like to be reliable on calls!

 

It still uses BT for calls. No difference. Wifi is just for the phone to control the screen. All the pixels of the car's display are under the phone's control. That takes more bandwidth than BT has, so a wifi channel is opened in parallel for the video stream. But the BT profiles continue to operate.

 

I believe this somewhat varies between Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. I only have experience with Apple CarPlay. CarPlay disables BT while active and all the phone operations are handled by CarPlay. To make/receive phone calls you use the Phone app via CarPlay. If the phone is disconnected from CarPlay, then the BT functions resume and phone calls are handled again through COMAND/MBUX. This is generally mostly seamless, except if you want to make a phone call while CarPlay is active, you have to use Siri to do so. You can't make phone calls through COMAND/MBUX or voice commands. You have to invoke Siri to make the call. Incoming calls are fairly transparent. You can accept them via the steering wheel buttons, but on the display you will see the iOS phone app popping up.