Wireless CarPlay Dongle

[Moparian]

Here‘s one thing I found. If you need to disconnect, leave it unplugged for 3-4 seconds, since I noticed light stays on for a couple of seconds after unplugging it. I’m no EE, but assume a capacitor is holding a charge for that long, so if you plug it back in immediately, it will stay disconnected.

Yea I always leave it unplugged for 5-10 seconds before plugging it back in. I'll get the connection screen and it shows my phone but when I click on it, it usually just fails after a few seconds and goes back to the phone selection screen.

 

[AresSK]

Just to share my experience, I haven't used it much but I do notice a 1-2 second delay when skipping songs via either the steering wheel or the screen. I have a 2019 Limited.

 

[Moparian]

Just to share my experience, I haven't used it much but I do notice a 1-2 second delay when skipping songs via either the steering wheel or the screen. I have a 2019 Limited.

Mine is the same. I updated to the iOS 14 public beta and it seems to have reversed the issue I was having with Waze so now instead of the music skipping when a prompt comes up, the Waze prompt skips and breaks up while the music continues. I suppose I would rather have it this way as I don't really care about the prompts so much as the music. I'll see if it resolves any connection issues with remote start etc.

 

[Dlmx]

Got mine in today and it doesn’t work at all. Tried all 4 USB ports and got nothing. Guess I got a defective one. Ugh!

 

[LimitedGRR]

For those of you that use amazon music a d also upgraded to iOS 14 beta, you might see that Amazon music doesn’t launch. Simply uninstall and reinstall Amazon music and it works flawlessly once again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rsday75]

Mine finally arrived!!
Ordered 04/26.
Haven’t got to play with it a ton.
Seems to work fine with all I have tried including phone calls, nav, steering wheel controls.....
Oddly enough, it had the latest firmware.
leads me to believe they got behind on orders, and tracking was a lie to buy time.....

 

[SpeedyV]

@SpeedyV ...can you repeat it or did it only happen this one time?

I've finally got an update to share on this.

I reached out to CARPLAY2air to describe my issue (i.e. CARPLAY2air forcing my surround-view camera screen to stay online until vehicle shut-off).

To my surprise, "Roxanne" provided some suggestions around updating the firmware via USB. I did so, although I can't confirm whether it was actually updated. And the behavior I experienced was unchanged.

BUT I've learned something new, and it is repeatable:

• If I start the truck and wait 10-20 seconds to put it in gear (until Apple CarPlay appears on my screen), it will work flawlessly.
• If I start the truck and select a gear anytime before CarPlay is fully connected (i.e. CARPLAY2air fully boots, connects to my iPhone Xs, and displays CarPlay on screen), then the surround-view camera screen is forced.

Note: If I had to make an educated guess, I'd presume that CARPLAY2air has a resource conflict with the surround-view system on my truck, such that CARPLAY2air is expecting a specific slot that is taken by the surround-view camera screen if it is called up first. So CARPLAY2air is force-locking the screen to a signal that it "thinks" is CarPlay but is actually the surround-view camera feed. I've provided this feedback to CARPLAY2air.

So...while the long wait can be annoying, at least I know how to work around the issue.

 

[Neurobit]

I've finally got an update to share on this.

I reached out to CARPLAY2air to describe my issue (i.e. CARPLAY2air forcing my surround-view camera screen to stay online until vehicle shut-off).

To my surprise, "Roxanne" provided some suggestions around updating the firmware via USB. I did so, although I can't confirm whether it was actually updated. And the behavior I experienced was unchanged.

BUT I've learned something new, and it is repeatable:

• If I start the truck and wait 10-20 seconds to put it in gear (until Apple CarPlay appears on my screen), it will work flawlessly.
• If I start the truck and select a gear anytime before CarPlay is fully connected (i.e. CARPLAY2air fully boots, connects to my iPhone Xs, and displays CarPlay on screen), then the surround-view camera screen is forced.

Note: If I had to make an educated guess, I'd presume that CARPLAY2air has a resource conflict with the surround-view system on my truck, such that CARPLAY2air is expecting a specific slot that is taken by the surround-view camera screen if it is called up first. So CARPLAY2air is force-locking the screen to a signal that it "thinks" is CarPlay but is actually the surround-view camera feed. I've provided this feedback to CARPLAY2air.

So...while the long wait can be annoying, at least I know how to work around the issue.

Thanks for the update.
This is not normal behavior though. Wish I were closer to you so you can try mine...

 

[SpeedyV]

Thanks for the update.
This is not normal behavior though. Wish I were closer to you so you can try mine...

I received an email this morning asking for me to return the adapter for exchange with a new one. I guess they're done with support on this one Maybe the wait will be worth some entertainment value (ordered 4/29, received problematic adapter in July, will receive working adapter in...October?).

 

[securityguy]

I received an email this morning asking for me to return the adapter for exchange with a new one. I guess they're done with support on this one Maybe the wait will be worth some entertainment value (ordered 4/29, received problematic adapter in July, will receive working adapter in...October?).

They are stating that now that China is more back to "normal", standard ship times are less than 2 weeks. I guess we'll all see based on your upcoming experience

 

[Neurobit]

They are stating that now that China is more back to "normal", standard ship times are less than 2 weeks. I guess we'll all see based on your upcoming experience

Should look great in your flying car in 2085...

 

[SpeedyV]

Should look great in your flying car in 2085...

The secret is to get the truck to 88 mph. Then everything works as expected. How did I miss that?

Scratch that: This is only true for eTorque-equipped trucks. Sorry, @Neurobit

 

[Neurobit]

The secret is to get the truck to 88 mph. Then everything works as expected. How did I miss that?

Scratch that: This is only true for eTorque-equipped trucks. Sorry, @Neurobit

Except you'd need some Pu to make it work...

 

[Gatornation9999]

I ordered mine last Friday and chose express. Got it yesterday. Works pretty well. Takes a little longer to connect than I would’ve thought. There’s also probably a 0.5 sec delay on Spotify when skipping forward or back. Both minor issues. Overall has worked great!

 

[securityguy]

Great to hear Gator. It takes, on average, about 14 seconds to connect.

 

[BlckDT]

Anyone know if there are release notes when version updates become available? I was on the latest version earlier this month after receiving my dongle. Now a new update took place (7/17) but curious as to what is fixed or added.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[securityguy]

I know they told me that they are constantly updating the hardware to work with more and more vehicles. I am unaware of them posting anything that states exactly what an update does or fixes. I'll reach out to my contacts and see if I can get release notes.

I just ran out and completed my upgrade...only took a few minutes and all appears to be fine.

 

[Neurobit]

I know they told me that they are constantly updating the hardware to work with more and more vehicles. I am unaware of them posting anything that states exactly what an update does or fixes. I'll reach out to my contacts and see if I can get release notes.

I just ran out and completed my upgrade...only took a few minutes and all appears to be fine.

I’ll try and post back. Mine has been disconnecting randomly but I attribute it to iOS 14 beta 2. When I was running beta 1, everything was a-OK.

 

[cjh0702]

Hey guys. I'm pretty new to this forum. I bought my Bighorn a couple of weeks ago and have loved all of the suggestions/advice on these posts.

After reading all of the reviews on here, I decided to go ahead and buy one of these. I ordered express shipping, and it got to me today (6 days between order and delivery). I started receiving tracking info on the third day from DHL. That being said, they were constantly sending me texts about changing my delivery option so that it did not require a signature, in order to remove them from any liability (I assume in case the package was broken in transit). I didn't, of course, since I've never dealt with them before. Regardless, the driver delivers, and leaves before I can get to my door, so no signature was required anyway. So if anyone else comes across DHL asking them to change the delivery method, I don't recommend it since it transfers the liability to you, and because they deliver it without your signature anyway.

But back to the product. As has been stated multiple times on this thread, it is pretty intuitive. I followed all of the advice given on here (no connections to any bluetooth or WiFi on the first install). It took about 10-20 seconds for the device to recognize my iPhone 7+. It didn't require a firmware update and it started working once it was connected! Music comes through crystal clear and google maps works really well.

Some things I have noticed about this product after just one day of use:
- I tried "hiding it in the small recess where the CD play was supposed to go. I found that if it was jarred in any way (small pothole or sharp turn) it would disconnect and want to reconnect. I verified this by wiggling the usb connecter a little while it was plugged in. I assume that its just sensitive to the physical connection, so I moved it to the small section on the right of the phone holder to keep it put. It fit snug and hasn't presented any connection issues since (pictures below).

- Pandora can be a little finicky, but I found that it is a CarPlay issue and not attributed to this product. Pandora likes to freeze up on occasion when I switch over to other apps and back. But I was able to recreate the problem when there was a physical connection from my phone to the truck, without this product.

One thing that may or may not be attributed to this product (or CarPlay) is that google maps was very low on volume compared to the music that I was playing when I was driving down the road. I found that I could adjust the volume for google maps whenever it was giving me prompts, so I was able to "fix" the problem by waiting until it gave me directions and turning up the volume while it "spoke". This didn't affect the music volume, so I was happy with that. I haven't had the chance to recreate the issue, so I'll check it again when I get the chance. But in case anyone else has had this happen to them, I was wondering if anyone knew what I could do to set the navigation volume to max without having to wait for it to give me directions first.

All in all, I really like this product. The fact that it connects automatically is a plus for me. And I love that it also gives me a battery indicator for my phone that I can see without having to look at my phone. It works as advertised.

 

[Neurobit]

Hey guys. I'm pretty new to this forum. I bought my Bighorn a couple of weeks ago and have loved all of the suggestions/advice on these posts.

After reading all of the reviews on here, I decided to go ahead and buy one of these. I ordered express shipping, and it got to me today (6 days between order and delivery). I started receiving tracking info on the third day from DHL. That being said, they were constantly sending me texts about changing my delivery option so that it did not require a signature, in order to remove them from any liability (I assume in case the package was broken in transit). I didn't, of course, since I've never dealt with them before. Regardless, the driver delivers, and leaves before I can get to my door, so no signature was required anyway. So if anyone else comes across DHL asking them to change the delivery method, I don't recommend it since it transfers the liability to you, and because they deliver it without your signature anyway.

But back to the product. As has been stated multiple times on this thread, it is pretty intuitive. I followed all of the advice given on here (no connections to any bluetooth or WiFi on the first install). It took about 10-20 seconds for the device to recognize my iPhone 7+. It didn't require a firmware update and it started working once it was connected! Music comes through crystal clear and google maps works really well.

Some things I have noticed about this product after just one day of use:
- I tried "hiding it in the small recess where the CD play was supposed to go. I found that if it was jarred in any way (small pothole or sharp turn) it would disconnect and want to reconnect. I verified this by wiggling the usb connecter a little while it was plugged in. I assume that its just sensitive to the physical connection, so I moved it to the small section on the right of the phone holder to keep it put. It fit snug and hasn't presented any connection issues since (pictures below).

- Pandora can be a little finicky, but I found that it is a CarPlay issue and not attributed to this product. Pandora likes to freeze up on occasion when I switch over to other apps and back. But I was able to recreate the problem when there was a physical connection from my phone to the truck, without this product.

One thing that may or may not be attributed to this product (or CarPlay) is that google maps was very low on volume compared to the music that I was playing when I was driving down the road. I found that I could adjust the volume for google maps whenever it was giving me prompts, so I was able to "fix" the problem by waiting until it gave me directions and turning up the volume while it "spoke". This didn't affect the music volume, so I was happy with that. I haven't had the chance to recreate the issue, so I'll check it again when I get the chance. But in case anyone else has had this happen to them, I was wondering if anyone knew what I could do to set the navigation volume to max without having to wait for it to give me directions first.

All in all, I really like this product. The fact that it connects automatically is a plus for me. And I love that it also gives me a battery indicator for my phone that I can see without having to look at my phone. It works as advertised.

Great mini-review!
Welcome to the forum!

Pls add your truck's vitals to your signature when you have a moment.
This makes it easier for other folks to help in case you have questions or concerns about your vehicle.