Wireless CarPlay Dongle

[james.h.morris68]

I have one. It worked. Once. Then it didn’t. iPhone would connect to it but no display on the screen. I tried it with an iPhone 8, X, and two different models of 11. Same results. I deleted the CarPlay connection and tried again. Again it connected once and never again. It’s now sitting in my box of various things I bought that I thought would work and didn’t. Not meaning to poopoo this but the only way we’ll get wireless CarPlay is if fca gets off their asses and enables it......like GM did 4 years ago.


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[7amada]

I have one. It worked. Once. Then it didn’t. iPhone would connect to it but no display on the screen. I tried it with an iPhone 8, X, and two different models of 11. Same results. I deleted the CarPlay connection and tried again. Again it connected once and never again. It’s now sitting in my box of various things I bought that I thought would work and didn’t. Not meaning to poopoo this but the only way we’ll get wireless CarPlay is if fca gets off their asses and enables it......like GM did 4 years ago.


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Shoot

 

[Neurobit]

Here’s another review. Good stuff:

Cheers,

 

[green68mustang_2002]

For one thing, this product has NOT been released for OUR generation of Ram trucks. I have heard of people using them on our trucks with no problems, but was told by the company that they would notify me when it was working flawlessly for our trucks.

 

[Neurobit]

For one thing, this product has NOT been released for OUR generation of Ram trucks. I have heard of people using them on our trucks with no problems, but was told by the company that they would notify me when it was working flawlessly for our trucks.

True, but there are a few folks on the macrumors boards running them w/o issues on uconnect vehicles like jeeps. It’s a coin toss for sure.

 

[Ortiz7983]

Off topic but does anyone know if our trucks have NFC capabilities?

 

[gHiDoRa]

Off topic but does anyone know if our trucks have NFC capabilities?

I very very doubt.

 

[Neurobit]

Off topic but does anyone know if our trucks have NFC capabilities?

Nothing on it on the service manual, so the answer is probably not.

 

[mfuduli]

What are you trying to find out?

If the dongle works for our truck. According to others it doesn’t. I am still waiting to hear from company.


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[green68mustang_2002]

If the dongle works for our truck. According to others it doesn’t. I am still waiting to hear from company.


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If you follow the thread from the beginning post, it has been said that there were people with 5th gens running this product with no issues, but the company hasn’t officially released it for our trucks. I have chatted with them and told them that i have heard of the ones running it, but they just told me that i would be notified when it is officially released for our trucks.

 

[Ortiz7983]

So does this go plugged in into the USB or USB-C port? I really would hate it to just have it there hanging. Especially with the right side phone holder there. Would hate for that to be blocked. I like a clean look.

 

[green68mustang_2002]

So does this go plugged in into the USB or USB-C port? I really would hate it to just have it there hanging. Especially with the right side phone holder there. Would hate for that to be blocked. I like a clean look.

It does. You can place the actual part back behind the trim under the radio snd just run the usb plug out. This is how i routed my cable for my iphone and mount.

 

[stevestrike]

OK well I guess I owe you all a mini-review!

The part arrived Friday afternoon, so I popped it into the truck as soon as I got home. Pairing was a bit finicky, and the instructions are pure ****e. However, it seemed to connect at first, then it didn't, then it did. At one point when it was connected, I was able to go to the update website and it said there was an updated firmware--this is absolutely critical. After installing the firmware, the unit was more stable and seemed to work the way you would expect.

So today I drove around with it, about 7-8 times in and out of the car. All but once my phone connected and the Carplay began automatically. I would say it takes 15-20 seconds after you turn the car on for your phone to connect. The experience has been generally good, but not flawless.

Positives:

• When it works, which has been 90% of the time, it's really neat. Phone is tucked away in my pocket and I have full Carplay access

Negatives/unknowns:

• Remote start might be an issue. The one time it didn't connect for me was when I used remote start. I unplugged the unit from the USB port and reconnected it and my phone connected to it fine after that
• My backup camera has been iffy while the unit is plugged in. Sometimes it doesn't come up automatically when going into reverse--but other times it works just fine so I'm not sure what's going on. The screen icon works just fine
• One time, I shut the truck off and it restarted itself immediately. That was very weird. Did I mash the start button twice by accident, or was something else going on? I don't know.
• There is a very slight lag when using the Carplay interfece vs. hard wired. However, it's more than acceptable.
• I'm not sure how wireless Carplay is supposed to work, but this unit seems to connect to your phone via both bluetooth & wifi. However, niether one actually shows that they are connected from the phone side once you are actually using the unit.
• The center console USB port does not work for Carplay. It looks like you must use either 1/2 that are under the screen, or #3 in the back seat if you have that option.

So the bottom line is that it's new/experimental, but if it works for me the way it did today I would be very happy. I have not spent enough time in the truck to experience all of the bugs I'm sure, but if I've seen the worst of it then this is a great improvement from stock

Tips: disconnect/forget the Uconnect in the truck and then update the firmware immediately. I am using an iPhone 11 on iOS 13.4

 

[Neurobit]

Thanks for the detailed review!

 

[mfuduli]

OK well I guess I owe you all a mini-review!

The part arrived Friday afternoon, so I popped it into the truck as soon as I got home. Pairing was a bit finicky, and the instructions are pure ****e. However, it seemed to connect at first, then it didn't, then it did. At one point when it was connected, I was able to go to the update website and it said there was an updated firmware--this is absolutely critical. After installing the firmware, the unit was more stable and seemed to work the way you would expect.

So today I drove around with it, about 7-8 times in and out of the car. All but once my phone connected and the Carplay began automatically. I would say it takes 15-20 seconds after you turn the car on for your phone to connect. The experience has been generally good, but not flawless.

Positives:

• When it works, which has been 90% of the time, it's really neat. Phone is tucked away in my pocket and I have full Carplay access

Negatives/unknowns:

• Remote start might be an issue. The one time it didn't connect for me was when I used remote start. I unplugged the unit from the USB port and reconnected it and my phone connected to it fine after that
• My backup camera has been iffy while the unit is plugged in. Sometimes it doesn't come up automatically when going into reverse--but other times it works just fine so I'm not sure what's going on. The screen icon works just fine
• One time, I shut the truck off and it restarted itself immediately. That was very weird. Did I mash the start button twice by accident, or was something else going on? I don't know.
• There is a very slight lag when using the Carplay interfece vs. hard wired. However, it's more than acceptable.
• I'm not sure how wireless Carplay is supposed to work, but this unit seems to connect to your phone via both bluetooth & wifi. However, niether one actually shows that they are connected from the phone side once you are actually using the unit.
• The center console USB port does not work for Carplay. It looks like you must use either 1/2 that are under the screen, or #3 in the back seat if you have that option.

So the bottom line is that it's new/experimental, but if it works for me the way it did today I would be very happy. I have not spent enough time in the truck to experience all of the bugs I'm sure, but if I've seen the worst of it then this is a great improvement from stock

Tips: disconnect/forget the Uconnect in the truck and then update the firmware immediately. I am using an iPhone 11 on iOS 13.4

Thanks so much for the update. You should send these issues and any other that you encounter to the company and they can correct them. Your feedback is very important to the company this way they find out about the issues faster and correct them with firmware updates and you will have less issues. With that being said in a perfect world they should do this .


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[green68mustang_2002]

Thanks so much for the update. You should send these issues and any other that you encounter to the company and they can correct them. Your feedback is very important to the company this way they find out about the issues faster and correct them with firmware updates and you will have less issues. With that being said in a perfect world they should do this .


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Well, this hasn’t officially been released for the 5th gen Ram yet so im sure there are some bugs to continue working out for them.

 

[RiskReward]

OK well I guess I owe you all a mini-review!

The part arrived Friday afternoon...

Thanks for testing and for the review. Bummer it doesn’t work tucked away in the center console. Is the wire long enough to stash it somewhere or does it hang?

Sounds like the ability to go handsfree is entirely dependent on this unit functioning since you’ve foregone the Uconnect entirely? Assume this is a must.

Does the phone-talk function well? Like good quality on both ends of the phone?

Thanks again!

 

[Neurobit]

Thanks for testing and for the review. Bummer it doesn’t work tucked away in the center console. Is the wire long enough to stash it somewhere or does it hang?

Sounds like the ability to go handsfree is entirely dependent on this unit functioning since you’ve foregone the Uconnect entirely? Assume this is a must.

Does the phone-talk function well? Like good quality on both ends of the phone?

Thanks again!

It does not bypass Uconnect, as it needs it for CarPlay. It‘s jut an interface that connects Uconnect to the phone wirelessly.

 

[RiskReward]

Right but I understood it to require that the phone to “forget” UConnect. So if it doesn’t connect for some reason then your phone will not be able to connect to uConnect as a “backup” - Is that right?

 

[stevestrike]

Right but I understood it to require that the phone to “forget” UConnect. So if it doesn’t connect for some reason then your phone will not be able to connect to uConnect as a “backup” - Is that right?

I removed Uconnect pairing from my phone to prevent issues with the phone trying to connect to multiple Bluetooth connections at the same time. You can always re-add and pair to Uconnect again if you wanted to. Or just plug in to USB and use Carplay the old-fashioned way.

The cable for the adapter is very short. I'm sure you could buy an extension if you wanted to. I may try hanging mine off the backseat #3 and just let it be.

I've only had one phone call on it so far, so I don't know about quality yet. Hopefully today will afford more opportunity to play around with it.

Issues with the backup camera seem to have gone away. Remote start remains an issue in that I need to go into my phone and tap the correct Bluetooth connection to force it if I've used remote start. Other than that, it's worked very reliably for the few days I've had it. I'll post back in a few weeks/month for a more long-term review