Android / Apple Carplay

[pobrown]

See my video above. 
Connects CarPlay wirelessly - no need to plug in every time you get in the car. 

[spacenase]

4 hours ago, pobrown said:

Might be of interest the CPlay2Air device has been discounted to £75 for Black Friday. 

https://cplay2air.com/products/cplaystreamer-wireless-adapter-for-factory-carplay-android-auto-module-and-mirror-link-feature

Grrrr! I ordered mine a week ago at just over £100 and I'm still waiting for it to arrive from China.

By the way, the UK£ price they show is not necessarily accurate. When you order it the price is in US$ (currently $99) and you pay whatever that converts to at the time. I'm assuming I'll get some import costs too.

Looking forward to trying it out though...

 

[pobrown]

When I ordered mine it actually shipped from the UK (arrive Royal Mail tracked 48) - no import charges

[spacenase]

Mine's definitely coming from China, it left Shenzhen on 24th November.

 

[Tel]

Researched the fitting of this Device & there appears to be a few niggles re poor connectivity.(?)

Tel

[Marco234]

has anyone in Canada or usa tried to get the android auto updated.we dont have any news if we are going to get it from lexus.i have a 2019 lexus nx300.

[spacenase]

On 11/28/2020 at 11:27 AM, Tel said:

Researched the fitting of this Device & there appears to be a few niggles re poor connectivity.(?)

Tel

Yes I saw that, but every device like this is going to be awkward from time to time. One review said it connects 95% of the time which I thought was pretty good really.

Mine turned up today. No import costs and a return address in Reading. It's pretty much plug and play, you just connect it to a USB port and connect the phone to the Bluetooth connection it presents and off it goes. Not much chance to test it yet, but it connected straight away after restarting the car and apart from a slight delay in response times, it seems to work well.

I'll see how it goes over the next few weeks and I'll get a chance to properly try it out on a long journey around Christmas.

 

[paulrnx]

Can I ask why is it so important to have apple CarPlay please?

[Paulaus]

6 minutes ago, paulrnx said:

Can I ask why is it so important to have Apple CarPlay please?

It means you can have apple Maps / Google Maps / Waze etc as your sat NAV in the car. Makes finding destinations much easier (ask Siri) and the map on the screen is much better than the Lexus one.  It also integrates Music and Messages app.

Because of the slight faff of having to plug into USB port, some people get the converter discussed above that gives a permanent usb connection nad syncs wirelessly to your phone. 

I’ll probably get one of those at some point, but for now tend not to bother with car play for short day to day activities, but load it up going somewhere unfamiliar, further away, or where traffic might be a concern.

[paulrnx]

Still not something I’d bother with. In fact I’d happily go back to CDs 😀

[EvilRacer329]

I'd say it's more than that...car manufacturers (Lexus included) have been making miserable user interfaces for their infotainment systems for years and years, and they're still nowhere near as easy-to-use as those on modern smartphones. It's simply a case of core competencies - Lexus builds cars, apple & Google write software. Who do you think is going to be better at the software part? So apple CarPlay/Android Auto basically put your phone's interface and a number of its apps right there on your car's computer screen, rather than whatever mess of outdated apps and functions the car's engineers thought were important.

But honestly, a really key advantage of this integration is that built-in infotainment systems age really, really quickly. Software moves on really quickly, and a 5-year-old car may seem pretty new, but a 5-year-old infotainment system will look 20 years old. It also might not work anymore - map updates stop coming, Lexus won't provide software updates forever, and any integrated features cannot be counted on to continue working in a fast-evolving world.

If you're happy listening to music off CDs, more power to you. I stream podcasts off the internet, listen to audiobooks, and sync music from my media server to my phone - all of which I can put on the car's screen via apple CarPlay. Before that, all I could do was stream it via Bluetooth or an aux-in jack, because the car's built-in systems couldn't understand any of those services. And because all they 'see' via Bluetooth is an audio stream, changing podcasts, books, albums, or anything else would require me to pull over and fish out my phone. Being able to make those changes safely from my car's controls while at a stop light or something is fantastic.

Finally, Google Maps/Apple Maps/Waze/Almost Anything On Your Phone is better than any built-in car sat-nav. What's more, you get traffic info and map updates for free via your phone's internet connection. Lexus and their ilk will surely charge you for updating your maps, and only up to a certain point.

 

TLDR; CarPlay/Android Auto is better than the built-in system in (almost) every way. 🙂

Nick

[bluenose1940]

Some good points there Nick, of particular interest to me are the maps that you can get on your phone.  When my wife is with me we always find it a better bet for her to get our destination on her phone whilst we are travelling.

Lexus tell me that my car isn't updateable to CarPlay and so I am wondering if anyone knows of anything else that is available so that I could get that would get the maps onto my in-car system.

[EvilRacer329]

Case in point, I guess. Lexus aren't interested in doing the necessary work to offer a hardware/software upgrade for older cars. Fortunately, the after-market does seem to have stepped up here - a quick google search shows stuff like this: https://www.applecarplay.net/product-page/wireless-apple-carplay-lexus-nx-2014-2020

I'd investigated this back when I was looking into an IS300h, but fortunately for me I ended up with a 2019 UX instead which was upgraded by Lexus last month.

And yes - having a navigator control everything from the phone is very handy!

Nick

[First_Lexus]

On 12/7/2020 at 9:07 PM, paulrnx said:

Still not something I’d bother with. In fact I’d happily go back to CDs 😀

^^ I still listen to CDs in the car and at home! However, I also stream from Spotify. 

I had an email about this upgrade from Lexus Swindon yesterday, however, the current arrangement (via Bluetooth) works for me at this stage so I’ll give it a miss until the Summer when the car is due a service. As long as it isn’t too expensive I can’t see why I wouldn’t have it installed then and have a play around with it. The point about the software and interface always being upgraded to match my Iphone and seems a good one.

As an aside, I hear nothing but terrible things about Google Maps although I’ve never used them myself. People I know are always moaning about them, and use Waze instead. Post upgrade, would Waze really provide a significant benefit over the Lexus system? If so, in what respects?

[subria88]

2 hours ago, First_Lexus said:

As an aside, I hear nothing but terrible things about Google Maps although I’ve never used them myself. People I know are always moaning about them, and use Waze instead. Post upgrade, would Waze really provide a significant benefit over the Lexus system? If so, in what respects?

Waze would provide crowd sourced traffic updates from other Waze users, so theoretically you would get more up to date notifications of traffic, or busy spots on during the journey.

[Andy B]

2 hours ago, First_Lexus said:

^^ I still listen to CDs in the car and at home! However, I also stream from Spotify. 

I had an email about this upgrade from Lexus Swindon yesterday, however, the current arrangement (via Bluetooth) works for me at this stage so I’ll give it a miss until the Summer when the car is due a service. As long as it isn’t too expensive I can’t see why I wouldn’t have it installed then and have a play around with it. The point about the software and interface always being upgraded to match my iPhone and seems a good one.

As an aside, I hear nothing but terrible things about Google Maps although I’ve never used them myself. People I know are always moaning about them, and use Waze instead. Post upgrade, would Waze really provide a significant benefit over the Lexus system? If so, in what respects?

In my opinion the benefits of using Waze (or other phone-based navigation apps) over the Lexus system are as previously described by @EvilRacer329, i.e. the frequent map updates; a much nicer layout and use of colours\text, more reliable, up to date, traffic alerts; the ability to set your route before getting in the car; etc.

I prefer Google Maps over Waze as I find that Waze has a slightly cartoonish look and feel to it.

[takumi]

After complaining, I have just had my Takumi software patched for apple car play/Android after some major navigation system problems.

Lexus have told me that to use the software I need to hardwire my phone to the USB port in the centre console for this to work.

Try doing that on the move and you'll not only be breaking the law but will probably end up in a heap on the side of the road.

So having spent £47000 on this car I now have a nav system that is equivalent to a cigarette lighter plug-in.

I have expressed my dissatisfaction to Lexus who are doing the ritual denial, and attempting to throw the problem over the wall to the dealer who sold me the car.

I have told Lexus that the vehicle is not as described, not of satisfactory quality, and not fit for purpose, and requested that I return the vehicle and my money refunded. Lexus state this is not a reason to return the vehicle. My solicitor thinks otherwise.

I would be grateful for any heads-up on other customers who have had similar experiences.

[subria88]

I'm not sure Lexus have ever made any official claims that CarPlay/Android Auto would work wirelessly. Unless you have that written on paper and can throw that back at them, I'm not sure that would pass muster.

Plugging the phone in would be no different to plugging in the cable to charge the phone while in the car (exception would be the wireless charge tray).

 

[Tel]

Nigel,

You connect your phone before you start your car & therefore there are no Safety Issues & apple Car Play is perfect for your car as it includes Siri who alerts you to all fixed Speed Cameras & much more.

What are the issues with your Lexus Nav as there are some clever, highly Knowledgeable guys on this Web-Site.?

Tel

 

[royoftherovers]

2 minutes ago, Tel said:

Nigel,

You connect your phone before you start your car & therefore there are no Safety Issues & Apple Car Play is perfect for your car as it includes Siri who alerts you to all fixed Speed Cameras & much more.

What are the issues with your Lexus Nav as there are some clever, highly Knowledgeable guys on this Web-Site.?

Tel

 

You beat me to it Terry.Well said.

 

17 minutes ago, takumi said:

After complaining, I have just had my Takumi software patched for Apple car play/Android after some major navigation system problems.

Lexus have told me that to use the software I need to hardwire my phone to the USB port in the centre console for this to work.

Try doing that on the move and you'll not only be breaking the law but will probably end up in a heap on the side of the road.

So having spent £47000 on this car I now have a nav system that is equivalent to a cigarette lighter plug-in.

I have expressed my dissatisfaction to Lexus who are doing the ritual denial, and attempting to throw the problem over the wall to the dealer who sold me the car.

I have told Lexus that the vehicle is not as described, not of satisfactory quality, and not fit for purpose, and requested that I return the vehicle and my money refunded. Lexus state this is not a reason to return the vehicle. My solicitor thinks otherwise.

I would be grateful for any heads-up on other customers who have had similar experiences.

Nigel, to have any chance of success, you will need to evidence the Due Diligence you completed prior to ordering the vehicle and evidence of your specifying the precice terms of the  spec  under which you placed the order.

My services are free, your Solicitor`s may not be.

I will await future reports of how this matter is panning out. 

[pobrown]

The majority of cars sold with apple CarPlay functionality only work via a wired connection. I’ve test driven 6 recently - all requiring wired. 
It is a bit unfair to say it must be ‘hard wired’ - this makes it sound like a permanent connection.  A simple USB-Lightning cable in the centre armrest will suffice. You just have to connect it when you get in the car. 
There are gadgets available that will provide a wireless connection.  I’ve talked about the one I purchased earlier in this thread. 
 

I don’t see how the car has been mis-sold to you. All Lexus & Toyota brochures that I’ve looked at discuss that CarPlay only works via a USB connection.  I’m one of the first to moan about various bugs in the infotainment system but none of them make the car unfit for purpose. 

[bluenose1940]

Anyone on here actually purchased and fitted one of these?

If so, was it fairly straightforward and was any import duty payable?

Retrofit CarPlay Lexus NX 2014 - 2020 | CarPlayTech (applecarplay.net)

[subria88]

41 minutes ago, bluenose1940 said:

Anyone on here actually purchased and fitted one of these?

If so, was it fairly straightforward and was any import duty payable?

Retrofit CarPlay Lexus NX 2014 - 2020 | CarPlayTech (applecarplay.net)

You'd be hit for VAT at least as it's over the threshold (minimal as it is), plus whatever processing fee RoyalMail/Post Office would want to slap on it at the bare minimum. I don't know the specifics of which particular additional Duty may apply to car stereos.

Of course that's on the assumption that it comes from outside the EU. I don't know if anything changes come 1st Jan 2021 

[bluenose1940]

14 minutes ago, subria88 said:

You'd be hit for VAT at least as it's over the threshold (minimal as it is), plus whatever processing fee RoyalMail/Post Office would want to slap on it at the bare minimum. I don't know the specifics of which particular additional Duty may apply to car stereos.

Of course that's on the assumption that it comes from outside the EU. I don't know if anything changes come 1st Jan 2021 

I wonder how soon someone in the UK might come up with something similar.

[Tom H]

I just had my 2018 NX updated with  apple Car Play & Android Auto  last week.  I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S20. 

For whatever reason Waze was not showing with the other Android Auto Apps on the cars display.  After a bit of hunting around I found this.  Turns out enabling developer options in Android Auto fixes the issue.  

 

Leaving this here so others with the same phone and car combo can get things working.