Apple Car Play Upgrade

[DarkoDarko]

Has anyone tried to fit one of these at all?

 

https://www.niftycity.shop/products/lexus-ct-2013-2020-apple-carplay-android-auto-oem-integration?variant=37338385350806

 

Thank you

[Herbie]

I fitted something that looks very similar but was £300 cheaper and I have to admit that it's rubbish.

Is that down to the fact that it was £300 cheaper? Would the one you're looking at be any better? Or are they all rubbish and I've just lost less money than you would do?

I honestly don't know but have a look at this topic I created a while back:

 

 

[Rakip123]

Not of much help but I've been looking into these for a while now, I believe most of these units need a little while to startup similar to restarting your phone which would make it annoying for me everytime i get in the car. In the end i just settled  on using my phone at least it means i can key the destination in while walking upto the car. downside is it needs a power cable attachment but even on that front there are phone holders with wireless charge built it

[stormchaser]

I saw a while back via the US ct200h forums that Aliexpress do a correct fitment headunit which does this but you keep the original display unit on top and change the stereo itself in the console.

[Las Palmas]

On 7/22/2021 at 2:09 PM, Herbie said:

I fitted something that looks very similar but was £300 cheaper and I have to admit that it's rubbish.

Is that down to the fact that it was £300 cheaper? Would the one you're looking at be any better? Or are they all rubbish and I've just lost less money than you would do?

I honestly don't know but have a look at this topic I created a while back:

 

 

Now you have had the Android Auto device installed a while, so have you found out how to make it function the way it is described in the ads for it or does it not live up to all the promises?

[Herbie]

1 hour ago, Las Palmas said:

Now you have had the Android Auto device installed a while, so have you found out how to make it function the way it is described in the ads for it or does it not live up to all the promises?

At the moment it's absolute rubbish.

Half of the things don't work, navigation using Waze or Sygic is very hit and miss and often freezes up and controlling the joystick is utterly impossible - just need to breathe on it and it zooms all over the place. I believe they released a firmware update to fix that particular problem but for some people it bricked the whole unit so I've not been brave enough to try it on mine yet.

HOWEVER.....

I really get the feeling that it's SO close to being a great unit if only there were proper instructions with it. I haven't got a clue what half of the settings do or what they're supposed to be set at. For instance, no one seems to know what the "Scrap" means in this photo:

I've tried adjusting them and nothing seems to happen but is that because I've not connected, or incorrectly connected, a wire somewhere? Or is it a sort of sub-setting that only comes into play when something else is selected? No one knows.

The units are made in China so the language barrier doesn't help when asking for support.

The other thing of course is that if you have an apple phone and you're using Carplay, then an apple phone is an apple phone and no one makes them except for apple. If, like me, you have an Android phone and you're trying to use Android Auto, there are dozens of manufacturers. Both my wife and I use Xiaomi phones, so is it some incompatibility with that? Would it work better with, say, a Samsung or a Motorola?

There's just too many variables at the moment and I still have a LOT of experimentation and testing to do, but as I said above, I do get the feeling that it could be great once it's set up correctly. When will that be? Who knows.

[Las Palmas]

8 hours ago, Herbie said:

At the moment it's absolute rubbish.

Half of the things don't work, navigation using Waze or Sygic is very hit and miss and often freezes up and controlling the joystick is utterly impossible - just need to breathe on it and it zooms all over the place. I believe they released a firmware update to fix that particular problem but for some people it bricked the whole unit so I've not been brave enough to try it on mine yet.

HOWEVER.....

I really get the feeling that it's SO close to being a great unit if only there were proper instructions with it. I haven't got a clue what half of the settings do or what they're supposed to be set at. For instance, no one seems to know what the "Scrap" means in this photo:

I've tried adjusting them and nothing seems to happen but is that because I've not connected, or incorrectly connected, a wire somewhere? Or is it a sort of sub-setting that only comes into play when something else is selected? No one knows.

The units are made in China so the language barrier doesn't help when asking for support.

The other thing of course is that if you have an Apple phone and you're using Carplay, then an Apple phone is an Apple phone and no one makes them except for Apple. If, like me, you have an Android phone and you're trying to use Android Auto, there are dozens of manufacturers. Both my wife and I use Xiaomi phones, so is it some incompatibility with that? Would it work better with, say, a Samsung or a Motorola?

There's just too many variables at the moment and I still have a LOT of experimentation and testing to do, but as I said above, I do get the feeling that it could be great once it's set up correctly. When will that be? Who knows.

What scrap means is easy to understand once you read the Chinese manual. 🙄 Oh you do not speak Chinese? Neither do I. Know any chinese people. I do and they are kind and friendly people, but I do not have one of these as I am not having a place to install it and also too lazy to do it.

Have a Samsung available it could be that as this probably is the most sold Android it could function? Or not?

The navigation would be one of the interesting thing to have in our cars as the Lexus navigation is so far below Garmin and even Google in quality that it could be OK to have such a thing installed. In a year or two maybe the company make something that actually function and hopefully with a manual in something else than Chinese.

[stormchaser]

If any translation is needed it just so happens that my wife is Chinese 😊

 

[Herbie]

1 hour ago, stormchaser said:

If any translation is needed it just so happens that my wife is Chinese 😊

The amount of help available in these forums is incredible and never ceases to amaze me 🙂

Thanks Paul, I'll bear that in mind.

 

[Phil xxkr]

7 hours ago, Herbie said:

The amount of help available in these forums is incredible and never ceases to amaze me 🙂

Thanks Paul, I'll bear that in mind.

 

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