Apple Play Connection

[Dion]

Hey Folks,

My friend keeps telling me new cars like my ES should be able to connect to apple Play, without using a cable and can be done via Bluetooth.

However when I got the car, I was told I needed the cable.

That sound about right to everyone? You need a charging cable to connect to apple Play right? 

Thanks

Dion

 

 

[Mincey]

That's certainly the case in my ES for Android Auto. I tried connecting via Bluetooth and didn't get anywhere. For less than £100, wireless adapters are available for Carplay/AA. 

[Andy B]

1 hour ago, Dion said:

Hey Folks,

My friend keeps telling me new cars like my ES should be able to connect to Apple Play, without using a cable and can be done via Bluetooth.

However when I got the car, I was told I needed the cable.

That sound about right to everyone? You need a charging cable to connect to Apple Play right? 

Thanks

Dion

Bluetooth doesn't have the necessary bandwidth strength to transfer the large amounts of data (navigation data; streaming music; etc.) between the phone and the car's head-unit for apple CarPlay (AC) or Android Auto (AA) to work. Therefore, unless the head-unit has wireless AC or AA capability (which currently Lexus head-units do not have*) you have to plug the phone into the car's USB port using a charging cable (that also has data-transfer capability), which can be a bit of a pain every time you get in the car.

As @Mincey has quite rightly said, there are wireless adaptors that provide wireless capability for AC and AA - the adaptor itself plugs into the USB port and the phone connects to the adaptor wirelessly, thus negating the need to plug in the phone.

One such device that I believe has been popular for members of this site that use AC is CPLAY2air - https://cplay2air.com/

For AA, I use AAWireless - https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/aawireless#/ (caveat - this is currently a "crowd funded" enterprise, but I have been using the device for a long time without any problems)

* with the new 2022 NX, Lexus are starting to introduce wireless AC and AA capable head-units.

Hope this helps.

[Mincey]

3 minutes ago, Andy B said:

For AA, I use AAWireless - https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/aawireless#/ (caveat - this is currently a "crowd funded" enterprise, but I have been using the device for a long time without any problems)

Hope this helps.

It does indeed! I was planning to buy one of those in the New Year as I find it a pain to have to plug the phone in each time. I borked the USB port on my previous phone with constantly plugging things into it so I'd prefer a wireless solution in the car. 

[Andy B]

11 minutes ago, Mincey said:

It does indeed! I was planning to buy one of those in the New Year as I find it a pain to have to plug the phone in each time. I borked the USB port on my previous phone with constantly plugging things into it so I'd prefer a wireless solution in the car. 

I have been really pleased with it - works every time.

It's still early days with the project so there are some teething problems with it still, especially around supply and demand. I believe there is currently quite a backlog of orders so that it can take months to get your hands on one. Also due to the infinite combination of phones and head-units that the device needs to be compatible with, some buyers are reporting technical issues. But, with my Samsung phone and Lexus head-unit, it has been flawless for me.

By the way, if my recently-ordered 2022 NX does indeed have wireless AA capability (I have seen contradictory reports of this online), I may be looking to sell my AAWireless device so watch this space 😉

[Dion]

13 minutes ago, Andy B said:

I have been really pleased with it - works every time.

It's still early days with the project so there are some teething problems with it still, especially around supply and demand. I believe there is currently quite a backlog of orders so that it can take months to get your hands on one. Also due to the infinite combination of phones and head-units that the device needs to be compatible with, some buyers are reporting technical issues. But, with my Samsung phone and Lexus head-unit, it has been flawless for me.

By the way, if my recently-ordered 2022 NX does indeed have wireless AA capability (I have seen contradictory reports of this online), I may be looking to sell my AAWireless device so watch this space 😉

Thanks a lot guys. This really helps. I will check out the AC link you shared Andy.

 

Thanks again

[Herbie]

Is wireless really a good idea anyway?

I would imagine the power demand would be quite high and constant, meaning that you could get to your destination with very low Battery on your phone.

[Mincey]

11 minutes ago, Herbie said:

Is wireless really a good idea anyway?

I would imagine the power demand would be quite high and constant, meaning that you could get to your destination with very low battery on your phone.

Not if you have a built-in Qi charger 🙂. That said, is it going to get the hump if it's charging and transmitting?

[Andy B]

15 minutes ago, Herbie said:

I would imagine the power demand would be quite high and constant, meaning that you could get to your destination with very low battery on your phone.

It can drain the Battery Herbie, you're right. On the occasions that I may be concerned about Battery life when on a (longer than usual) drive, I drop the phone onto the wireless charger in the centre console which manages to put back what wireless AA takes out. It's still more convenient IMHO than having to plug the phone in every time.

[Andy B]

2 minutes ago, Mincey said:

Not if you have a built-in Qi charger 🙂. That said, is it going to get the hump if it's charging and transmitting?

It works fine when charging - although the phone can get quite warm.

[Mincey]

Just now, Andy B said:

It works fine when charging - although the phone can get quite warm.

Perfect - this wireless solution gets better by the minute!

[Mike246]

I have a question to ask you guys.

Given the high level of functionality and information on the ES300h what apps do you find useful by connecting an Iphone to the USB port?

Supplementary question - has anyone found a way of bringing live TV onto the navigation display? I am aware of the illegality of this while on the move.

[Herbie]

14 minutes ago, Mike246 said:

Given the high level of functionality and information on the ES300h what apps do you find useful by connecting an iPhone to the USB port?

Supplementary question - has anyone found a way of bringing live TV onto the navigation display? I am aware of the illegality of this while on the move.

The factory navigation has always been the Achilles Heel of Lexus. I believe it's getting better now but it'll be a long time before I can afford a 2021 car so the most useful apps are the map/nav ones such as Waze, Sygic, What 3 Words and others that are all much better than the Lexus offering, especially as most of them are free, updates are both free and frequent and they are all easier to use.

I believe (maybe wrongly) that both Android Auto and apple Carplay will not allow you to load apps such as Netflix and live TV for the legal reasons you already know about. However, third-party devices such as Carlinkit, Grom Vline 2 and Lexion do allow it and must just rely on the common sense of the driver not to use it in motion.

[Mike246]

Herbie, Thanks for your response.

I need to follow a programmed route just occasionally and found Lexus navigation to be adequate.

The third-party devices you mention appear to be quite expensive (several hundred pounds) and I wonder if there is a less-costly solution or work-around to get Iphone supported TV up on the display.

[PDM]

13 hours ago, Herbie said:

The factory navigation has always been the Achilles Heel of Lexus. I believe it's getting better now but it'll be a long time before I can afford a 2021 car so the most useful apps are the map/nav ones such as Waze, Sygic, What 3 Words and others that are all much better than the Lexus offering, especially as most of them are free, updates are both free and frequent and they are all easier to use.

I believe (maybe wrongly) that both Android Auto and Apple Carplay will not allow you to load apps such as Netflix and live TV for the legal reasons you already know about. However, third-party devices such as Carlinkit, Grom Vline 2 and Lexion do allow it and must just rely on the common sense of the driver not to use it in motion.

Hi Herbie,

In principle you are right - the MM19 systems that come in e.g. the 2021 RX should be an improvement - coming with wired ACP and AA capability etc built in.  Unfortunately I don't think the  core functions are really any better than they were in MM13/MM15 etc (e.g. I don't see navigation routing is any better) and there are a lot of bugs in MM19 that it feels like I am running beta software.... and this is 2 years after those systems were originally released.  It seems very odd to me that Lexus can make such great cars and write such complex things like the hybrid control software which works 100%, but fail to check if speed camera alerts work if you do an over the air map update!

Sorry for the rant about my first world problems!

You are correct about AA/ACP - only a subset of apps can be used, and as you suggest, Netflix is not one of them.

Paul