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Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Wireless Apple CarPlay Dongles
So my Honda Civic si 2018 has wired carplay but doesn't have the new wireless carplay. I recently discovered there are dongles that act as a wireless to wired bridge. This of course only works if your car already supports wired carplay.
The first one I bought was apparently an older model even though it is labeled as carlinkit 2.0.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089W6NR12
It seems to work fine and is around $100 currently.
The newer TRUE 2.0 model is also around $100 with the current coupon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FG2XRBP/
The main differences is the newer model has a detachable usb-c cable and a much easier to see status LED. Having a removable cable might be important to you especially if you have specific placement needs. Both seems to boot in around 30 sec and both seem to perform about the same with responsiveness very similar to wired. The newer version is suppose to be faster but with the price about the same just go for the newer one. They both have a usb pass through port if you want to still go wired.
Setup is basically the same. Just plug it into your carplay usb port and pair over bluetooth. After that, every time you start your car everything just works. I've heard it can crash occasionally requiring you to unplug and replug the adapter into the usb port but I haven't had it long enough to experience any issues.
Updating is done by navigating to 192.168.50.2 in safari. I had to update twice to get to the latest version. There are some reports of bricking so proceed with caution. I did notice the website would say update is complete but it actually wasn't. Accessing carplay on the head unit would show that it was still updating and the same with the status lights. So just make sure it's completely updated and carplay is tested and working before shutting off your car or unplugging it.
So far this thing is amazing. It's such a nice quality of life change especially if you have wireless charging built into your car. Now I just start the car and toss my iPhone XS Max onto the charging pad and carplay just starts working automatically. I probably won't be using the phone holder much anymore. Well worth the $100.
Recommended apps:
- Maps
- Google Maps
- Waze
- Spotify
- Audible
- AVSub with airsonic server running on a raspberry pi 4
- Podcasts
- Apple Music
- Zoom