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Wireless Carplay

30K views 44 replies 28 participants last post by  mw88 
#1 ·
I know only one or two cars currently have Wireless CarPlay. Anyway to get wireless CarPlay since the car has both wifi and bluetooth, which is a requirement for Wireless CarPlay? I hope that Volvo comes out w/ an update. Other solution would be to come out w/ a USB dongle that plugs into USB in the car.
 
#4 ·
Mercedes and BMW each have some models with wireless CarPlay, and there are a few aftermarket units with it as well (Pioneer, Alpine, etc.). It looks as if more manufacturers will be putting it in some 2019 models, so it's certainly on the horizon.

Personally, I don't find it a real hardship to plug the phone in when I want to use CarPlay, but it would be nice if I didn't have to.
 
#5 ·
from what i heard, not too many cars have it still, volvo does not i believe. harman is bringing it to many other cars but not too many have it at the moment. 2017 bmw 5er was the first to have it, don't know if the new 3er or others have it. 2019 mercedes a class is said to have it. but i don't believe other models have it. my in laws have a glc300 and they do not have it. i know our 2018 xc60 doesn't have it with the base speakers option.
 
#9 ·
My guess is an aftermarket wireless dongle, whenever it becomes available, is going to be the solution for us. Highly doubt Volvo will be able to retrofit this functionality.

In the meantime, if you want Carplay every time you drive the car, try to fit a holder with a built in dock connection. Example of my setup: https://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?582683-Proclip-Console-Phone-Mount
 
#16 ·
That dongle seems to have decent reviews - people say it works, with the caveat that (1) it has a bit of a long boot up time (I have read upward of 30 -45 seconds) and the steering wheel controls don't work. I am considering giving it a shot just to try it out.

I had wireless Carplay on a previous BMW, and it was nice. The BMW had an integrated wireless charger as well.
 
#17 ·
Even at $170 I'm seriously considering this. However reading the reviews there's a considerable delay during connection. CarPlay already takes long enough as it is (especially after iOS 13) even plugging in through wire.

If this additional delay is true it might be a dealbreaker for me.
 
#18 ·
Wireless carplay works through usb dongle for Volvo XC60 2018



As of now, the only option is to use a dongle. I have a XC60 2018 model and I purchase a USB dongle from Amazon. Here is the link: CarLinkKit
I had to contact the seller on how to get this working, as the dongle required a firmware upgrade and the instructions were too specific. I have added a review on Amazon on how to upgrade the firmware.

Its not a straight forward solution but works. It would be better to get a Firmware upgrade from Volvo to get this working. I don't see a reason why they cant do it. Technically the car has the necessary hardware to support Apple Carplay.
 
#27 ·
As of now, the only option is to use a dongle. I have a XC60 2018 model and I purchase a USB dongle from Amazon. Here is the link: CarLinkKit
I had to contact the seller on how to get this working, as the dongle required a firmware upgrade and the instructions were too specific. I have added a review on Amazon on how to upgrade the firmware.

Its not a straight forward solution but works. It would be better to get a Firmware upgrade from Volvo to get this working. I don't see a reason why they cant do it. Technically the car has the necessary hardware to support Apple Carplay.
I believe I saw your first Amazon review post but am unable to find the second. Are you willing to share those instructions here or just link your amazon review. I'm having the exact same issue with the same model year.
 
#20 ·
So, I got the more expensive model from Sweden (called Re:Stream) and basically it's EXACTLY the same hardware but with what looks like an older version of the firmware (2019.10.25.2215CHP). I'm not sure what the relationship between the two companies is, but I'm interested to find out.
 
#22 ·
That thread on MacRumors is like 34 pages... do you specifically mean you have the www.carplay2air.com dongle working on your XC60/40? Is the load time pretty good? Or does it take a while to sync and you have to tap stuff on your phone each time you sit in your car?

I'm planning on getting a combo from ProClip to cradle my phone near the shift-knob and have it plugged it into USB.
 
#23 ·
I had a 530i rental in Germany with wireless CarPlay, and to be honest, it was disappointing. Would get disconnected often and found wired CarPlay to be more consistent.
 
#24 ·
So after several days using it, it's not perfect but works well overall.
- Sometimes the album artwork does not show up in the instrument cluster display (I have it set to display that rather than map).
- I was listening to an audiobook in Audible and switched to music, the audiobook artwork persisted in the instrument cluster display rather than show the artwork/info for music
- I sometimes get a "connection error" though the music etc still plays fine.
- Every once in a while, the audio will cut out for a split second
- The most annoying thing is the delay between hitting a command (start, pause, ff, etc) and when it executes. It's 2-3 seconds.
 
#29 ·
I bought the Carlinkit on Aliexpress. Had to updgrade the firmware as well. But it works well. The customer service from the company is prompt and courteous, but the language issues were challenging.

My unit works fine and now the only cable I have is stashed away as a courtesy cable for my passengers that need a charge.
 
#32 ·
Ugh... it seems the real-world reviews (aka the ones that are on forums; not the fake ones on the sales webpage) describe intermittent issues and lag.

I'm just going to get the Proclip mount + iPhone cradle that has the lightning cable attachment so a wired connection is made when you drop the phone into the holder.
 
#33 · (Edited)
FWIW, my CARPLAY2air adapter arrived yesterday. I did the initial update to what’s current for the adapter, and it was quickly working in my new 2020 XC60 T8 that also has the latest firmware available from Volvo. So far, no huge problems, but time will tell. I keep my iPhone 11 Pro (also current level iOS) in my front right pocket as I prefer. Adapter is vertical towards the left side of the center console cubby.

I have had perhaps one “lag problem” of a second or two, if we’re describing the same thing I believe others have reported. In the scheme of things and benefits of having wireless CarPlay, I wouldn’t throw out the adapter for it or go back to using my hardwired iPod instead (I won’t use hardwired CarPlay most of the time, even though I prefer it, as I do shorter errands/commutes most of the time and plugging/unplugging multiple times in a single outing around town drives me nuts.)

Previous reports of missing album art at least in my case, I determined are due to tracks I have added to my Apple Music library, but have not physically downloaded to my iPhone WHILE I keep the iOS option off to use cell service for music. The same track gives an indication it’s trying to stream, and does not play which makes sense to me. As soon as I download those tracks to my iPhone or change the iOS option to use cellular, the art appears as I’d expect. I’m not sure I would call any of that a real problem with the adapter, given my choice.

Only minor issue I’ve had is a couple of what I’d call “silent pops” (think of an old quick LP pop, but silence in it’s place). It’s absolutely no different to me than what I used to put up with in my old Bluetooth streaming days from time-to-time with the player sitting near whatever my center console was in that vehicle at the time. If that’s the only problem I encounter, I will declare 99.9% success and be happy with my purchase. More time of course is needed to see how it all works out, since I’m just 48 hours in to this new 3rd-party device helping fill a gap in what Volvo provides.
 
#35 ·
Previous reports of missing album art at least in my case, I determined are due to tracks I have added to my Apple Music library, but have not physically downloaded to my iPhone WHILE I keep the iOS option off to use cell service for music. The same track gives an indication it's trying to stream, and does not play which makes sense to me. As soon as I download those tracks to my iPhone or change the iOS option to use cellular, the art appears as I'd expect. I'm not sure I would call any of that a real problem with the adapter, given my choice.
My issue with album artwork and artist are not with the main display but the display on the driver instrument cluster (where you can show the map or media). Shows fine on the main display but doesn't mirror on the instrument cluster screen.
 
#40 ·
One of the latest firmware updates has fixed the issue with the media info not displaying properly in the dashboard instrument cluster (if you have it set to media and not map).

I've also seen reports of wireless carplay issues with iPhone 11's and the latest iOS (the 13.3.1 released yesterday may address it, I didn't read the release notes). This was reported on Mini, BMW etc that have native wireless carplay. So issues people are having may be iOS related and not the wireless device.

The only issue I have now is sometimes it doesn't connect on the first try and I'm sure it's because my phone is connected to the wireless network where I'm parked because if I just get in and go right away, works fine. If I start the car and sit for a few mins, it doesn't connect. I think that conflict will probably always persist unless there's a way you can set priorities for various networks.
 
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