Great review. Tried a bunch of wireless Carplay adapters recently and I found this the best all-round performer. Imagine if Carlinkit used a modern CPU rather than one from 2006!
Its work does not depend too much on the processing power of the CPU. Our CPU has many advantages, such as low power consumption, dual USB, and high reliability.
Just got this for my 2020 Audi A5 to use with my Samsung S23 Ultra. Setup was quick, boot time isn't longer than it was using wired connection. Maps and texts work the same. No issues so far
Works well with both Android and iPhone BUT... there is no way to easily switch between AA and CarPlay or choose the device I want to connect to at startup time. You have to turn off BT and WiFi on the device you don't want to connect. That's kind of a showstopper for me - part of getting this was to allow multiple family members to easily use the infotainment system, and having to go through the extra steps just discourages them.
Multiple device connections has yet to be done well on these things. The closest way is adapters that support auto connect off, that way you can toggle which device it connects to rather than have it auto connect. Sadly you may still have to remove BT connections that have already connected. It’s ideally suited for when one device enters the car and requires switching. That way there is no BT pairing fights going on
I just connected it to my car (2018 CX-5), it took a while to set it up. It was stuck in connecting mode (blue light), I had to unplug the Carlinkit then plug my phone to the car to get the CarPlay then unplug it and tried connecting the Carlinkit again, this time it worked - Carlinkit is connected to my CarPlay. Now I have wireless CarPlay! Yay! 😁 Thanks. 🩶
No splash screen is a plus! Not sure if this has been pointed out before, but there's a niche scenario I'm in where I want no splash screen. I already have an AAWireless (for Android Auto) which works exceptionally and I share a car with my girlfriend. The AAWireless can be left connected (as it has no splash screen) but her current CarPlay adapter has a splash screen, which connects to the car before my AAWireless does. This means that if we have both adaptors connected and she's not in the car, then I get to look at her splash screen, while it all works OK for her. This is because a splash screen sends a "CarPlay" signal, where is with no splash screen there is no carplay or AndroidAuto signal, meaning the car believes no wire CarPlay or AndroidAuto devices are connected - preferred for my scenario. Additionally, seeing CarPlay being connected when your phone isn't in the car is weird.
In the review you wrote "Just remember it will not convert CarPlay only systems into running Android Auto and vice versa, for that you’re better off sticking with an older generation of adapter instead.". I have Iphone (just switched over from android), my car supports carplay+AA (jeep renegade uconnect 7") but when using carplay the screen has some useless black bars on the sides. So was guessing if converting from AA to carplay would get rid of those black bars like in native AA or if you have any suggestion about that. I am also considering 3-in-1 boxes but should be quite cheap and have a good wireless carplay experience. Overall, if I can give you some advice on your precious work, I would say the site is somewhat dispersive, you should have less categories of hardware reviewed, and another advice is to always present the table with the best contenders in the market, in each video always the same tables updated. Just my thoughts, keep up the good work !
Thanks for watching and the feedback. For your situation. If you use a wire for CarPlay, does it also still show black bars? If it doesn’t then it’s a compatibility issue with the adapter not sending the correct video radio for this car’s display resolution, hence the boarders on the sides. If it does show this on wired mode then this is how it is. Thanks for the feedback. When you say less categories on my site, do you mean Carplaylife.com? If so I have been thinking of reworking this, but it’s a daunting task going back to arranging content as far back as 2015! 😞 As for the table, this is always evolving so having this presenting somewhere live would be my goal but I feel other sites will just pinch all my hard work with a screen grab and I lose all the views. Having the info concise to the part in the videos at least keep it somewhat contained and secure whilst keeping peeps informed.
Apologies if i missed it in the video, you mentioned using android and iPhone, what about 2 iPhones? I remember on another (4.0 version?) You can have a screen that shows previously connected phones to pick from. Essentially if me and the other half are both in the car, if im driving i can pick my phone, if she's driving she can pick her phone, without having to go through Bluetooth on the phone etc (essentially just tap the right phone on the cars display on startup)
So the adapter did have this and it showed very briefly before going into CarPlay, but, I did an update and now it’s black screen during this moment and I can’t seem to see how to change that in the IP config menu. There’s no option. So for two iPhones you would have to manage this on the phones themselves by disconnecting BT on the one you don’t want to connect to. Saying that though there is an automatic connect option. Maybe if that’s off you might see the screen again. I’ll try and find the time to get this and update you when I have.
@@CarPlayLife Thank you for the reply! 🤞 Turning off auto connect gives the option as it's something that could make life way easier for our use case. Thank you for the quality videos, and follow up with things like this! Really appreciate it!!
OK, I bought this adapter. Everything works perfectly. But! The album cover and track title are not displayed on the car's multimedia system. It just says "Music" on dashboard screen. BTW no such problem with Carlinkit 3.0, but I already gave it to a friend :-) There is a solution? Renault Megane 4, R-Link 2.
I guess you’ve played with the IP config area and the various modes within that? The 5.0 is working differently to previous models so it might be extra compatibility for other vehicles has killed this functionality in yours 🤷🏻♂️
Thank you very much for replying to all comments. What is the car gps passthrough function? I'm sorry if I missed it even though it's in the video. And I'm debating which one to buy between 4.0 and 5.0
If your car system has navigation then it has a gps antenna, gps passthrough uses this antenna for use with navigation apps via CarPlay. Otherwise without this it uses the iPhone antenna, and if the phone is in a bag or back pocket it won’t pickup the gps satellites as well as an antenna from a car if it was using gps passthrough. Hope that’s clear.
@@CarPlayLife hi, I have an interesting question and hope you can share some light on it. I have a grey import car that means it has gps antenna but no local map data, will that actually affect the gps pass through function?
Hi Anthony Great reviews as ever, I actually moved from Ottocast u2 air to the Carlinkit 5.0. Most of the settings make sense but there are a few which despite trawling the internet I can’t figure out. Do you know what the high speed connection setting does? I’m using it on CarPlay btw.
Thanks for watching. This setting is new to me. I assume it’s likely a setting for the dongle to switch between 2.4GHz and 5GHz band, 5GHz band will offer a fast bandwidth wireless connection but at the sacrifice of a short signal range. I’ll have to update to see this setting and try it one day.
I bought one of these. It was a bit of a faf to get it going but seemed like magic when it did. However just for your viewers information it fails for me at least every day sometimes more than once. I have to unplug it and put it back in again or sometimes reboot my phone. I bought two one for me and one fro my work colleague - I have apple he has android which is why I bought this one. His failed enough to make him go back to cable. We both have 2021 Nissan Navaras.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. It’s odd how they are not stable in the Nissan. All I can suggest is playing with the config menu and its mode settings. So if it helps improve stability. You shouldn’t need to restart your phone, if anything, it’s more the system isn’t liking how the adapter operates so changing its config options might make it work around it a bit better.
@@CarPlayLife Thanks for reply. Helpfully their support responded in a few hours. They told me to reset the network settings on my phone so I've done that and will see how it goes. Will post back here.
@@CarPlayLife Ok update as promised. I updated to ios17 and all my problems seem to have gone away! The phone seems to connect every time and quickly too. I'm not sure if ios16 was buggy with carplay (I had to restart my phone a lot of times when using cable too) if if the update gave it the kick in the guts it needed. It's all working now anyway!
thanks a lot for your effort, hope to see an updated review after updating to the latest firmware specially for the 5.8Ghz connection . does it make any help or the situation is the same (speed/boottime/lag/audio call quality) ?
The speed difference is almost double 16s for 2Air and 30s for the mini. So if that’s important and you’re only using it for CarPlay then go 2Air but it’s around 2x the cost of the mini
Hey man thanks for all the info, much appreciated. Do you think this will work on a Ford Bronco Sport 2023? Or should i look for an older one that it 100% works with just to be safe? Thanks again!
If anything, newer models should be more compatible with newer vehicles. Not the other way around. Especially when it’s a 2023 vehicle. So I would give this one a go.
Could you tell me which one does better on the Android system, 4.0 or 5.0? which one has the fastest boot, which one has the lowest latency? Thanks for the videos!
5.0 is faster by 9seconds in my test when booting into android. But you must have Android auto on your car system. If your car system only has CarPlay you’re limited to 4.0. Latency is roughly the same, but can be tweaked in the config
I too have a discover pro golf so your tests are very applicable to me. Ideally I’d want a system that can handle wired CarPlay pass through. Does this carlinkit 5.0 support this or you familar with a device that does this? I’d be interested to know if it’s possible to just plug in a phone into a wireless CarPlay kit and have a wired CarPlay experience. How would it work when plugging in before the booting process has finished. How would it behave if you’re already booted into wireless CarPlay?
If you’ve already booted into wireless CarPlay and you connect the cable it will stay on wireless mode. You would have to disconnect the adapter with it connected to a cable via the usb port for it to boot into wired mode.
It’s not that much different. If it works for you and you are happy with its speed, and you don’t need Android Auto support, then there isn’t much need to upgrade.
Hey, thanks for the review. Have you been able to test whether this dongle forwards navigation directions (i.e. the upcoming turn instructions) to the instrument cluster? The Ottocast U2 Air does this, but the CarlinKit 4.0 doesn't, at least with the Renault EasyLink infotainment system (all devices with newest firmware, of course). Music info and album art forwarding works on both dongles, but I'm specifically interested in nav guidance (when using Apple Maps).
@@CarPlayLife That's what I would have thought as well, but there are differences in behaviour - Ottocast U2 Air puts Apple Maps directions in the instruments, but CarlinKit doesn't. I decided to get the CarlinKit 5.0 anyway, and it turns out it doesn't support it either. It could probably be easily fixed via a firmware update, perhaps @neohu8856 could shed some light on this issue?
@@ahmedsadek9546 Finally checked this myself and no, neither CarlinKit 4.0 nor 5.0 support this feature in my car. So far, only the Ottocast U2 Air does, but then that dongle doesn't support GPS pass-through, which is very handy if the phone is in your pocket, and greatly reduces battery use as well.
Thanks for the great review. I had to return 4.0 as there was a significant delay in updating my actual location while navigating on waze. Have you noticed any delay on 5.0 while using waze?
Is it the same for any other nav app or just Waze? I remember hearing people mention things like Waze delay in navigation. I’m not sure if you can set advanced turn warning timings in the settings area of the app?
Hello! I just got a vehicle that seems to have both CarPlay and Android Auto, but the amount of dongles is outrageous. If you could suggest the all around best one, what would you say is number one currently? I have a 2021 Subaru WRX Premium which seems to have the option for both.
Subaru and Mitsubishi are known for being very picky with these adapters. So I can’t say which works without trying it on those vehicles myself. Maybe buy the CarlinKit 5.0 from Amazon so you can send it back easily if it doesn’t work.
@@Terminatorm101 hey there! I picked it up and it works great! Goes from blue tooth to CarPlay in less than twenty seconds. The only thing is that there is delay between the audio. So if you have in a RU-vid video or are on a call, there will be a noticeable 1-2 second delay. It’s not game changing in anyway and I 100% suggest picking one up. It’s never disconnected while driving or anything. The only time I’ve had issues is when it’s trying to connect to my home wifi and CarPlay at the same time after I’ve been in and out of the car lol. Highly suggest!
@@anonymoose2145 wow, glad to hear a positive feedback from an actual Subaru user! After some vids I was almost settled that a vire and a phone in a cupholder is no that bad of an option at all 😅 Usually my car is quite near the home wi-fi, so I believe there might be some issues until I disconnect my phone from it 🤔
I’ve just received my Carlink 5.0 and I noticed the skip feature no longer works with CarPlay steering wheel controls. I have an aftermarket pioneer radio and when it’s plugged in with the cord it works perfectly, is there any way to fix this?
As in next and previous track? That should work so if it doesn’t that’s likely a compatibility issue with your pioneer and wheel controls. You can try running different modes from the up config menu and see how you get on there but I don’t know what else to suggest other than filing the issue with support and hope they offer a fix in a future update.
Works great, very fast connection, but doesn't charge through passthrough. My phone is getting very hot and the capacity is decreasing. The factory system I am connecting to is Ford Sync 3.4 and has its own navigation. What is wrong? Thanks for the ideas.
Most CarPlay usb ports have 5W max charging power. It has to power the adapter also, so if you use passthrough to charge your phone it’s going to be much less than 5W, meaning your phone will trickle charge at speeds that may be ok for light use but if using CarPlay, music and navigation at the same time it will get hot and not hold out build its charge.
Thank you for replying to the comments. I use Android and my car has wireless Carplay but wired Android auto. Would you recommend this over Carlinkit CPC200-a2a in terms of stability and latency? I also wonder if my car's own wireless Carplay will still work with this plugged in?
Thanks for the review. Great review I must say. Can you please how do you switch between android auto and carplay? My wife has an apple and I got an android but, not able to switch between. Thanks in advance. I am using on 2020 outlander.
Thanks for watching. Switching platforms isn’t the best on these adapters. No one has done it perfect. This adapter does have a menu to toggle which device to connect to. You just have to make sure auto connect is switched off. This allows you time to select the device you wish to connect to. But there is a chance the other device has connected over BT and that locks the other device out from connecting.
What would your recommendation be for a CarPlay adapter between this brand & the quad lock wireless adapter? I’ve seen mixed reviews on both. What would be the best way to go? I want reliability.
The quad lock adapter is a rebrand of the 4.0. If you don’t have Android auto in the car and you wish to use it on a CarPlay only system then the 5.0 won’t work this way you’ll have to get quad lock or 4.0. If you have CarPlay and wish to just make it wireless CarPlay then the 5.0 is a bit faster.
I bought carlinkit 5.0, my car is a Peugeot 3008, I use carplay with cable normally, when I turn on carlink it turns red, then flashes blue, connects to bluetooth and wifi without errors but nothing happens on the car screen, thet carplay logo is gray like when nothing is connected to it and the blue light blinks forever. I can go into that ip page with the settings and everything, but nothing I change helps. Have you seen this happen? Because I looked everywhere and found that this hadn't happened to anyone before.
This has been a very recent issue that I’ve personally experienced. I don’t know how to resolve it. The phone is connected over WiFi but apple carplay doesn’t display. Manually tapping initiates wireless CarPlay but it falls back to the system display before it shows CarPlay. I haven’t found a work around and it must be a recent update to the iPhone that has caused this issue. Maybe a 5.0 update will release for the adapter once more people complain about it. For now I’ve swapped to a U2-Air Pro which also has the same issue but it’s now displaying again on this dongle. It all sounds very temperamental. Update. I am on 17.1.2 and see there is an update 17.2.1 which I’m downloading now. Maybe this improves things. Update 2: installed update 7.2.1 and it’s working again now.
I bought the CarlinKit 5.0 for my 2017 VW Tiguan after watching this review but the connection drops out and the screen goes blank roughly every 5 minutes.
I purchased this yesterday , to be honest in only one hour the device was disconnect twice from my iphone 14 Pro , I updated the software still testing so far so good but I will comme back with an update , I hope the update fixes the disconnecting issue , audio quality is fine I don't feel to be bad or something , I'am using on a 2020 Hyundai Ioniq facelift , do I have to change some settings or just leave it alone ? For example wifi band , transfer mode , category Thank you
Leave it as is. If it’s working to an acceptable level, leave it. You can try media delay at around 500 (you could try 300 but likely unstable) and this will speed it up a little a be more responsive to touch
I had to return my carlinkit 3 for this very reason. Phone calls were about three seconds delayed and like you said, completely useless. I just got the five in today and that problem is completely solved. Did two test calls with the wife and everything sounded great. Hoping to not run into any issuesas the days go on
My unit didn’t give me a pop up prompt on my iPhone 13 when I connected it by Bluetooth. I updated it and now it just flashes blue once I connect by Bluetooth. HELP!!!
@@CarPlayLife I tried it a few times and still the same thing. My car may not be compatible. I’m putting it in a 2012 Nissan Maxima. I try to contact/email them before I send it back. Frustrating. Lol. Thanks for responding. That means a lot. I will definitely sub.
I’m considering getting an adapter. Not sure if I should go for the 5.0 or the 3.0 mini… I have a 2016 Golf GTE. Is this one very big in the car? Which one should I consider? And is it possible to switch from the CarPlay to radio on the car without unplugging it?😅
The 3.0 mini is about 1/4 smaller than the 5.0. Speed wise the 5.0 is 10s faster to connect. Switching is just like when using wired CarPlay. So press radio and you’re in the radio. Press CarPlay you’re in CarPlay. It doesn’t take it over. Your golf needs wired CarPlay also.
Can you skip to the next song or play previous song using the steering control button’s a lot of dongles only allow you to pause,play, and answer phone calls from the steering wheel but no skip forward or backward control from the steering wheel?
It depends what you have on the wheel. But in my experience, every 20+ adapter I’ve tried allows skipping tracks back and forth. Sometimes wheel controls will not work until the car is properly started for the wheel to send signals to the stereo.
Hi! I have an android head unit but it doesn’t have tlink/zlink option. I am thinking about to buy an usb dongle. I can’t decide between carlinkit 4.0 or 5.0. I heard that 4.0 version support only the android units. Is it true? Btw, I need microphone because what I had is noise and weak. I am gonna use iphone (carplay).
4.0 and 5.0 only work with CarPlay systems. Not android head units. For that you’ll need one that works with android head units like this one ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-s7DaSaKFaEM.html
I have been using this for a few days now with my Mercedes a class 2019 all works well but occasionally within a few minutes of use the device would just randomly turn off and not work until I unplugged and plug it back in
Review a few days carlinkit 5.0 for android auto ? Delay on screen ? Music spotify delay ? Plus minus carlinkit 5.0 android auto ? I'm using carlinkit 4.0 delay on navigation (google maps) and music spotify. After OTA last UPGRADE, my Carlinkit 4.0 is died, no Led turn on… If i connect in a other usb, nothing respond.
If there’s no lights coming on it will likely mean it’s bricked itself and is now dead. The update may have failed midway through which usually bricks them as they don’t have a fallback firmware so it’s overwriting the main firmware as it updates. If this fails it’s dead. Sorry. The 5.0 is better, but your car needs wired AAuto if you want to use it for AAuto. It works differently to the 4.0 which uses CarPlay to operate for both CP and AAuto.
Will this version allow using Audi MMI native functions while using it with android auto? 4.0 version doesn't allow the simultaneous use of carplay and native Audi steering wheel media controls, calls history or voice control
If you’re thinking of using android with a CarPlay system then you don’t want to consider this dongle anyway. It won’t work like the way the 4.0 does. So avoid this altogether. Wheel controls, seems to work just fine and call history is handled via CarPlay anyway so that works and native voice control works in my VAG car so Audi should be the same.
Hi, i just bought the Carlinkit 5.0 adaptor. I have an aftermarket 13" headunit running Android 13. I can use CP on the headunit using any iPhone. I have a Huawei Mate 20x which runs Harmoney OS and it does not work with AA. I bought this adaptor so my phone would work. However, even after I connect to the adaptor, the AA on the headunit does not detects it. Any ideas?
In my experience, these wireless adapters are not that reliable on android OS aftermarket systems. This adapter will only work with AA connections, it can't do CP to AA or AA to CP. For that you'll need the 4.0 which works differently to how the 5.0 works. Hope this helps.
I have this model. I cannot connect to the bluetooth. I tried everything. Tried other friends phones, none of them worked. Did all of the settings through wifi, still cant connect. I cannot update the firmware with my android but i managed to update it with an iphone, still does not work after update. What should i do?
If you’re not seeing the BT profile from the adapter it isn’t booting up or being powered, or the update bricked it and it’s not fully booting up to transmit the BT connection. However if you can connect to it via WiFi it is running. Maybe try an older rollback firmware or if it’s in your return window send it back
Hi love you vids, I have a Audi a3 22 plate it has wireless apple car play and works well but can’t play vids or from apps, can you recommend a adapter box that I could connect to play RU-vid Netflix Disney etc ( obviously when not driving). Cheers 👋
If you can run CarPlay from a usb port you could try any really. If it’s wireless only i am not so sure as there are specific boxes for bmw (maybe audi too) that allows this type of connection.
So they don’t or might not show a menu interface to tell you it’s working. But the adapter should light up red once plugged in. Next go to iPhone and in settings > Bluetooth look for Autokit to appear. If it doesn’t turn BT off at the top switch and back on again and wait a few seconds. Once you tap it accept all the prompts to connect and then the system should show up CarPlay
I have been doing my research with the help of your videos in order to find the best option for me but there's a lot of info and options that is so confusing, could you tell me what's your best option for my case? the car is a Volkswagen Gol and supports AC and AA wired, I want to use them wireless, I'm a AC user but I would like to have the option to use AA too. I would like to know your opinion for both just AC and AC&AA adapters. So much thanks in advance!
If you also want AA then the best option is either 4.0 or 5.0 CarlinKit. There are other 2in1s out there but the autokit software these run are better overall for fixing and tweaking (should you need to).
I have a stupid question: on my (brand new and first car that supports CarPlay) Rav4 hybrid, my phone talks fine to the car. Why would I want one of these?
They are just to convert wired CarPlay to wireless CarPlay, so no need to plug it in to use CarPlay. If you don’t want to use CarPlay and are happy to use audio over Bluetooth instead then there is no need. It’s purely a CarPlay thing really.
Hey , question for your review: can it airplay/ cast media from iPhone to it? I’ve been looking for a box that will simply make my wired Apple CarPlay wireless and allow me to cast/airplay to my car dash. Any recommendations under 100$
Hi. So my wife and I both have iPhones. How can we switch between both phones if we are both in the car? How do I turn off auto connect and where do I choose the device when I turn that off? On the car screen or a phone screen?
They don’t make these Dongles switch between phones that easy. This particular one has the ability to turn auto connections off You can get to this either via the Settings menu on the Dongle’s home screen or by going to the IP config menu after connecting to CarPlay and switching it off there. Then when it comes to toggling which phone to connect to you simply tap it from the list, on the Dongle’s home screen.
Thanks but the negative point is on my Toyota Yaris Hybrid, brand new, it cannotbe reckognized when pushing the voice command key on the wheel, have to go to the screen, this is not good at all. It says, no device reckognized. This is really bad, since this is essential !
Can we use it for Audi a3 2014 model ??? If yes then we just need to plug in with car adapter and need to connect with Bluetooth. After that automatically Audi default screw will change jnto car play mode ???
With drop outs, what's the recovery process there for CarPlay and AndroidAuto? Looking at getting this to use in a 10th Gen Honda Civic, it supports native AA and between me and my wife we have iPhone and Android devices that'll get used in that car. I don't think there are any other devices that do what this does.
Hello, I have a T-Plus Box (4G+64GB, Android 11), whenever it connects to WiFi via hotspot it crashes and restarts. It only works after several attempts. With the SIM card it has to reboot constantly. Could you help me please? I have also tried other AI boxes, unfortunately they all have the same problem.
Thanks for the video. I want to use the native android part in it but I have iPhone. Do you know if I can use iPhone or mercedes touchpad to move around and input?
You won’t run Android auto from an iPhone, it’s either iPhone to CarPlay or Android to Android Auto. It should allow control with the dial/knob. I’m not sure about touch pads. If it works for CarPlay, it should be similar to that.
When You use wireless AA do incoming phone calls show on little display behind steering wheel? Do You see calls history on that display and can You for example disconnect using steering wheel button?
The issue I am facing is that it wirelessly connects to carplay for the first time and even works perfectly but once I turn off the car and want to reconnect it, no matter what I do, it doesn’t work. It either keeps disconnecting with the bluetooth or it stucks on connecting. Tried upgrading the firmware aswell but the issue persists. Do you know what could be the issue here?
Try playing with startup delay in the IP config settings menu. It feels your car system isn’t ready for the connection so adding a bit of a delay will help and time the sync much better.
Hi I’m doubting between the Carlinkit 5.0 and the U2Air Pro. I own an MG4. Input lag, the possibility to pair my wife’s phone as well and boot up time are the most important for me. Which one would you recommend?
Hi I have a Peugeot 208 72 plate with CarPlay, could you recommend the best adapter for my car or brand please. Plugging in every time is a pain in the arse
Sorry I can’t recommend an adapter without trying it in the specific car itself. The 5.0 would be a good start. Buy from Amazon for easy returns if it doesn’t work in your car.
What is the carlinkit 5.0 like compared to a quad lock? I purchased a quad lock one a couple of weeks ago and it has been awful, always disconnecting I’m looking at the carlinkit 5.0 but I do a lot of long driving so just wondering what it’s like using maps and taking calls on long journeys?
I'm trying to understand if this plays is own "Carlinkit CarPlay" interface, or would use my cars built-in/native "CarPlay" (ie ford bronco) screen. Or is there any adapter that doesn't change my screen?
All wireless CarPlay adapters ‘fool’ your wired CarPlay system into thinking an iPhone is connected. So it’s emulating a connected iPhone that is receiving the CarPlay ‘display/audio and touch input feed’ from your iPhone and it displays this onto your CarPlay display. There are two ways (or code) how this is done (or emulated) AFAIK - CarlinKit and everyone else that shares the same what I call ‘fullscreen UI’ code. So to answer your question isn’t so straightforward… Yes it’s using your native CarPlay to communicate, but it’s being emulated to act wirelessly by the adapter so your phone can communicate with it. Remember, CarPlay is just video stream from your phone. You’re not interacting with software on the car system itself, all the work is being done on your iPhone and this is just being ‘cast’ to the display over a series of CarPlay protocols that the display knows how to display it whilst also sending and receiving touch input to and from the display and your phone. To use wireless CarPlay natively, you would need your car system to have this hardware built in. Hope this helps.
@@CarPlayLife Are there any security concerns with using these dongles? Is everything still encrypted? Or are they able to see your info and stream/copy it to wherever they please?
I’m not sure about Sony HU. I hear they can be a bit picky on what works on them. Buy it from Amazon and you’ll get easy returns if it doesn’t work with it.
For the 23-27seconds to connect to car play, is that only for the 1st time it has to connect or, Everytime you get in the car? I have a Audi a4 2016 with wired car play, wanted to make it wireless and watch RU-vid/Netflix will this work also
Every time. But it’s likely you VAG system will be like mind and turn on when you unlock the car. So the adapter turns on before you start the car meaning those seconds are shaved off and it’s only a few before you see CarPlay. As long as your phone it’s connecting to is nearby.
Hello, can i use this with an aftermarket android head unit which doesn't have Android Auto/CarPlay built-in? Also, can i use Carlinkit AI box with same head unit (I have heard that radio must have Android auto built in)? Thank you very much.
Yes you need either CarPlay or Android auto already on your system (depending which adapter type you choose). For Android head units you need something like these from this playlist ru-vid.com/group/PLysOHeJ5BkMj-ov6_61XEGpj9AbbM0QYM&feature=shared
My vw Tiguan has a dead touchscreen and I’ve been unable to use CarPlay since I got a new phone because the screen requires consent to pair. Do you think this would bypass that? Are you able to test a phone that has not been paired to your car, or to unpair your phone in order to test it?
It’s going to behave as if you’ve connected a phone via wire. So if it needs permission by pressing something on the display, when plugging this in, it might likely do the same by asking the same prompt before the dongle is to be recognised. So it’s unlikely it will solve you’ve issue but you could buy from Amazon and send it back if it doesn’t work.
I’ll try. I think I have the air pro with me now. Might be a few weeks until I get to it though Seeing as ottocast is a CarlinKit OEM i’d expect the same results and limitations as this one. We shall see.
@@stevemhouse We provide a friendly user interface and a list of multiple phones that can be saved. These are negative for the startup time. Other products do not have these two functions. We think these are more important to users. 2air, we support automatic switching from iPhone to Android phones, they should use buttons
@@stevemhouse That's odd when Ottocast are basically using CarlinKit internals. Must be a software choice by them to ommit that functionality if it doesn't use Autokit at its core. I'll look into that when I check it out next week.
@@CarPlayLife I think you are maybe confusing the U2-Air with the U2-Now or U2-X. The Air uses completely different internals and software to the Now, X, and the Carlinkit.
hi in my volkswagen, the radio has the option for carplay but its factory locked i need a code but its to expensive. Will the carlinkit work if i dont already have carplay installed in my car ?
It’s not really necessary. You lose wire passthrough on the 4.0 and the 4.0 is a little faster into CarPlay from boot than the 5.0 in my experience. If you were using it for Android Auto, the 5.0 does have some advantages in speed there.
I just bought it for Android Auto 14.0. It connects, but the light keeps blinking blue and it doesn't changes stable to green. Why is that? Is there any problem?
I think blue and green is based on type of connection. Green for CarPlay and blue for Android Auto. If it works for you and it’s blue then no reason to be concerned
@@CarPlayLife when entering the car, some times my phone connects to the car and this causes a delay for Android Auto. Also, I have to unclick an click the wireless connection to my phone in order to connect...
Will this device turn my non apple carplay android head unit into a fully working apple carplay head unit? Or this will only work if my headunit has already apple carplay?
I’ve never heard of it. Sounds like a copycat rebrand if you’re asking. Edit. Just checked and it’s likely a rebrand of the Ottocast max. CarlinKit rarely OEMs their adapter tech.
You mean it disconnects you and you can’t reconnect to it? Does it work if you unplug and reinsert afterwards? If so try going into the IP config menu and make sure auto refresh and auto connect is switched on.
It’s great the amount of effort you are putting into still replying to your previous videos, Thankyou for your time! If you had to choose one to buy right now which would you choose, iPhone only user and want google maps to be running asap
Thanks for watching. I currently use this one (CarlinKit 5.0) with my iPhone and on VW MIB 2.5 Wired CarPlay system. So I guess this is my choice, mainly due to its Autokit firmware, which allows for lots of customisations and also this offers GPS passthrough support, so if you have a nav system with GPS antenna, it will use that instead of your phone's GPS antenna - means better signal and less 'drifting' in maps apps.
@@CarPlayLife Thanks for the reply, never used one before so I was very skeptical about wireless carplay adapters in general from all the issues I heard about reliability/lag but I have been using this one for a couple weeks now and so far the experience has been flawless I'm happy with it.
I bought my car in 2014 so I do not have a factory wired CarPlay infotainment system. I am trying to get CarPlay installed in my car with a wireless adapter. Do you know if there is such an adapter that I can get for a non-factory wired CarPlay system?
Only the boxes that connect in-line with your system, meaning you’ll have to get around the dashboard to the back of the system to plug it in. I’ve not tried these myself but that’s one route. Retrofitting a newer CarPlay system might also work too. Otherwise aftermarket is another option or a standalone CarPlay display system
@@CarPlayLife unfortunately aftermarket won't work coz I don’t have a factory wired CarPlay system so none of the dongles out there now will not work. Sigh! And I don’t want a floating one, looks hideous.
i bought a jvc 565 btd for my opel mokka 2012, because the original radio died, its a android radio. can i use the carlinkit for my radio, now it has a apart usb cable on the jvc radio, were i can plug in my s22 samsung, and android radio pops up. but i want it wireless. or do you recomend another brand (im dutch). tnx in advance
Can you install Android apps onto the head unit? If you can you’ll want an adapter that works with an app. I have a playlist for them on this channel. Otherwise these wireless adapters won’t work without otherwise as they’ll need a CarPlay usb port to work.
our use case is one car with multiple iphone users, so on 3.0 i disabled auto connect and manually select the one i want to connect to which i am ok with? how does it work on the 5.0 since you said there is no menu? is 3.0 or 5.0 better if you have multiple users?
The experience is the same. The same menu is still there for CarPlay. With its auto connect option. There is no menu for AAuto. 5,0 is just slightly faster in processor so it gets you in a little quicker. If you’re on 3.0 and it works for you there’s no significant reason to upgrade IMO.
That’s how these work. It needs WiFi to connect to the adapter. After that your mobile data connection is used to download/stream content/traffic data etc.
Hi there. I currently have a Samsung and use Carlinkit 4.0 and have started running into audio stutter issues. Reading about Calinkit 5.0 as it converts carplay and AA seperately im assuming this issue should resolve with this version? From reading as the 4.0 converts frkm carplay to AA this can cause some issues?
Yes that’s possible as it does handle connections differently. Just as long as you have Android Auto on the system itself, as if it’s AA you want you can’t go through CP on the system on the 5.0
