Carplay AI Boxes

[Jimrpa]

I don’t really understand what is going on here? Is this basically a box that “fools” sync into thinking that the device connected to it is Android and not an Apple device? If so, why not just use an android device with Sync and eliminate the middleman?

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[rrobe53]

I don’t really understand what is going on here? Is this basically a box that “fools” sync into thinking that the device connected to it is Android and not an Apple device? If so, why not just use an android device with Sync and eliminate the middleman?

It's not about fooling Sync, it's that Carplay and Android auto are essentially just streamed video to the car and streamed touch events to the device. You can present whatever video you want, and in this case it's a fully fledged Android distro, not Android Auto or Carplay.

The reason for doing it is you get everything, not just the apps that are tailor made and approved for the car experience. With the Mach E display being essentially a big tablet it works out pretty well.

 

[rrobe53]

Split screen you say? I might have to update mine to see if I can get that to work.

Besides video in motion for passengers, I like to use it for weather radar and Car Scanner.

Once you have one of these things, it's really apparent how excessively limited Apple CarPlay and the native Ford interface are because of lawyers freaking out about potential lawsuits. They could easily add a bunch of functionality and still have it be pretty low-distraction. For example, Apple blocks weather radar apps in CarPlay, I don't see how looking at weather radar is any more distracting than looking at a map. Or looking at a page of gauges in Car Scanner.

Figured out how to do this outside of the native launcher that comes with it, I prefer Nova Launcher. Apparently have to long click the icon in app switcher. My AI Box is running Android 13.

Also for video I might set the display "zoom" lower, I have it pretty high to make buttons easier to click while driving.

Also, I *think* something in the settings has it set to 1:1 or something so it's trying to do horizontal split. I want to go mess with it more but I think you can set it to some vertical ratio and maybe Android will behave more appropriately with the bar in the middle. (Edit: Nova Launcher had a force portrait and that fixed the weirdness, now it's split top)

 

[Daveski3]

I have the same AI box. I found a link on a VW forum with a discount code (TECHJEFF20). The code is for 20% off (not my code). I bought at this site but it took about 2 weeks to get delivered. Same one that is on Amazon but cheaper ($133 with discount - 8 GB RAM+128 GB ROM version). My son plays travel sports so I spend a few nights a week sitting at practice that is not close to home. I’ll watch Netflix or YouTube TV while sitting at practice. Worth every penny
https://autokitcarplay.com/products...id-13-0-carplay-ai-box?variant=43929547833571

 

[Father Of Dragon]

MyRadar is another app that will let you show a Weather Radar in CarPlay.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could AirPlay or Cast to our screen from our phone when parked? Guess Ford would prefer we sign up for the Premium Connectivity package.

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