Carplay AI Boxes

[rrobe53]

Wanted to post about this because I haven't really seen anyone talking about it. Carplay is a huge deal for me, and the reason I don't give Rivian and Tesla the time of day. Feels weird to preach against walled gardens and then use Apple, but a $1,000 walled garden feels better than a $50,000 walled garden.

Anyways, even just regular Carplay is cool to me, but the functionality of these AI boxes (and as phones / other tinkering options improve) allow me to keep my infotainment system relevant even if Ford moves on.

Here's an example of what I'm running on mine, using https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BSQQPYXQ:

Basically an Android tablet via Carplay. I set up some automation using Shortcuts on my iPhone so when it connects to the AI Box bluetooth it turns on wifi sharing, disconnecting Wifi and therefore direct phone carplay while providing a hotspot for this device, and then turns off wifi sharing when the bluetooth disconnects.

Originally bought it for a roadtrip I took recently. Video works in motion (don't be an idiot please) so my passenger was watching Netflix while I had Waze going in split screen. I do some other nerdy stuff with it too but I won't go too into that...

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[bshaw]

Same. CarPlay is huge for me.
GM announced they are phasing out CarPlay / Android auto in some future model years. Bought my Chevy this year while it still had CarPlay, won’t get the next one if no CarPlay.

I think manufacturers see recurring subscription revenue as some sort of holy grail to making profits, and want to lock buyers into their platform. Ford and others are trying to bridge best of both worlds by having CarPlay and subscription things like Nav and blue cruise serving them recurring revenue.

GM is bonkers for going it alone on their own software stack.

 

[Mach-Lee]

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.

 

[rrobe53]

Yeah, this is what the split screen looks like. Before I started tweaking it more and turned off the bar on the bottom. It's designed for the horizontal width I think, so you can see the bar in the middle to drag it but i think the default 50/50 looks good.

 

[Dysan911]

I gotta be honest and say that looks pretty slick!. Ive heard of these boxes before but just assumed it was nothing more than the same Carplay I had on my Iphone. So how does this actually work? I thought Carplay is what restricts apps. Does this Box just trick our Display into seeing it as a Carplay projection device and then you can run the entire Android OS/Desktop on the main screen? One of the things I hate about Carplay is that it won't even let you use Netflix or view any app like Telegram, iMessage. It has to Just Read them to you. Like Apple is so hyper worried that someone would read a Text message on the main screen using carplay so they disable all of those and restrict it to using Siri Talk to Text, etc.

 

[rrobe53]

I gotta be honest and say that looks pretty slick!. Ive heard of these boxes before but just assumed it was nothing more than the same Carplay I had on my Iphone. So how does this actually work? I thought Carplay is what restricts apps. Does this Box just trick our Display into seeing it as a Carplay projection device and then you can run the entire Android OS/Desktop on the main screen? One of the things I hate about Carplay is that it won't even let you use Netflix or view any app like Telegram, iMessage. It has to Just Read them to you. Like Apple is so hyper worried that someone would read a Text message on the main screen using carplay so they disable all of those and restrict it to using Siri Talk to Text, etc.

Yeah so at a basic level Carplay and Android auto just stream compressed video to your head unit and your head unit streams back touch events. These boxes just capitalize on that and present an Android "tablet" interface. The box I'm running is Android 13, I put Nova Launcher on it in my initial post but the split screen / bar on the bottom are some of the stuff Carlinkit ships with it.

It has the ability to "double hop" carplay for lack of a better word, but essentially an app within the Android interface that will stream carplay through it, so Car -> AI Box -> Your Phones CarPlay, if you still want Carplay, but I've found that once I have the full tablet interface I don't really need the Carplay itself.

 

[Dysan911]

Yeah so at a basic level Carplay and Android auto just stream compressed video to your head unit and your head unit streams back touch events. These boxes just capitalize on that and present an Android "tablet" interface. The box I'm running is Android 13, I put Nova Launcher on it in my initial post but the split screen / bar on the bottom are some of the stuff Carlinkit ships with it.

It has the ability to "double hop" carplay for lack of a better word, but essentially an app within the Android interface that will stream carplay through it, so Car -> AI Box -> Your Phones CarPlay, if you still want Carplay, but I've found that once I have the full tablet interface I don't really need the Carplay itself.

Ahh ok. Now I have a few more questions. I was reading the reviews on Amazon link you posted. Is it as buggy as some people stated? Like you have to unplug it and replug it in frequently or if causes strange issues when a call is ended but still keeps the audio compressed or shows you are still on a call, etc?

What is the purpose of that shortcut you set up for the BT Connection and turning on Wifi Sharing?

I mainly use Carplay exclusively for Navigation and music. I like how the Apple maps has lately integrated with the Ford Sync in that Apple maps will show my destination SOC% and the IDC will update with upcoming turns. I'm curious with your setup if I'd have to double hop into carplay to get that working or would the native Android navigation apps recognize and see the Ford Sync side of the data?

Thanks

 

[rrobe53]

Ahh ok. Now I have a few more questions. I was reading the reviews on Amazon link you posted. Is it as buggy as some people stated? Like you have to unplug it and replug it in frequently or if causes strange issues when a call is ended but still keeps the audio compressed or shows you are still on a call, etc?

What is the purpose of that shortcut you set up for the BT Connection and turning on Wifi Sharing?

I mainly use Carplay exclusively for Navigation and music. I like how the Apple maps has lately integrated with the Ford Sync in that Apple maps will show my destination SOC% and the IDC will update with upcoming turns. I'm curious with your setup if I'd have to double hop into carplay to get that working or would the native Android navigation apps recognize and see the Ford Sync side of the data?

Thanks

Mine hasn't been buggy. It's not going to run like a flagship Android tablet, but I'd say performance is pretty inline with the usual Carplay experience itself in terms of smoothness. Video playback is completely fine etc. I've taken calls through the device and not had issues after the call ended, but I try to avoid phone calls so if its intermittent maybe I've just been lucky.

The shortcut is so my phone gives the device internet through its hotspot. I just toggle the hotspot on/off based on whether or not the phone sees the device through bluetooth. The device has a SIM card so you could do that if you wanted, or if you pay for the hotspot for Ford/AT&T, but I just opted to use my phone hotspot with this method.

I haven't messed with trying to get it to feed information back to the car yet, but I am using the GPS from the car to feed maps in the device (not on by default). I'm actually not a fan of the way things move around on the instrument cluster when you use navigation.

 

[Dysan911]

Mine hasn't been buggy. It's not going to run like a flagship Android tablet, but I'd say performance is pretty inline with the usual Carplay experience itself in terms of smoothness. Video playback is completely fine etc. I've taken calls through the device and not had issues after the call ended, but I try to avoid phone calls so if its intermittent maybe I've just been lucky.

The shortcut is so my phone gives the device internet through its hotspot. I just toggle the hotspot on/off based on whether or not the phone sees the device through bluetooth. The device has a SIM card so you could do that if you wanted, or if you pay for the hotspot for Ford/AT&T, but I just opted to use my phone hotspot with this method.

Ahh that makes total sense and a very slick way to set that up!

I haven't messed with trying to get it to feed information back to the car yet, but I am using the GPS from the car to feed maps in the device (not on by default). I'm actually not a fan of the way things move around on the instrument cluster when you use navigation.

Im not exactly sure how Apple Maps talks to Ford Sync. So when I have Carplay Apple navigation going they speak to each other to get things like the SOC%, Charger route planning etc. I heard that at some point Google Maps was going to implement the same feature so that you could do EV Route planning and have SOC% on arrival as well but that it would likely be Android Auto only. This device is Android Auto as well right or do you need an Actual Android phone to take advantage of using it?

 

[rrobe53]

Im not exactly sure how Apple Maps talks to Ford Sync. So when I have Carplay Apple navigation going they speak to each other to get things like the SOC%, Charger route planning etc. I heard that at some point Google Maps was going to implement the same feature so that you could do EV Route planning and have SOC% on arrival as well but that it would likely be Android Auto only. This device is Android Auto as well right or do you need an Actual Android phone to take advantage of using it?

Nah it's not Android Auto it's fully fledged Android. Carlinkit (and others too probably?) do some stuff like allowing the device to use the GPS from the car rather than the internal to the device GPS. I don't know whether or not the device -> car works, but I do know that it doesn't seem to out of the box.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Yeah, this is what the split screen looks like. Before I started tweaking it more and turned off the bar on the bottom. It's designed for the horizontal width I think, so you can see the bar in the middle to drag it but i think the default 50/50 looks good.

OK, can you share more information on how you enabled vertical split screen?

 

[JimmyMachE]

CarScanner now works directly in CarPlay and Android Auto:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/apple-carplay-compatible-obd-scanner-app.35964/#post-842425

 

[rrobe53]

OK, can you share more information on how you enabled vertical split screen?

There's the floating white ball for navigation. For me while in an app I click the button and it pops up like you're switching apps but it's to select another app. That gets me to the screenshot above.

I think it might be dependent on using the specific launcher that shipped with it, I'm using Nova partially now and playing with different launchers too and it seems like some of them break that specific feature.

 

[Jimrpa]

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.

I believe there are jurisdictions in the United States where it is illegal to present movies/TV/Videos in a location where the driver may be able to view them while the vehicle is in motion. It would be sad if someone caused an accident while watching the latest episode of the Cardashians or something ?‍

 

[Jeff-NoVA]

It would be sad if someone caused an accident while watching the latest episode of the Cardashians or something ?‍

"Cardashians" is an incredible (likely unintentional) pun on your part. Well done!

@Mach-Lee, I am able to use the free version of Weather on the Way app in IOS for a live radar in regular CarPlay.

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