CarPlay wireless solution

[hirsty]

Thats great to hear. I didn't realise that was possible. If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay @mike5im5 ?
@hirsty Are you getting yours done at a VW centre?
I'll phone VW Liverpool as they are my nearest.

It's a standard Dealer offer now - there was a long thread about it on the T6 Forum, wasn't available as an official retrofit the first couple of years.

As every single job - no matter how small - requires at least one return visit to finalise I'm now waiting for a good time to go back for a firmware update.

I'm in the minority in liking VW OEM nav map view, but I do want to be able to put my phone in the glovebox & still be able to use Apple Maps favourites / Phone interface etc.

 

[mike5im5]

Thats great to hear. I didn't realise that was possible. If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay @mike5im5 ?
@hirsty Are you getting yours done at a VW centre?
I'll phone VW Liverpool as they are my nearest.

As already mentioned above. It's a standard price. £250 all in. I think you're only charged about 15 minutes labour. Parts is something like £207 +VAT so you're unlikely to find it cheaper from an independent as the markup would be poor.

The parts themselves are and SD card as this is how the unlock/upgrade is delivered. They give you the box afterwards but mine didn't contain the actual SD card. Maybe they remove on purpose so we don't get them copied/distributed.

 

[CamperFam]

Nice. Not sure plugging it in bothers me enough to invest but you have to wonder why apple couldn’t achieve this in the first place.

It's not Apple that are the limitation - it's VW and their headunit.

 

[kp64zl]

I received mine last week.

Works great for navigation, but intermittent interference when playing music via Spotify.

Connecting takes a few moments when starting up as have to manually disconnect from the home wifi (as I park in the drive) and then reconnect to the carplay wifi and remember to switch the bluetooth on.

and you have to unlock the phone to get it to connect each time.

Main benefit is that you don't need to unplug the phone to use it. I've a super short usb cable as found a longer cable got caught up in things.

My overall view is that it's OK but sort of fixing a problem that didn't really ever exist. More convenient in some ways but not all

 

[JeremyR]

I received mine last week.

Works great for navigation, but intermittent interference when playing music via Spotify.

Connecting takes a few moments when starting up as have to manually disconnect from the home wifi (as I park in the drive) and then reconnect to the carplay wifi and remember to switch the bluetooth on.

and you have to unlock the phone to get it to connect each time.

Main benefit is that you don't need to unplug the phone to use it. I've a super short usb cable as found a longer cable got caught up in things.

My overall view is that it's OK but sort of fixing a problem that didn't really ever exist. More convenient in some ways but not all

I get the point about fixing a non-existent problem - but don’t we do that quite a lot I used a very short iPhone cable for the same reason as you and got fed up of always plugging in! And my phone always had to be unlocked or it didn’t connect when using USB.

Odd you have a problem with Spotify as I don’t. I checked again today before responding and it is strong and clear with no interference. Same with Podcasts, BBC Sounds etc.

It takes a few seconds to connect, but I don’t have to disconnect from my home wifi, even though I’m parked in the drive like you. The car seems to take over by first the bluetooth and then the device wifi. When I turn off the car, the house wifi picks up again.

In my case, the phone does not have to be unlocked to connect (so opposite to what I get on USB). I just double checked this by manually locking the phone then turning the car on and the carplay2air takes over without me unlocking.

A random thought, but you probably did this already - I updated the firmware before using it - I wonder if that helped with the sound quality and the connecting? I’m using an iPhone X on 13.6. It does sound like I’m getting a better experience all round than you for some reason.

 

[kp64zl]

Thanks- updating the firmware seems to have resolved my issues.

 

[kp64zl]

There is an option for music quality- either CD or DVD - which is better quality?

 

[JeremyR]

There is an option for music quality- either CD or DVD - which is better quality?

Odd, I don’t have those options in my Spotify settings. I have streaming (set to automatic) and download (set to very high)

 

[kp64zl]

No these settings are in the CarPlay2air - accessible from http://192.168.50.2/

 

[toeknee]

Hi, can i ask if this device is only for the t6 or the t6.1 as well? From the photos it looks like it is a standard USB but the t6.1 has USB-C ports. Thanks!

 

[Alan Greensall]

no problem........ just get these USB C to USB Adapter, USB C Male to USB A Female, Converting Thunderbolt 3 to USB 3.1/3.0/2.0 For MacBook Pro, Chromebook, Pixelbook,Galaxy S8 S9£3.29Amazon.co.uk

 

[edocali]

I came late to the party, got a Carlinkit 3.0 dongle which works well with my T6.
Was too expensive on amazon, bought directly from China and at ~70£ it's worth the money.
The lag is mostly noticeable when pausing the audio player !

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Despite my phone being connected via bluetooth, I can’t seem to get Carplay working wirelessly in our T6.1, only when plugged into a USB port by the gear shift.
Is it working wirelessly for other 6.1 owners?

 

[andyinluton]

Despite my phone being connected via bluetooth, I can’t seem to get Carplay working wirelessly in our T6.1, only when plugged into a USB port by the gear shift.
Is it working wirelessly for other 6.1 owners?

Yes. I am guessing when setting it up you only connected for phone not media as well?
I would delete the connection & re - set it up.

 

[GrahamB]

Despite my phone being connected via bluetooth, I can’t seem to get Carplay working wirelessly in our T6.1, only when plugged into a USB port by the gear shift.
Is it working wirelessly for other 6.1 owners?

Yes mine works.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Yes mine works.

Thanks @andyinluton and @GrahamB i’ll have a play with it this morning. Is it a case of either Carplay OR VW Bluetooth telephony but not both?

 

[GrahamB]

Thanks @andyinluton and @GrahamB i’ll have a play with it this morning. Is it a case of either Carplay OR VW Bluetooth telephony but not both?

No, you have both. I can understand why Andy is suggesting reconfiguring it, but tbh I cant remember the setup showing an option to disable any part of it. I often see on screen at start up App Connect display between carplay and direct bluetooth control of iPhone mp4’s - do you see that? After that I switch between them as needed - so for example sometimes its convenient to use a google map sat nav on carplay to a place found in a google search. Media play fine on either side of the system, but to go from carplay to bluetooth media you have to go to settings in the media screen and reselect the phone. It is also possible to go to a VW radio preset and leave that playing whilst switching to Carplay for google/Apple Navigation or to make a siri call - this is handy on the move and will mute radio in call. I like the system, but I did have to spend time with it to find my way around.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

No, you have both. I can understand why Andy is suggesting reconfiguring it, but tbh I cant remember the setup showing an option to disable any part of it. I often see on screen at start up App Connect display between carplay and direct bluetooth control of iPhone mp4’s - do you see that? After that I switch between them as needed - so for example sometimes its convenient to use a google map sat nav on carplay to a place found in a google search. Media play fine on either side of the system, but to go from carplay to bluetooth media you have to go to settings in the media screen and reselect the phone. It is also possible to go to a VW radio preset and leave that playing whilst switching to Carplay for google/Apple Navigation or to make a siri call - this is handy on the move and will mute radio in call. I like the system, but I did have to spend time with it to find my way around.

Thanks, i’ll have a play with it later.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Success. Many thanks.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

It’s only taken me 10.5 months to get round to it

 

[Harv]

Hi. it's been 4 years.... is the CPLAY2air still the best adaptor? Thanks.

 

[capt kirk]

Hi. it's been 4 years.... is the CPLAY2air still the best adaptor? Thanks.

I have had mine for 6 years and no updates, still the best thing i have bought for the van. Apart from all the other best things ive bought…..

 

[Alan Greensall]

Hi. it's been 4 years.... is the CPLAY2air still the best adaptor? Thanks.

 

[Alan Greensall]

It’s still working fine for me after all these years. I bought another for a car that I have now sold. If you are considering buying one, I’m open to offers

 

[Harv]

It’s still working fine for me after all these years. I bought another for a car that I have now sold. If you are considering buying one, I’m open to offers

Thanks Alan. I’ll drop you a note. (If I can work out how!)