Help! I need Apple CarPlay.

sueh1

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Aug 16, 2004
1,281
I just exchanged my newer car for an older version of a better car. The issue is, I got very fond of my Apple CarPlay, and now I don’t have it! I’ve been told that you could actually get a new stereo that has Apple CarPlay and get it installed. Anyone have any experience with this or knowledge of it? I will not be installing anything myself, I am not good at that stuff. I know there’s basically stick on ones that are cheaper. They probably don’t work as well. As far as getting a new one… How would that work, as far as also being able to listen to regular radio and Sirius radio?

it doesn’t help that I’m having trouble using my phone with this car. I can do basic talking and voice texting with Bluetooth, but I can’t get the sound to work easily on my other apps. I’ve been in touch with Honda and car, and they haven’t been able to help me much. I finally figured out that I could use my phone as an accessory and actually listen to certain apps on it. But it’s not ideal. I am going through CarPlay withdrawal.
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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Is there a local car audio place near you? Stop in for a chat.

There are definitely aftermarket products available that "look" original and have the capabilities you want. (Exact available products depend on car's original equipment. I know SXM and backup cameras are sometimes complicating factors.)
 

sueh1

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Aug 16, 2004
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Is there a local car audio place near you? Stop in for a chat.

There are definitely aftermarket products available that "look" original and have the capabilities you want. (Exact available products depend on car's original equipment. I know SXM and backup cameras are sometimes complicating factors.)
Nice, I’ll look around for one around here. Yeah, I was wondering about the Sirius, and didn’t even think about the back up camera.
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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Nice, I’ll look around for one around here. Yeah, I was wondering about the Sirius, and didn’t even think about the back up camera.
SXM isn't even really *that* much of an issue if you have CarPlay. Load the app onto your phone and access it that way through CarPlay.
 

gtmtnbiker

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Jul 15, 2005
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I bought a Kenwood receiver from Crutchfield and installed it into my 2007 Honda CRV myself. It works very well. The nice thing about the unit is the wireless CarPlay. Highly recommend wireless CarPlay over wired. Our 2021 Acura RDX has wired CarPlay and it sucks. Not CarPlay but the Acura infotainment software is buggy and crashes a lot.
 

czar

fanboy
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Jul 16, 2005
4,363
Ann Arbor
If you are ambitious, I've found Crutchfield is very good. Like @gtmtnbiker I also installed a Kenwood recently (2008 Corolla) and it went pretty smoothly. I did have one hiccup and they were super quick to help address it (like <60 minutes via e-mail). n=1, but their website was very helpful filtering supported headunits.

Admittedly this car didn't have a backup cam, but think it's just a single video jack so you should be able to filter by that as well.
 

KiltedFool

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Dec 22, 2005
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Depending on the make and model of the car there are sometimes OEM updates/upgrades to allow for the newer unit. We purchased a Mazda3 that was old enough to not have a head unit that would support carplay but were able to have the dealer install a Mazda upgrade head unit to bring that functionality. YMMV
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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If you really want no part of installing yourself or dealing with the dealer, Crutchfield is a nice site to at least give you an order of magnitude on what the equipment itself might cost. As someone upthread noted, the site's filters are pretty handy.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
20,578
I just exchanged my newer car for an older version of a better car. The issue is, I got very fond of my Apple CarPlay, and now I don’t have it! I’ve been told that you could actually get a new stereo that has Apple CarPlay and get it installed. Anyone have any experience with this or knowledge of it? I will not be installing anything myself, I am not good at that stuff. I know there’s basically stick on ones that are cheaper. They probably don’t work as well. As far as getting a new one… How would that work, as far as also being able to listen to regular radio and Sirius radio?

it doesn’t help that I’m having trouble using my phone with this car. I can do basic talking and voice texting with Bluetooth, but I can’t get the sound to work easily on my other apps. I’ve been in touch with Honda and car, and they haven’t been able to help me much. I finally figured out that I could use my phone as an accessory and actually listen to certain apps on it. But it’s not ideal. I am going through CarPlay withdrawal.
What year and make/model is it?
 

jayhoz

Ronald Bartel
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Jul 19, 2005
17,702
I bought a Kenwood receiver from Crutchfield and installed it into my 2007 Honda CRV myself. It works very well. The nice thing about the unit is the wireless CarPlay. Highly recommend wireless CarPlay over wired. Our 2021 Acura RDX has wired CarPlay and it sucks. Not CarPlay but the Acura infotainment software is buggy and crashes a lot.
We have wired and wireless across our two cars. It could be hardware related, but the wireless one has just enough of a lag that it is a bit annoying. Also, the wireless charger in that car has overheated my phone a couple of times.

There have been a couple of times when the wired one gave me a device not supported error, but that doesn't happen often. I figure you are going to want to charge your phone while using Carplay anyway, so why not plug it in?
 

AlNipper49

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Apr 3, 2001
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I bought a Kenwood receiver from Crutchfield and installed it into my 2007 Honda CRV myself. It works very well. The nice thing about the unit is the wireless CarPlay. Highly recommend wireless CarPlay over wired. Our 2021 Acura RDX has wired CarPlay and it sucks. Not CarPlay but the Acura infotainment software is buggy and crashes a lot.
Not to veer off topic but Acura and Audi’s entertainment systems were the sole reason we’ll never buy one again. Absolutely not my cup of tea.
 

gtmtnbiker

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Jul 15, 2005
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Not to veer off topic but Acura and Audi’s entertainment systems were the sole reason we’ll never buy one again. Absolutely not my cup of tea.
No word about Honda? You would think that Acura/Honda might have the same system. I hope not because I’m interested in another Honda.

I would tolerate the bugginess of the system there was a way to reboot without turning the car off and opening the door.

We have wired and wireless across our two cars. It could be hardware related, but the wireless one has just enough of a lag that it is a bit annoying.
I haven’t found the lag to be too bad. Just a slight delay in skipping or replaying a song

There have been a couple of times when the wired one gave me a device not supported error, but that doesn't happen often. I figure you are going to want to charge your phone while using Carplay anyway, so why not plug it in?
I like letting my phone get down below 20% before charging. It is nice keeping my phone in the pocket instead of pulling it out to connect. I have found that it’s easier for my family to damage the lightning cable in the car as they’re not as careful as I am. Sometimes CarPlay issues are due to the cable being bad.
 

trekfan55

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Oct 29, 2004
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On a similar note, I am taking delivery of a new car soon. Just finishing the process of license plate and stuff.

The car has a very good entertainment system but Car Play. There is an app that supposedly mirrors the phone, but I haven't heard many good things about it,

I have a 30-40 minute drive each way to and from work and would like to be able to use the car's screen and not the phone on a stand (plus keep it in my pocket).

Is anyone familiar with something that could get me car play?

It is a Chineses Car (Dongeng Forthing). Don't ask, they are making heavy inroads here in Panama selling beautiful cars with great technology at a fraction of the price. I waa even told that the Chinese Government is subsidizing sales so they can get bigger market share, at least in Latin America and other similar places.
 

AlNipper49

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Apr 3, 2001
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No word about Honda? You would think that Acura/Honda might have the same system. I hope not because I’m interested in another Honda.

I would tolerate the bugginess of the system there was a way to reboot without turning the car off and opening the door.



I haven’t found the lag to be too bad. Just a slight delay in skipping or replaying a song



I like letting my phone get down below 20% before charging. It is nice keeping my phone in the pocket instead of pulling it out to connect. I have found that it’s easier for my family to damage the lightning cable in the car as they’re not as careful as I am. Sometimes CarPlay issues are due to the cable being bad.
I actually have never owned a Honda. I like them, the opportunity just has never presented itself (we generally run our cars for as long as they don’t start causing problems).
 

uncannymanny

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Jan 12, 2007
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I've been curious about this for our 2016 Outback. Something like this says it fits in my vehicle, but would I lose any access to car system menus replacing the radio entirely?
 

sueh1

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Aug 16, 2004
1,281
If you really want no part of installing yourself or dealing with the dealer, Crutchfield is a nice site to at least give you an order of magnitude on what the equipment itself might cost. As someone upthread noted, the site's filters are pretty handy.
So… I plugged the information into that site and it is telling me that it’s not possible to put another radio in! I don’t know if it just means their stuff or in general… I will certainly go to a stereo place to and ask.
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
32,751
Thanks. That seems like something you just plug-in, not to replace, right?
I think the idea is replace. The existing unit gets pulled and the new unit gets attached to the wires and jacks for speakers, sxm, camera, FM antenna, etc.
I'd be very surprised if there was no product that fit a car of your type and vintage.(though some features might get lost in transition depending on price point).
 
Last edited:

sueh1

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Aug 16, 2004
1,281
I think the idea is replace. The existing unit gets pulled and the new unit gets attached to the wires and jacks for speakers, sxm, camera, FM antenna, etc.
I'd be very surprised if there was no product that fit a car of your type and vintage.(though some features might get lost in transition depending on price point).
So I stopped by a local installer. They can do it, all right, but it’s in the neighborhood of $1200 with labor to make it work. So I guess I’ll be going with the external plug-in unit and hoping for the best! I did call Honda-In-Car. They said that the car is too old to be compatible with my phone as far as hearing my apps, and suggested Bluetooth adapter.
 

Chuck Schilling

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Dec 5, 2001
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the belly of the clam
No word about Honda? You would think that Acura/Honda might have the same system. I hope not because I’m interested in another Honda.

I would tolerate the bugginess of the system there was a way to reboot without turning the car off and opening the door.



I haven’t found the lag to be too bad. Just a slight delay in skipping or replaying a song



I like letting my phone get down below 20% before charging. It is nice keeping my phone in the pocket instead of pulling it out to connect. I have found that it’s easier for my family to damage the lightning cable in the car as they’re not as careful as I am. Sometimes CarPlay issues are due to the cable being bad.
I bought a new CRV a little while back, the Sport trim level has wired Android Auto. Wired AA kept dropping without reconnecting, so I bought an AAWireless dongle for $75. It'll still drop on occasion, but the dongle reconnects on its own without having to remove/replace a cabled connection
 

PortlandSoxFan

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Not to veer off topic but Acura and Audi’s entertainment systems were the sole reason we’ll never buy one again. Absolutely not my cup of tea.
While I have small quibbles with our Audi entertainment systems (we have 2, and it is the previous MMI as the cars are 2017 and 2018), I do LOVE the map on the virtual cockpit when navigating. I only wish there was a way to put Google Maps on that screen. I've had newer loaners and the MMI is improved; but the main improvement is Android Auto works more flawlessly so there was no need for the Audi MMI.
 

McBride11

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Jul 15, 2005
23,644
Durham, NC
I got this thing when I bought in May 2020 when it was 0 down 0 interest for cars.

https://cplay2air.com/

Lexus didnt roll out apple play until 21 or 22

It plugs into a usb in my center console , the storage area your right elbow rests on. It is fine. Get google maps, my own music, podcast player to pop up on the native display screen

The exposed usb doesnt link into the bluetooth, so i either needed to dunk my plugged in phone into center storage, or have a remote solution. The exposed usb that will charge only.

There is an annoying delay on phone calls, but for important calls while driving, ill pop an earbud in. That to, me, is the biggest weakness

Gmaps, music, entertainment are all fine on this thing. My iphone home menu is basically on the native touch dash screen

Doesnt link maybe 10% of the time. Sometimes gotta restart car or more often just takes a few min to sync. Tends to sync better if phone is playing music when i turn the car on.

Im not sure if a 2014 would have the proper usb outlet that puts the phone directly into the system. So a full new stereo system may be needed. Eg my prior 2010 honda accord this would not work on
 

Coachster

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Jul 3, 2009
9,247
Maine
Along the same lines is this:

UNBREAKcable Bluetooth 5.3 FM Transmitter for Car, [PD 20W + QC 3.0] [Stronger Microphone & HiFi Bass Sound] Cigarette Lighter Radio Music Adapter Charger, Supports Hands-Free Siri Google Assistant


I bought a first-generation Frontier, not realizing I'd have to use it commute for several months, after driving with CarPlay for several years. This thing worked fine.

I get that there is no visual, and obviously there isn't a GPS/map system. However, if what you are interested in is listening to music/podcasts and having bluetooth for your phone, it's pretty good and obviously cheap.
 

Scott Cooper's Grand Slam

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Jul 12, 2008
4,625
New England
I'm going to ask a naive question, both as someone who is pretty tech savvy and someone who would be, on paper, a user of this technology. What's the point?

I'm driving a car without CarPlay or Android Auto. I bought a vent-mounted Magsafe iPhone holder. The holder puts my phone in a good position so that I can see Maps in my peripheral vision while driving. I turn on Do Not Disturb While Driving, so I don't do calls or texts while I'm behind the wheel. I do use Apple Maps (I love the haptic feedback for turns if you're using Apple Watch) and Apple Music. But I enter my destination in Maps before I leave the driveway, and if I want music I'll queue it up beforehand.

What would I gain with CarPlay? The ability to make/answer calls, and skip tracks, using the buttons on the steering wheel?
 

McBride11

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Jul 15, 2005
23,644
Durham, NC
I'm going to ask a naive question, both as someone who is pretty tech savvy and someone who would be, on paper, a user of this technology. What's the point?

I'm driving a car without CarPlay or Android Auto. I bought a vent-mounted Magsafe iPhone holder. The holder puts my phone in a good position so that I can see Maps in my peripheral vision while driving. I turn on Do Not Disturb While Driving, so I don't do calls or texts while I'm behind the wheel. I do use Apple Maps (I love the haptic feedback for turns if you're using Apple Watch) and Apple Music. But I enter my destination in Maps before I leave the driveway, and if I want music I'll queue it up beforehand.

What would I gain with CarPlay? The ability to make/answer calls, and skip tracks, using the buttons on the steering wheel?
I would say
Integrated into display screen - larger easier to read maps etc
Can be controlled with native car controls (skip song, volume, answer call)
Uses car speakers, so louder

Needed? No. But does make it easier
 

sueh1

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 16, 2004
1,281
I got this thing when I bought in May 2020 when it was 0 down 0 interest for cars.

https://cplay2air.com/

Lexus didnt roll out apple play until 21 or 22

It plugs into a usb in my center console , the storage area your right elbow rests on. It is fine. Get google maps, my own music, podcast player to pop up on the native display screen

The exposed usb doesnt link into the bluetooth, so i either needed to dunk my plugged in phone into center storage, or have a remote solution. The exposed usb that will charge only.

There is an annoying delay on phone calls, but for important calls while driving, ill pop an earbud in. That to, me, is the biggest weakness

Gmaps, music, entertainment are all fine on this thing. My iphone home menu is basically on the native touch dash screen

Doesnt link maybe 10% of the time. Sometimes gotta restart car or more often just takes a few min to sync. Tends to sync better if phone is playing music when i turn the car on.

Im not sure if a 2014 would have the proper usb outlet that puts the phone directly into the system. So a full new stereo system may be needed. Eg my prior 2010 honda accord this would not work on
I'm going to ask a naive question, both as someone who is pretty tech savvy and someone who would be, on paper, a user of this technology. What's the point?

I'm driving a car without CarPlay or Android Auto. I bought a vent-mounted Magsafe iPhone holder. The holder puts my phone in a good position so that I can see Maps in my peripheral vision while driving. I turn on Do Not Disturb While Driving, so I don't do calls or texts while I'm behind the wheel. I do use Apple Maps (I love the haptic feedback for turns if you're using Apple Watch) and Apple Music. But I enter my destination in Maps before I leave the driveway, and if I want music I'll queue it up beforehand.

What would I gain with CarPlay? The ability to make/answer calls, and skip tracks, using the buttons on the steering wheel?
so for me, the single biggest thing is being able to smoothly use talk to text. I have a long commute every day and that was an easy and safe to keep in touch with people, and it would read my texts to me.

The second biggest thing is podcasts, it’s an easy interface to change around my Podcasts. Another thing I do a lot with my long commute. And then, yes, I do like seeing the maps on a big screen and having the voice work. Right now it’s a little harder to get the voice to go through my phone, although I found a workaround.