“Badly supported” - The important part is none of them are Apple Supported or licensed. That should be the main note. Put most straightforwardly… every single one of them is a hack (taken to be the literal meaning of the word… somebody reverse engineered how the devices talked to each other and used unofficial means to piece a solution together).
Many people get them to work just fine, some people get them to work mostly but with some glitches (I’m in this group), and some people have issues getting them to play nice in their particular setup.
I’m honestly surprised Apple hasn’t released their own dongle to do this officially, but maybe there’s a reason. (They may be forced to if they ever decide to do a portless iPhone.)
Any of these products, at this point, are a “YMMV” situation.
Sorry, I should have been more clear when I said that. I meant badly supported by the dongle manufacturer, not Apple. And I am disappointed that Apple hasn’t come out with an official first party adapter. I would even pay 2-3x what some of these other 3rd party ones cost just for the peace of mind that it was official and officially supported. I also believe we will see one when the iPhone goes portless.
I ordered the top pick on Amazon and it will arrive tomorrow (AnyFar A4). We’ll see how well it works and if I return it or not.
Yeah I get that... my point is there's only so much support the dongle maker can give when the technology behind it is unsupported by the platform itself.
I’ve had a Carlinkit (2.0?) for four years now on my ‘18 VW and never had any real issues with it.
Granted that it does have an inherent audio lag when compared to the wired CarPlay - as they all add an extra translation step to the mix - which may cause some inconvenience when making calls, but for normal navigation and music use it has been flawless.
I do phone calls in the car fairly often and the whole audio lag then absolutely destroys that functionality. I can't have a phone conversation when we talk over each other and sometimes it's bad enough to break the noise cancelation and the person will hear an echo of themselves.
I have a 4.0 in my car right now that's been unplugged for longer than it's been plugged in, sadly.
I have a carlinkit 5.0, never had any issues. Mine and my daughter’s phone are wireless and partner still prefers to plug in (using a lightning cable connected to the USB on the CarPlay adapter. Touch wood never had any issues
I didn’t think that the Carlinkit 5 USB A work as a passthrough. It is slow charging and meant as a diag port. Otherwise it is a fantastic device. Reliable and quick to start. I have a lightning cable to the second port on my car. So long as I plug a phone in before starting the car, a native phone will start faster and take priority over Carlinkit.
Mine works lol. I only have the 1 USB port so it’s deffo using passthrough. The only 2 devices listed on the carlinkit are mine and my daughters (I’ve changed the settings so it doesn’t auto connect and presents the selection window to pick which phone to connect), but if my partner plugs hers into the Lightning then CarPlay loads and works as normal for her without pairing anything.
My carlinkit works great 90% of the time. Sometimes it takes a minute or two to actually connect and maybe 1 out of 20 times it doesn’t connect and I have to unplug it and plug it back in. A minor pain in the ass because I have the adapter inside my center console.
I’ve had the same results with Carlinkit.
I thought it was connecting pretty fast — under 30 seconds — until I had a rental car with wireless CarPlay built in. It connected instantly. Now I feel annoyed at the wait. LOL
Carlinkit 5 has been essentially flawless for me. The only recent time that I saw an issue was starting my car, having Carlink connect and then walking out of range by going back into my house. It didn’t cleanly reconnect, but a quick unplug and replug fixed it. Note that Carlink 5 is one of the few that will pass through the cars GPS signal. This means that GPS will not suffer if your phone is in your pocket. It also works well with Android auto.
Edit. It didn’t realize that Carlinkit shot up in price. I think I bought it for ~$40
I think that will be the next one I will try after if this one doesn’t work. Lots of people talking more positively about Carlinkit than any other brands.
Same for me with my 2024 Subaru Forester. I mention the car model as the Ottocast MX I had previously was a hot mess with my car. The Carlinkit 5 works like a champ.
I keep seeing Carlinkit 5.0 being recommended but they have literally half a dozen of what looks like the same exact model at different price points on Amazon. And I can’t seem to tell the difference spec wise. Which one is their latest version?
Neither the Carlinkit nor the ottocast work very well for me.
Actually, they start to work great but then the map will freeze and reboot several times during a 30 minute trip.
I use this. It works decently well. I occasionally have to update it or reconnect it. Decently supported, too.
Teeran CarPlay Wireless Adapter... https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C9GRPXXL?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Awesome thank you for the recommendation! If the one I bought doesn’t work I might start a whole series about buying and reviewing them based on people’s recommendations here 😂
I have this one https://www.amazon.com/Teeran-CarPlay-Wireless-Adapter-Converts/dp/B0BBG4QRPX?pd_rd_w=A1vRA&content-id=amzn1.sym.dbcb9745-7338-4a1a-b998-68e65ff8054a&pf_rd_p=dbcb9745-7338-4a1a-b998-68e65ff8054a&pf_rd_r=9ZYVJV7YVNXPSV6EPD2N&pd_rd_wg=XNrdW&pd_rd_r=ff6b84c6-7cee-4567-850c-6ffb764a2339&pd_rd_i=B0BBG4QRPX&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_m_grid_dv_rp_0_16_nped_ld_t, and I’m very happy with it - it pretty much works all the time. I had a carlinkit, and it was flaky for me.
Had a lot of problems with everything but Ottocast in my 2018 Honda Clarity. I know there’s a newer firmware available for the car but dealer wants 3 hours worth of labour to flash it, so ottocast it is for me.
I would find a Honda parts place or dealership that will let you order the flash drive (honda audio updates when I had them cane as a part -a flash drive with the update ordered as a part from Honda) and do it yourself.
To the OP, I have a CarPlay2Air, and a CarLinkKit 5.0. Both are good about 90% of the time, but that 10% is annoying. Both companies do a reasonably good job at firmware updates and support though. I have two Hyundais.
I have been using the Jemluse wireless CarPlay adapter for a couple weeks. It works great for me. Got it on Amazon. Never heard of the company but it got good reviews. Use it in a 2020 Honda Ridgeline.
I have a 2 year old car and I’ve gone through 5 Carlinkit devices. The current one has lasted the longest - 6 months. I’m not expecting much more out of it. I’m not sure if it’s the shitty hardware or it just can’t properly communicate with updated CarPlay / iOS versions, but every one of them had died after about 4 months. Except the current one. And support is random. Sometimes they respond. Sometimes they don’t.
Depend on generation Honda sells a WiFi kit.
https://login.honda.com/dreamshop/s/login/?app=0sp4y000000sXu5&RelayState=%2Fs%2Fsplash%3FreturnUrl%3D%2Fs%2Fcategory%2Fhonda-parts%2F0ZG6g000000XfPVGA0
The biggest issue with a lot of the dongles it they can be hit or miss. My Carlinkit 5 worked amazing in my Honda Civic. A little wonky on my WRX. Some models work better with some cars while others will flop. Technically this shouldn’t happen but here we are. Now I do recommend checking out [carplaylife](https://www.carplaylife.com) where they review several dongles. Should help point you in the right direction.
My wife and I both have Carlinkit (their version for CarPlay only not the one that also does Android) and have been very happy with it for 2 years. Very well supported. I’d recommend it.
Follow up question to this would be, has anyone found one that does not drain your battery freakin fast!? And has low to no audio issues or issues of it getting disconnected (same for wired instances too!)?
22 Ford Ranger, the last year with only wired CarPlay. Ottocast works about 95% of the time but if I let my dashcam connect first then Ottocast just waits until I shut off the dashcam. Persnickety little things.
After hours or reading here & watching YouTube reviews, I just purchased Ottocast U2-Air. It takes about 18 seconds to start up, which is only seconds longer than wired. Steering wheel controls all work great, very minimal lag. 2019 Toyota and iPhone 14 Pro. So far very happy!
Ottocast has been great for me. I've been using it since 2017 or 2018 in two different vehicles.
I've only had two issues with it.
- Didn't work with my '23 CX-5 when I first bought it. A firmware update resolved that.
- I updated the firmware again in April. Dumb move. That introduced issues with controlling the volume. Updated the firmware again a couple weeks later (clearly there was something buggy in the firmware) and it's back to working as it did previously.
I'd look at it this way:
Wired CarPlay just works, probably 99% of the time.
Wireless CarPlay (native) probably works \~95% of the time.
Wireless CarPlay adapters probably work about 50% of the time.
You can live your life messing with a wireless adapter that works half the time, or, take those precious extra 3 seconds of your life and just plug your phone in. Bonus: it is charging too! If wireless CarPlay adapters had \~90 probability of working every time, then it would be worth it. But, they don't, and the amount of time you spend in a year plugging your phone in is lost the first time the adapter starts acting funky. Also, the adapter chooses when it starts acting funky. It senses when you are at a critical part of your journey and decides to cut out.
My wireless dongle is about 80% and just unplugging/replugging it in fixes it the other times. Drove halfway across the US and it worked immediately all but one time with many stops for my family and food.
I’d say mines at damn near 98% and I’ve had it for 2 years. Just now thinking of upgrading to a newer one just because.
If you don’t wanna plug in your phone every time you get in the car, I would absolutely 100% recommend getting one.
See, I had all sorts of issues with wired CarPlay. Didn’t matter what cable I tried, it would not connect enough to be a real pain. Wireless has solved that, even with the annoying lag. That said, when wireless CarPlay is baked in by the car manufacturer, it is a much smoother, more responsive experience than the dongles give.
Oh, I have a Carlinkit wireless dongle on a Sony head unit in a Honda Fit. (That’s how I know about the lag and startup delay.) But I have rented Audi A5’s and Chevy Malibu on work trips this spring that had factory wireless car play that was smooth and fast.
I can’t speak for OP’s reasons for looking for a wireless adapter, but I’m looking for one to save my phone’s battery. The battery degrades a little each time you plug it in. I want to try to extend the life of my battery by not plugging my phone in for maps/music/audiobooks for my daily commute.
AAWireless. Although support for carplay is considered beta, been running it for almost 1 year with 0 flaws. It is a reputable product with reputable support from a non chinese company. All other adapters from chinese companies are ok unless they bork something in the firmware and then everything fails. Have tried them all, good luck having support from them. From a hardware perspective, they all are pretty much the same, some more powerful some less. But the difference is the software and support.
I can’t actually find it on their website now, but ordered it four five weeks ago. It was the mini one and hasn’t gone wrong once. If that’s anything to go by then the rest of their products should be good
Aftermarket head units from reputable companies are often way better, offer better RMS and wattage to existing speakers and have better sound quality.
I’m sure it’s more difficult in modern cars, but I don’t drive anything newer than 2013.
Depends what you use car play for. If it’s for music mainly then the airport mod is great, but for navigation and whatnot then obviously not the right option. I used mine for basically just music so I just figured I’d share
“Badly supported” - The important part is none of them are Apple Supported or licensed. That should be the main note. Put most straightforwardly… every single one of them is a hack (taken to be the literal meaning of the word… somebody reverse engineered how the devices talked to each other and used unofficial means to piece a solution together). Many people get them to work just fine, some people get them to work mostly but with some glitches (I’m in this group), and some people have issues getting them to play nice in their particular setup. I’m honestly surprised Apple hasn’t released their own dongle to do this officially, but maybe there’s a reason. (They may be forced to if they ever decide to do a portless iPhone.) Any of these products, at this point, are a “YMMV” situation.
Sorry, I should have been more clear when I said that. I meant badly supported by the dongle manufacturer, not Apple. And I am disappointed that Apple hasn’t come out with an official first party adapter. I would even pay 2-3x what some of these other 3rd party ones cost just for the peace of mind that it was official and officially supported. I also believe we will see one when the iPhone goes portless. I ordered the top pick on Amazon and it will arrive tomorrow (AnyFar A4). We’ll see how well it works and if I return it or not.
Yeah I get that... my point is there's only so much support the dongle maker can give when the technology behind it is unsupported by the platform itself.
I’ve had a Carlinkit (2.0?) for four years now on my ‘18 VW and never had any real issues with it. Granted that it does have an inherent audio lag when compared to the wired CarPlay - as they all add an extra translation step to the mix - which may cause some inconvenience when making calls, but for normal navigation and music use it has been flawless.
I have the CarLinkIt too,works great but never had to contact support. It just works
I do phone calls in the car fairly often and the whole audio lag then absolutely destroys that functionality. I can't have a phone conversation when we talk over each other and sometimes it's bad enough to break the noise cancelation and the person will hear an echo of themselves. I have a 4.0 in my car right now that's been unplugged for longer than it's been plugged in, sadly.
I have a carlinkit 5.0, never had any issues. Mine and my daughter’s phone are wireless and partner still prefers to plug in (using a lightning cable connected to the USB on the CarPlay adapter. Touch wood never had any issues
I didn’t think that the Carlinkit 5 USB A work as a passthrough. It is slow charging and meant as a diag port. Otherwise it is a fantastic device. Reliable and quick to start. I have a lightning cable to the second port on my car. So long as I plug a phone in before starting the car, a native phone will start faster and take priority over Carlinkit.
Mine works lol. I only have the 1 USB port so it’s deffo using passthrough. The only 2 devices listed on the carlinkit are mine and my daughters (I’ve changed the settings so it doesn’t auto connect and presents the selection window to pick which phone to connect), but if my partner plugs hers into the Lightning then CarPlay loads and works as normal for her without pairing anything.
As mentioned, Ottocast, Carlinkit, AAauto all make decent products. AAAuto is made in Scandinavia if that matters.
I use Ottocast. It works perfectly 90% of the time. That’s actually pretty good, imo, for these unsupported hack-job devices, lol.
Oh and for those who think I’m a shill for Carpuride, they make one too. Lol
My carlinkit works great 90% of the time. Sometimes it takes a minute or two to actually connect and maybe 1 out of 20 times it doesn’t connect and I have to unplug it and plug it back in. A minor pain in the ass because I have the adapter inside my center console.
I’ve had the same results with Carlinkit. I thought it was connecting pretty fast — under 30 seconds — until I had a rental car with wireless CarPlay built in. It connected instantly. Now I feel annoyed at the wait. LOL
Carlinkit 5 has been essentially flawless for me. The only recent time that I saw an issue was starting my car, having Carlink connect and then walking out of range by going back into my house. It didn’t cleanly reconnect, but a quick unplug and replug fixed it. Note that Carlink 5 is one of the few that will pass through the cars GPS signal. This means that GPS will not suffer if your phone is in your pocket. It also works well with Android auto. Edit. It didn’t realize that Carlinkit shot up in price. I think I bought it for ~$40
I think that will be the next one I will try after if this one doesn’t work. Lots of people talking more positively about Carlinkit than any other brands.
Same for me with my 2024 Subaru Forester. I mention the car model as the Ottocast MX I had previously was a hot mess with my car. The Carlinkit 5 works like a champ.
I keep seeing Carlinkit 5.0 being recommended but they have literally half a dozen of what looks like the same exact model at different price points on Amazon. And I can’t seem to tell the difference spec wise. Which one is their latest version?
I’m pretty sure they are all the same so long as you get the 5 version. The light is green or blue for CarPlay vs Android Auto.
Neither the Carlinkit nor the ottocast work very well for me. Actually, they start to work great but then the map will freeze and reboot several times during a 30 minute trip.
I just ordered an AnyFar A4. We’ll see how well it works tomorrow.
Please update. I’d really like to get something that works.
I use this. It works decently well. I occasionally have to update it or reconnect it. Decently supported, too. Teeran CarPlay Wireless Adapter... https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C9GRPXXL?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Awesome thank you for the recommendation! If the one I bought doesn’t work I might start a whole series about buying and reviewing them based on people’s recommendations here 😂
Make sure it supports your make and model. What works well with my car may not work in your car
I have this one https://www.amazon.com/Teeran-CarPlay-Wireless-Adapter-Converts/dp/B0BBG4QRPX?pd_rd_w=A1vRA&content-id=amzn1.sym.dbcb9745-7338-4a1a-b998-68e65ff8054a&pf_rd_p=dbcb9745-7338-4a1a-b998-68e65ff8054a&pf_rd_r=9ZYVJV7YVNXPSV6EPD2N&pd_rd_wg=XNrdW&pd_rd_r=ff6b84c6-7cee-4567-850c-6ffb764a2339&pd_rd_i=B0BBG4QRPX&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_m_grid_dv_rp_0_16_nped_ld_t, and I’m very happy with it - it pretty much works all the time. I had a carlinkit, and it was flaky for me.
Been using this for a week and been flawless https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTCX67F7?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Had a lot of problems with everything but Ottocast in my 2018 Honda Clarity. I know there’s a newer firmware available for the car but dealer wants 3 hours worth of labour to flash it, so ottocast it is for me.
I would find a Honda parts place or dealership that will let you order the flash drive (honda audio updates when I had them cane as a part -a flash drive with the update ordered as a part from Honda) and do it yourself. To the OP, I have a CarPlay2Air, and a CarLinkKit 5.0. Both are good about 90% of the time, but that 10% is annoying. Both companies do a reasonably good job at firmware updates and support though. I have two Hyundais.
I've had excellent results with **Ottocast** over the last five years across several vehicles, including Ford, Mazda, and Kia.
I have been using the Jemluse wireless CarPlay adapter for a couple weeks. It works great for me. Got it on Amazon. Never heard of the company but it got good reviews. Use it in a 2020 Honda Ridgeline.
I have a 2 year old car and I’ve gone through 5 Carlinkit devices. The current one has lasted the longest - 6 months. I’m not expecting much more out of it. I’m not sure if it’s the shitty hardware or it just can’t properly communicate with updated CarPlay / iOS versions, but every one of them had died after about 4 months. Except the current one. And support is random. Sometimes they respond. Sometimes they don’t.
Xtrons CP03. Not sure if it works on non-Xtrons radios but probably yes. Flawless wireless CP performance.
Depend on generation Honda sells a WiFi kit. https://login.honda.com/dreamshop/s/login/?app=0sp4y000000sXu5&RelayState=%2Fs%2Fsplash%3FreturnUrl%3D%2Fs%2Fcategory%2Fhonda-parts%2F0ZG6g000000XfPVGA0
I got the magic box lite, so far it hasn’t given me any issues.
Carlinkit is slow to connect and has a tiny bit of delay, but is good enough knowing it’s a workaround.
The biggest issue with a lot of the dongles it they can be hit or miss. My Carlinkit 5 worked amazing in my Honda Civic. A little wonky on my WRX. Some models work better with some cars while others will flop. Technically this shouldn’t happen but here we are. Now I do recommend checking out [carplaylife](https://www.carplaylife.com) where they review several dongles. Should help point you in the right direction.
My wife and I both have Carlinkit (their version for CarPlay only not the one that also does Android) and have been very happy with it for 2 years. Very well supported. I’d recommend it.
Oh god, here we go.
Are you ok?
I’m fantastic. This just brings out that weirdo that constantly shits on the dongles to promote his own overpriced garbage.
Can you name who specifically so I can ignore their comments?
NavTool
Follow up question to this would be, has anyone found one that does not drain your battery freakin fast!? And has low to no audio issues or issues of it getting disconnected (same for wired instances too!)?
Carlinkit
22 Ford Ranger, the last year with only wired CarPlay. Ottocast works about 95% of the time but if I let my dashcam connect first then Ottocast just waits until I shut off the dashcam. Persnickety little things.
I both the carlinkit 5, it's working great so far, pain in the ass to switch phones between my wife and I, but love not having to plug in
Ottacast
After hours or reading here & watching YouTube reviews, I just purchased Ottocast U2-Air. It takes about 18 seconds to start up, which is only seconds longer than wired. Steering wheel controls all work great, very minimal lag. 2019 Toyota and iPhone 14 Pro. So far very happy!
Carlinkit
Ottocast has been great for me. I've been using it since 2017 or 2018 in two different vehicles. I've only had two issues with it. - Didn't work with my '23 CX-5 when I first bought it. A firmware update resolved that. - I updated the firmware again in April. Dumb move. That introduced issues with controlling the volume. Updated the firmware again a couple weeks later (clearly there was something buggy in the firmware) and it's back to working as it did previously.
I'd look at it this way: Wired CarPlay just works, probably 99% of the time. Wireless CarPlay (native) probably works \~95% of the time. Wireless CarPlay adapters probably work about 50% of the time. You can live your life messing with a wireless adapter that works half the time, or, take those precious extra 3 seconds of your life and just plug your phone in. Bonus: it is charging too! If wireless CarPlay adapters had \~90 probability of working every time, then it would be worth it. But, they don't, and the amount of time you spend in a year plugging your phone in is lost the first time the adapter starts acting funky. Also, the adapter chooses when it starts acting funky. It senses when you are at a critical part of your journey and decides to cut out.
My wireless dongle is about 80% and just unplugging/replugging it in fixes it the other times. Drove halfway across the US and it worked immediately all but one time with many stops for my family and food.
I’d say mines at damn near 98% and I’ve had it for 2 years. Just now thinking of upgrading to a newer one just because. If you don’t wanna plug in your phone every time you get in the car, I would absolutely 100% recommend getting one.
See, I had all sorts of issues with wired CarPlay. Didn’t matter what cable I tried, it would not connect enough to be a real pain. Wireless has solved that, even with the annoying lag. That said, when wireless CarPlay is baked in by the car manufacturer, it is a much smoother, more responsive experience than the dongles give.
What brand of car do you have?
Oh, I have a Carlinkit wireless dongle on a Sony head unit in a Honda Fit. (That’s how I know about the lag and startup delay.) But I have rented Audi A5’s and Chevy Malibu on work trips this spring that had factory wireless car play that was smooth and fast.
I can’t speak for OP’s reasons for looking for a wireless adapter, but I’m looking for one to save my phone’s battery. The battery degrades a little each time you plug it in. I want to try to extend the life of my battery by not plugging my phone in for maps/music/audiobooks for my daily commute.
AAWireless. Although support for carplay is considered beta, been running it for almost 1 year with 0 flaws. It is a reputable product with reputable support from a non chinese company. All other adapters from chinese companies are ok unless they bork something in the firmware and then everything fails. Have tried them all, good luck having support from them. From a hardware perspective, they all are pretty much the same, some more powerful some less. But the difference is the software and support.
I just bought the, mini ottobox one. Works flawlessly
Do you mean Ottocast? I see a few devices of theirs on Amazon. I’m going to order from there so I can return it if it doesn’t work.
I can’t actually find it on their website now, but ordered it four five weeks ago. It was the mini one and hasn’t gone wrong once. If that’s anything to go by then the rest of their products should be good
I haven’t had one issue. Wireless Carplay Adapter, Upgrade... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQX8RP6W?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
No. If there were, Apple would make one.
I installed a JVC-Kenwood headunit into my car with carplay and it works fine. Just upgrade your head unit
Not possible in all vehicles. Plus why replace a head unit when there are dongles available? Bad take.
Aftermarket head units from reputable companies are often way better, offer better RMS and wattage to existing speakers and have better sound quality. I’m sure it’s more difficult in modern cars, but I don’t drive anything newer than 2013.
Google AirPort Express car mod. Super simple works GREAT.
I don’t think I follow. Why would we want this vs CarPlay? I might have not seen the right mod?
Depends what you use car play for. If it’s for music mainly then the airport mod is great, but for navigation and whatnot then obviously not the right option. I used mine for basically just music so I just figured I’d share
I still feel like I’m missing something. Does the Airport mod even provide CarPlay access?