I have the misfortune of being stuck doing DoorDash. It means I’m constantly plugging in and unplugging my phone from my car, at least once at the beginning and and again at the end of each and every delivery. Even with USB-C (it’s an iPhone 15 Pro Max), that makes me nervous. It’s also inefficient, having to fumble with the cord and the plug and the phone each and every time. And of course it’s a problem when it’s pouring down rain and the USB outlet gets wet.
So I’ve been trying bluetooth adapters for my 2021 Toyota RAV4 XLE Premium Hybrid. I’ve gone through three of them, now. They each worked great for the first day or so, then died. A message appears on the screen that the device could not be started in “advanced mode” and “normal mode” means the device doesn’t work.
The dealer informs me that the head units which support CarPlay over bluetooth are only available in model years 2023 and newer and cannot be retrofitted to a 2021.
I’m not even seeing the problem acknowledge in a web search. But for me, it’s consistent.
Does anyone know a solution?
If you’re willing to shop on Amazon (I use Amazon only if I have to) they have a wireless CarPlay adapter that work pretty flawlessly I got mine for $100. All the steering wheel control works in my car (2017 Audi A3). There is an audio delay while watching videos but I believe that’s with all wireless CarPlay applications. I’ll link to the exact one I got. However they have one that says “upgrade” for cheaper but I do not have that one so I can’t say if it’s any better.
(TLDR) The adapter linked works just like plugging in regular CarPlay.
(Edit) a few added details
I’m not proud of it by any stretch but I do shop Amazon. There’s a lot to say about that but the bottom line for me is that I simply don’t have time to do anything else.
I’ve tried units from Amazon, Best Buy, and now, a fourth, CPLAY2Air.
I have an older version of this one too, the 3.0. Had it for a couple years now and it’s only happened a couple times that it wouldn’t connect until power cycled or took a long time to connect. Other than that it’s been reliable.
I use one of these as well. Works great! As another comment said, it can sometimes take a moment to connect, other times it’s nearly instant. Paired with a wireless charger for long trips, I never have to plug anything into my jack.
Do you really need CarPlay? I’ve been relying on phone mounts in my car for years. Now with MagSafe, I stick my iPhone on and stream audio over Bluetooth, no plug/unplug. Aside from that, viewing navigation on my iPhone allows me to move around the map so I can see what turns are coming up. The CarPlay decks I’ve seen don’t allow moving around the map on screen and only show text directions on iPhone. For me, stick-and-go is a better and seamless experience.
If you have any interest in this route, I highly recommend the Nite Ize Steelie system for mounting. Their MagSafe system works with Apple’s MagSafe charger (or without if you don’t need constant charging) with a variety of mounting options.
In my 2017 model vehicle, Bluetooth audio streaming is awful because the quality is noticeably worse and there’s a mysterious fade-out / fade-in when one song transitions to the next making it hard to listen to continuous albums (such as Random Album Title by Deadmau5, as an example). Seriously it’s the only Bluetooth playback connection I have ever experienced where that happens and there’s no way to fix it (common complaint among owners of this vehicle). What’s more, the screen is larger and has a nice dashboard for navigation, now-playing, and turn by turn directions on one big screen making it significantly easier to control the phone while driving. Add to that the lack of distracting apps available and no chance of accidentally tapping other apps makes it feel more focused and safe. My only gripe is that despite being WiFi enabled, my vehicle does not have wireless CarPlay so I have to plug in a cable after I mount my phone. Small price to pay though, after all these years of a significantly better experience.
Built-in car infotainment, generally speaking, sucks ass (and not in the fun way) compared to carplay and android auto. Bluetooth audio in my case will randomly drop connection and default to AM radio.
Disclaimer: I haven’t had an iPhone since the 6s so I don’t know how the carplay experience compares to Android auto.
I’ve used the same Bluetooth adapter for 10 years+
Must be something odd going on in your vehicle for them to die.
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The one I have been using successfully for the last 2+ years is made by “Carlinkit”
Every now and then, it will take a long time or outright fail to pair, requiring that I power cycle it. Happens maybe every 2-3 weeks, I average 2-4 pairings per day.
Otherwise, the experience is mostly seamless.
Perhaps the voltage regulator in your alternator is throwing a big voltage spike on the 12V supply, killing your adapters. There are large capacitors made for car audio that will stop spikes. Try one of those.
EDIT: Wait I’m sorry I see I misunderstood what you are asking about. I assumed you didn’t have a CarPlay screen. Disregard.
Original post:
So I haven’t tried these yet, but I’ve been watching a lot of videos about them. I’m not sure this would work for you, but I’m eying one of these for my 82 truck that still has its factory tape deck:
To me, for 100 bucks this beats the heck out of replacing an otherwise decent head unit or just using Bluetooth. It can connect to a line in, then your phone connects to the device with wireless CarPlay.
You may need to confirm that your lighter loses power when the ignition is turned off, otherwise you may have to wire in to keyed power somehow, or remember to unplug it when you exit the car, but that’s really the case with any of these devices I imagine.
Aside from line out, it has a built in fm transmitter or will connect to a cars built in Bluetooth if you have that.
Again, I haven’t gotten one of these yet, but based on reviews I’ve seen, this seems to be the best one to get so far.
It may not be possible with a car that new depending on if the stereo does other things than just audio, but you may want to consider an aftermarket Pioneer, Kenwood, etc. Our car is so old that it’s stereo did nothing but audio so replacing it was easy, but yours might be more difficult. You could always check with a car stereo shop and see if it is possible with your car.
This isn’t about playing music. This is mainly about CarPlay for navigation, dealing with text messages, etc. I am extremely reluctant to replace the head unit: First, it would be expensive–a problem with what these gig companies pay. Second, I would lose some of the interface to the car itself.
Yea new cars (since early 2000’s) integrate the car control system into the head unit. I hate that crap
Check out the AAWireless dongle. It’s mainly for Android, but its beta version seems to have CarPlay support.
