Wireless Android Auto Indiegogo project

[Jrb5]

Has anyone here bought this?

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/aawireless/x/26225802

If so how is it working on your factory head unit? What phone are you using as well?

They just put out the following update for VW headunits and was curious if anyone has purchased it yet and tried it out?

MiB2 headunits (VW group):

While the majority of these units work without any problems, there are users who experience issues, mainly in regards to audio, where the audio is out of sync with the video. This can lead to the headunit rebooting. It will mainly happen when skipping / changing tracks, and rarely occurs if the user is listening to a podcast or an online radio stream.



The issue seems to be caused by a poor audio implementation on these units and the latency / jitter caused by WiFi. This is not a normal behaviour and no unit should reboot because of this. We are looking into a way to address this. We do have some ideas, but it's going to take a bit of time until we are able to roll out a fix.

 

[Acadia18]

Mine should be here in the next few days. I backed it within the first 24 hours (6 goddamn months ago), and it just cleared US customs.

 

[chillax]

I had been waiting for this but forgot about it. I'll probably order one in another few months when there is more feedback but this review seems promising.

https://9to5google.com/2020/12/14/aawireless-android-auto-dongle-hands-on/

 

[Jrb5]

I saw that 9to5 article a few weeks ago. They reviewed a POC version (both software and hardware), so it makes sense they did not do a video review in real time showing performance. I'm a little surprised there aren't any youtube reviews like this yet for the final product. Maybe in a few for days/weeks something will show up.

 

[Acadia18]

So I got mine in a few days ago, and have had some time with it. Overall, I like it. However, there is one annoying behavior with it.

Whenever you do anything to the car; lock it, unlock it, open a door, open the hatch, etc... It sends power to that USB port, and turns on the unit. However, once you do that, you only have a ~10 second window to start the car, otherwise Android Auto won't launch. You have to unplug the unit, or restart the infotainment by holding down the button for 10 seconds if that happens.

It's no issue if I'm getting in my car by myself. But if I'm getting my daughter in her car seat or putting groceries in the back, I miss that window and have to restart it.

 

[Jrb5]

Thank you for the feedback. I'll probably pick one up once inventory normalizes and Google doesn't shut the project down

 

[cr_sti]

Another thank you for the feedback. I ordered two for the June delivery. In the meantime, if you find any other quirks please let us know.

 

[2slowvw]

is there any delay in responsiveness compared to the usb from your phone?

 

[Acadia18]

Asides from the slight delay of it taking longer to boot up than just plugging in a USB cable, no there isn't. But even that, by the time I start my car and back out of my driveway, Android Auto has launched once the backup camera closes. And once it's connected the overall experience is the same to me.

Support also seems pretty good. I sent in a ticket describing the behavior I mentioned in my last post, and got a response pretty quickly:

"It's a known issue, the device receives power through the USB port after the car is turned off and that's why it tries to connect to your phone. We are working to release an update in the future, to stop this behavior and make a better user experience. After this update, we hope that your unit's strange behavior will stop."

 

[jimlloyd40]

Saw today in Android news that Google is now letting app developers make apps to be used with Android Auto.

 

[Nevar01]

Has anyone here bought this?

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/aawireless/x/26225802

If so how is it working on your factory head unit? What phone are you using as well?

They just put out the following update for VW headunits and was curious if anyone has purchased it yet and tried it out?

I got my AAWireless about a month ago. It works AMAZINGLY. Honestly, it starts almost immediately for me. It starts connecting as soon as you do anything to the car, like unlocking the doors. The issue I ran into was that it DEMOLISHES your phone battery to be connected to AA wirelessly. There is only 1 USB port in the 2020 GTI that I have and I refuse to have any wires hanging out anywhere (that includes using my 12v near the gear shift). So far the best solution I have found is a USB splitter Y cable and a wireless charging pad.

This allows me to charge my phone at a negative (it will just very slowly drain over time while it charges, rather than drain super quickly).

 

[Acadia18]

The issue I ran into was that it DEMOLISHES your phone battery to be connected to AA wirelessly.

Ain't that the truth. I imagine because it's sending/receiving data over both the wifi and cell data connections.

 

[2slowvw]

I got my AAWireless about a month ago. It works AMAZINGLY. Honestly, it starts almost immediately for me. It starts connecting as soon as you do anything to the car, like unlocking the doors. The issue I ran into was that it DEMOLISHES your phone battery to be connected to AA wirelessly. There is only 1 USB port in the 2020 GTI that I have and I refuse to have any wires hanging out anywhere (that includes using my 12v near the gear shift). So far the best solution I have found is a USB splitter Y cable and a wireless charging pad.

This allows me to charge my phone at a negative (it will just very slowly drain over time while it charges, rather than drain super quickly).

I'm still waiting on mine, the back order slow down has pushed me past my delivery date, but i don't care, the wired android auto annoys me because my note doesn't fit well in the cubby with a manual car it gets in the way and i lose connection on certain turns and bumps.

As far as AAwireless battery loss is concerned. Android Auto streams from your phone to the head unit in basically a compressed video format. it uses wifi and bluetooth at the same time which kills battery. Results may vary on how fast depending on the phone. You should note that even cars with AA wireless/carplay built in to the head unit, the battery drain is still an issue. Best way to combat it is with a wireless charging pad somewhere.

 

[Acadia18]

I'm still waiting on mine, the back order slow down has pushed me past my delivery date, but i don't care, the wired android auto annoys me because my note doesn't fit well in the cubby with a manual car it gets in the way and i lose connection on certain turns and bumps.

As far as AAwireless battery loss is concerned. Android Auto streams from your phone to the head unit in basically a compressed video format. it uses wifi and bluetooth at the same time which kills battery. Results may vary on how fast depending on the phone. You should note that even cars with AA wireless/carplay built in to the head unit, the battery drain is still an issue. Best way to combat it is with a wireless charging pad somewhere.

Yeah, I didn't think it was something inherently wrong with the AAWireless device, the battery drain. Just an unavoidable side effect of the way it works.

 

[chillax]

Did they lower the price? I kept meaning to order this, now looks like I'll have to wait until October for delivery.