I got my 2018 Subaru (Crosstrek) in late 2018, and by then the HU included Android Auto support.

I've investigated this. There seem to be two adapters:

https://carsifi.com/
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/aawireless#/

The second one seems to be the superior solution, but they're in production hell right now with respect to parts availability. The chip shortage is a problem for them, and they've apparently had to redesign their motherboard to allow them to use chips from multiple vendors.

Anyway, once the supply chain mess settles down, I'll almost certainly get one of these things for our VW GTI, which supports USB-based Android Auto.

Yes, both products look pretty similar, but AAWireless has been harnessing the XDA userbase for the past year to help sort out compatibility issues and whatnot. I've gone with them as well.

Cheers

There are also versions of that adapter which work for the other side of the technology fence: https://9to5mac.com/2021/09/20/carplay-to-wireless-carplay-adapter/

I'm unclear why such adapters are needed, or how they work. My car (Accord 2017) has wifi but, I am pretty sure I still need the USB cable to use Apple Car Play. Why doesn't it have that feature in its current existing WiFi? (Answering self: Because auto manufacturers are slow and they didn't add wireless CarPlay until 2021)

I read somewhere, true or not, that Wireless Android Auto requires 5Ghz Wifi, and most earlier cars (mine included) have only 2.5Ghz, so they don't support it. The reason for 5Ghz had something to do with that being the only band where a mobile access point was permitted or something.

Could be misremembering, or could be total hogwash.

Note that one/both of those two after market adapters both claim to support it on 2.4Ghz as well as 5Ghz.

Update on the Pixel 6 Pro:

Got it a few days ago, have it set up and running. My opinions are consistent with what I've seen from others:

- the cameras a great, but not extra especially better than before, at least under regular lighting conditions

- the new CPU is fast, and everything now runs happily at a higher framerate; it's noticeably less chunky than my previous phone (a Pixel 3a)

- it's heavy, like annoying to hold in your hand for a long time

- battery life is not especially great

- the in-screen fingerprint sensor is hot garbage; I want back the original one

- definitely cannot trickle charge off a computer's USB port; seems to charge from my car's Android Auto. Not entirely sure what's going on here.

- the whole process of setting up a new Android phone and syncing from an old one needs work. Some apps "just work". Others made me log in and redo everything. Notification settings needed to be redone from scratch (huge pain). Two apps got seriously crashy, apparently because they were in a state where they assumed they had security permissions that they didn't have. Maybe.

We bought a Kia Telluride this year and the salesman didn't realize that it didn't have wireless carplay because some Kia lines do and some don't. It actually drives me completely nuts because the wireless charging pad in the little compartment is exactly the width of my 12 Pro Max, so it fits like a glove...but I can't put it there. Instead I have to plug it in and leave it dangling in a cup holder or sticking out of that compartment. I've almost broken the charging port a couple times because I accidentally moved the shifter into it. It's terrible design.

I have several issues with carplay in general and how it gets married with the manufacturer's controls but that's another issue entirely.

Sounds like one of those wireless carplay adapters would be just the ticket for you then. Though the article that I linked has a link to a discontinued model on Amazon, there are newer ones to be found. I'm thinking of giving one a try too.

I've thought about it, but I've heard they're less than great. I don't know, I'll give it a try. Apparently the phone also gets extremely hot when it's doing wireless carplay and wireless charging.

I use a charging limit script on my Android phone to prevent it getting too warm, and also extending the battery life by keeping it below 85%.

Played around with one of these today (CarLinkIt), and it's more or less working as expected. Kind of impressive: You connect via Bluetooth first, and it uses that connection to auto-set-up everything else, including the wifi connection to the adapter. After the final connection is made via wifi, it drops the bluetooth connection.

Though I have a couple of minor issues, I think the issues are due to my car's headunit firmware being a bit buggy, and not the adapter itself. To be certain, I will need to experiment with switching it between wired carplay and the adapter a few times.

After taking it on a couple of longer drives, it revealed some new issues that were due to the adapter unit, so I can't recommend it. Sometimes it completely loses connection, but that's rare. The worse problem is when it maintains connection, but it doesn't update the screen, it just hangs. This isn't great when the item on the screen is a GPS route map, and you miss a turn because you thought you had a ways to go yet.

When the hang happens, I can tap back to my car headunit's "home screen" and select "CarPlay" again, and I see an updated/refreshed screen that's working fine again... for a brief minute, then it hangs/freezes again.

This doesn't occur when I connect with the lightning cable, it only happens with the CarLinkIt unit. So I think it's a hanging bug or protocol bug in the unit's firmware. It's supposed to be able to update its firmware, but every time I go to its web interface menu and press "check for updates", it says that the software is up to date. So we'll see if it ever gets updated. Until then, no bueno.

I wonder how (or if?) they deal with a smartphone's propensity to turn off WiFi as part of battery power savings?

Looks like I will soon be able to find out. AAWireless has shipped a unit for me, due to arrive in a week or so.

I have also picked up a QC3.0 wireless charger and a QC3.0/12V power source for use in the car, so I should also be able to check on any thermal issues. I do set my phone to stop charging at around 80% though, which normally keeps it cool enough.

Mmmm.. one flaw with this set-up just occurred to me: When my phone is connected to the AAWireless WiFi, it won't have internet access. So no traffic updates etc.. Ugh.

I'll have to see if I can tweak the routing table in the phone for this..

On mine, the iPhone is smart enough to, eventually, realize that the wifi connection to the carlink adapter doesn't have internet on it, and it correctly falls back to using cellular for the internet while simultaneously continuing to use wifi for the carlink adapter. I didn't have to tweak a routing table or anything, it just works. Not instantly, but, within a reasonable amount of time after pulling out of the garage.

Yes, I had read that this is one thing Apple does right. Samsung Android phones also apparently "get it right", along with a random smattering of others.

It's probably a good part of the reason why Google now builds "Android Auto" into Android 10,11,12, rather than having it as a Play Store optional download.

We'll see here once the dongle arrives.

Cheers

Meanwhile, today, my Pixel 6 Pro and my Tesla's Bluetooth didn't get along properly. Somebody called me, and the car would stay connected for a minute then drop the connection. I could go to the phone, select the Bluetooth for the call, and it would work again, for another minute, then drop it again. Very strange, never had something like this happen before.

I'm looking forward to a world where Bluetooth stops being a thing.

Take out the Tesla battery, wait five minutes, then put it back in ?

tanstaafl.

I've been using that for the past couple months and I love it. I do have to wait a little longer for things to connect, there's a failure to connect about 5% of the time, and steering wheel controls that used to be instant are now delayed, but I am so happy with not having to have a USB cable running all over my console and figuring out where to put my phone. Now I can put my phone on the wireless charger and it looks so clean.

Mine still has the problem where its screen freezes after a few minutes of use. There was a firmware update to it in late December, which did not fix the issue. So mine is basically not usable, despite seeming very promising at first.

After getting stuck in Customs for 10 days, my AAWireless adapter is finally on the way again, so I'll get to join in on the fun soon, albiet on Android.

Well, a total non-event.

I plugged the AAWireless dongle into the Subaru USB, and buried it in the centre console compartment.

Opened Bluetooth on the phone, paired with the AAWireless.. and after a very short delay my phone connected to the AAWireless WiFi hotspot. Then.. Magic happened. Android Auto popped up on the in-car screen and that was that.

The phone still had full internet access despite the Wifi connection between the phone and AAWireless dongle.

I've now combined that with a 15W Iniu wireless charging pad in the car and all good.

Ordered an Ottocast U2-Air, we'll see if that does better than the CarLinkIt in terms of reliability.

Ottocast U2-Air: Works better than the CarLinkIt - Connects quicker, setup seems easier and faster, and the procedure to update it with the latest firmware worked better than on the CarLinkIt.

However, after about 1 hour of runtime, it failed in the same way that the CarLinkIt failed: The screen freezes. The iPhone thinks it's still connected to CarPlay, but the car's video screen is now frozen and does not update any more. The workaround is to unplug and replug the device's USB connection after the freeze, then it starts working again.

The CarLinkIt fails this way after only a couple minutes of runtime, the Ottocast took an hour before it failed.

..and the common denominators are..

The car, for one. Bug could be there. For example, a memory leak or something that triggers an infinite loop.

Somewhere earlier in the thread I mentioned that wired CarPlay works fine. So it's not the car. This device is intended to simply replace the wire with a wireless connection.

So everything else in the chain (phone, car, CarPlay itself) are fine. And this is two different brands of adapter, one of which lasts longer than the other one before it goes Tango Uniform. The only common denominator is the fact that this is a wireless adapter to replace wired CarPlay, and that programming wireless shit is difficult and prone to bugs.

Oh. For some reason I was under the impression that the adapter plugs into the USB port on the car.

Have you really eliminated the car if you haven't tested the adapter in another vehicle with CarPlay?