I’m thinking about getting a Carplay wireless dongle.
I haven’t yet really used Carplay at all since I hate the hassle with using cable all the time, but when I found out that there are good wireless dongles/adapters available I’m thinking that that could be my answer.
But I’m a bit worried that I might lose some features if this interferes with the BT connection to the car.
Anyone got experience in using said adapters?
Does the car still communicate with the MyDS app if I’m running wireless Carplay?
Any other input that might be worth knowing?
I can only say what happens in my 2022 opera DS7. So I got a wireless dongle which since I got it has been updated at least twice, mine works very very well with all CarPlay features available . There are 2 downsides with mine, 1 there is a bit of a lag when skipping tracks etc but it’s only milliseconds and I don’t mind that as all the controls on the steering wheels work and I don’t want wires everywhere 2nd I don’t get the trip data from the car downloaded to my ds app on my phone, however, I’m kind of ok with this as the novelty has worn off and if I am interested in a particular journey I just unplug the wireless dongle for a while whilst the car is sitting on the drive.
Appreciate the response!
That’s what I was worried about, that the DS app wouldn’t be able to connect.
But don’t you get all trips downloaded since last connection when you unplug the dongle temporarily, not just the last one?
Yeah I get all the trips downloaded which takes a while, I think last time I did it I got something like 30 odd trips at once but one after the other so you get notified by the app loads of times. Like I said I’m not that bothered about getting the trips as I use the trip facility with one set to since the last time I got any fuel and the other for the last 6 months.
I got my dongle from a mate who upgraded to the latest version which has next to no lag but again I’m not bothered by the lag I get anyway.
I was literally away picking up my new Ottocast U2Air Pro when you made your post. lol
Yeah, I’m not worried about that though. I have a magsafe holder on the left drivers vent, where I’ve had the phone up until now with just the BT connection to the car.
I will continue having it there on every trip longer than going to work (15 min).
All I wanted was to not having the cable hassle to start using Carplay.
I just quickly connected the U2Air and concluded it was working and music was flowing.
I’ll get back with more details when I’ve used it for a while.
So, only 3-4 days in now, but so far it works pretty well I must say.
As opposed to when you’re just using the BT connection with music streaming, it actually remembers now that you used “iPod mode” last time when you start up the car, so I don’t have to deal with the radio starting automatically every time.
The music from the iphone starts by itself after maybe 20 sec.
Haven’t noticed any decline in music quality.
I’ve had a few instances where there’s some buffering or stutter in the music for a few seconds, but I haven’t really managed to pinpoint whether that’s the phone → dongle communication issue or a phone → internet issue. But it only lasts for a second and it’s not often. And since I haven’t used cabled carplay much before, I really don’t have much to compare with either.
I’m also starting to like carplay as well. Just the other day I found out that my parking apps works perfectly on the big screen, so that was very convenient.
I just miss a button to go directly back to carplay if I have been checking something else in the system and want to get back to where I was in carplay. As it is now, I always need two button presses at least to get back.
An other questions might have missed?
I have a longer trip planned end of June and I guess that will be an excellent stress test.
So, just got back from a 1200km trip, using wireless Carplay continuously throughout the entire trip.
Conclusion: I’m not going back to regular BT connection nor to wired Carplay.
The stuttering/buffering I mentioned earlier seems 100% location based at a particular spot on the way to work. I had no issues at all during this latest trip.
Very satisfied with the purchase.
Still missing a button in the car to go back to Carplay with one press, but it’s something I can live with (it’s just an annoyance).
On my previous car (Opel Corsa 2020) which had infotainment IVI the same as DS7 before the lifting which occurred at 2023 I was using ONLY wireless Android Auto using AA Wireless dongle with wireless charger (15W Qi) and it worked very well.
It dropped wireless connection much less frequently that wireless android auto built in DS4 2022.
Overally, personally I think that wireless modules in those USB adapters tend to work better but it may not be always the case.