Wireless Carplay Dongle Is Available For Civic

dgd3322

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Same here, I'm talking with the manufacturer about it now, hopefully I can get it solved. I use them sometimes but not often enough for it to bother me too much. Sounds good, hope it works out well for you!
They just got back to me, they will issue a fix in the next firmware upgrade. So that problem should be temporary anyway.
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roth91

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Someone posted a screen shot on amazon. See attached. Another person said they just released a software update to the dongle that will fix the music skipping. I sent the seller an email and I may buy it. I have been saying for 4+ years they need to come out with a dongle. It is really sad that Honda won't come out with a software update and I would be willing to pay them for it. Our radios can do it because they have wifi and bluetooth.

Honda Civic 10th gen Wireless Carplay Dongle Is Available For Civic Screen Shot 2019-09-29 at 8.49.45 PM
 

jorus

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Hmm - I think I'd want an IT person to look at what exactly this is doing. Is your information being intercepted by anyone when using this? Some Chinese hardware has been known to be not-so-safe.
 

dgd3322

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Someone posted a screen shot on amazon. See attached. Another person said they just released a software update to the dongle that will fix the music skipping. I sent the seller an email and I may buy it. I have been saying for 4+ years they need to come out with a dongle. It is really sad that Honda won't come out with a software update and I would be willing to pay them for it. Our radios can do it because they have wifi and bluetooth.

Screen Shot 2019-09-29 at 8.49.45 PM.png
I am running the newer version of the firmware (firmware version is at the bottom right of that screen (newest is 2019.9.23.1727COP) and can confirm that it still skips in my car, although its not bad or frequent enough to bother me really. Literally like a fraction of a second and its barely noticable. The four things that bother me with the newest firmware are:

1. It seems that very rarely it will connect and play but not actually play audio until I connect to CarPlay with a cable and then with the dongle.
2. The on screen selector ring thing (I'm not sure how else to describe it, but there is a blue ring that seems to be some sort of indicator used for cars that allow have jog wheel control or something) is controlled by the right mirror camera button on the turn signal column, and while not the biggest deal, it will at some point switch screens from the widget view to the app view if you are running ios13. not the biggest problem in the world but it sucks when your using maps to go somewhere and you have to reselect that view to know where you're going.
3. the steering wheel buttons to select tracks don't work currently. the tac screen will register the command but the track names don't pop up and nothing happens.
4. the slight and infrequent skips.

I have been talking to the manufacturer about it and whoever I'm talking to (they are a saint btw, I have been bothering them almost everyday and they have been more than helpful and accommodating) said that they will try to have a new firmware out next month to solve these issues. so it seems everything is a temporary issue (fingers crossed). In the mean time I will be downgrading to the old firmware (the one shown in your screenshot) on October 4th to see if any of these issues are preset there. I have to wait to get it because the person I have been speaking to is on holiday until then. I only ran that firmware for a few minutes before updating so the only thing I know about it is the steering wheel controls worked for me before the update, I'm not sure about everything else because I just haven't spent enough time with the old firmware. Will update when I know more.
 


dgd3322

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Had high hopes for this project. Thanks for updating us.
For sure, I still do. I think these things can be ironed out in software, and this is only the second version of firmware available. So with any luck and some patience I think it will get way better, especially with how responsive the manufacture is.
 

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Got it working without the firmware update, Theres a boot up screen that had a "mode:1" option in the top right corner of the screen when you first start it up. I didn't realize that was a button you could cycle. once I got it set to mode:3 it works. no apk or anything needed. after its set up it starts up with the car (it does take about 20 seconds to actually connect, but I don't care as long as it works!)
So when I plug it in Honda asks if I want to enable CarPlay. I click always enable and then the screen goes blank and then nothing. How are you finding the screen with the mode toggle?
 

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So when I plug it in Honda asks if I want to enable CarPlay. I click always enable and then the screen goes blank and then nothing. How are you finding the screen with the mode toggle?
so there should now be the option to select CarPlay where the smartphone connection option is when nothing is plugged in, once you select that (before you connect your phone to the dongle) a black screen with Chinese writing will come up. The mode selector is on the upper right corner of that screen. If that doesn't work for you, I would reach out to the manufacturer to get the latest firmware. They just released an update on the 15th, and it seemed to level out some of the connectivity issues for me.
 

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so there should now be the option to select CarPlay where the smartphone connection option is when nothing is plugged in, once you select that (before you connect your phone to the dongle) a black screen with Chinese writing will come up. The mode selector is on the upper right corner of that screen. If that doesn't work for you, I would reach out to the manufacturer to get the latest firmware. They just released an update on the 15th, and it seemed to level out some of the connectivity issues for me.
Did you have to install an APK file on the head unit or install it directly on the dongle from your computer?
 

dgd3322

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Did you have to install an APK file on the head unit or install it directly on the dongle from your computer?
They will send you the firmware which comes as an .img file, and you have to put that on a thumb drive formatted to FAT-32 with nothing else on it. then that plugs directly into the dongle itself. having it hooked up to the head unit display makes it easier because it will tell you when the update is complete, but in your situation it sounds like you won't have that. you will need to keep it plugged into the car so it gets power, and plug in the thumb drive with the update in and let it sit for a few minutes to ensure it fully updated. then unplug the thumb drive and turn off the car. after you wait a few seconds you can start the car back up and you should be good to go.
 


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They will send you the firmware which comes as an .img file, and you have to put that on a thumb drive formatted to FAT-32 with nothing else on it. then that plugs directly into the dongle itself. having it hooked up to the head unit display makes it easier because it will tell you when the update is complete, but in your situation it sounds like you won't have that. you will need to keep it plugged into the car so it gets power, and plug in the thumb drive with the update in and let it sit for a few minutes to ensure it fully updated. then unplug the thumb drive and turn off the car. after you wait a few seconds you can start the car back up and you should be good to go.
Thanks this is really helpful. Appreciate it.
 
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roth91

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I just bought the most expensive dongle so I don't have to install the APK file. It was now reduced to $140 on Amazon. It may take a month to get here because it looks like it is coming from China. I will give it a try. Do you think it will work? Did they ever release the software update?
 

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I just bought the most expensive dongle so I don't have to install the APK file. It was now reduced to $140 on Amazon. It may take a month to get here because it looks like it is coming from China. I will give it a try. Do you think it will work? Did they ever release the software update?
I just went back and forth with the support team and they wouldn’t provide me any way to update. I couldn’t get to the screen that I could select the correct version on. So I’m going to return it.
 

civilian

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Anyone reading this with curiosity, don’t.

Wireless CarPlay is a nightmare in cars specifically designed to work with it, I can’t imagine the problems trying to get a third party dongle to be successful.

One of my three BMWs has wireless CarPlay and I am searching for a wired solution, would kill for one, in fact. My wife can’t get her iPhone to connect and mine is sporadic at best. Count your blessings. Be grateful that Honda chose a wired version.
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