Aftermarket Tesla CarPlay and Android Auto Devices

[jerome8283]

I’ve come to this conclusion.

I’ve owned both the Tesla-Android and T2C products for a while now. Both products are good at what they do. The Tesla-Android offers more than just CarPlay however, for me, I wanted a product specifically for CarPlay. After working with both products, I feel that the T2C has the upper hand only because of its simplicity to set up and small footprint. Also, just yesterday after testing both products in my vehicle, the T2C just feels more responsive. Also, I believe the newest firmware may have improved the boot time a bit. I thought the newest version of Tesla-Android was responsive while testing in the house but once I transferred it to the car, it wasn’t as responsive or perhaps, due to immediately testing the T2C I was able to see the difference. Again, the boot time for the T2C is much faster. Both products are great and I feel they have a future, but for now the T2C does the job for me.

Based on the reviews above for the Ownice product, it appears this is a great option as well. However, I don’t feel the need to rush to get one. Perhaps one day I will try one, but I will certainly wait until it comes to Amazon.

 

[BillN]

Just received my Ownice (ordered on May 4th - super quick)

First impressions are very good.

For £62 it seems like a bargain and a total no-brainer, even if I can’t currently think of too many situations where I’ll want to actually use CarPlay much, as I’ve grown accustomed to having Apple Maps navigation front and centre on my phone on a MagSafe steering column mount.

 

[RyMY]

Has anyone successfully tested the T2C on a tablet or computer browser recently? I’m unable to now after updating.

 

[jerome8283]

Has anyone successfully tested the T2C on a tablet or computer browser recently? I’m unable to now after updating.

I did just yesterday and forgot I turned off the ability for the T2C to auto connect while in the setup screen. It wouldn’t connect after the update because I switched this off. Once I turned it back on it worked. Also did you turn off CarPlay on your phone and forget to turn it back on?

 

[jerome8283]

I did just yesterday and forgot I turned off the ability for the T2C to auto connect while in the setup screen. It wouldn’t connect after the update because I switched this off. Once I turned it back on it worked. Also did you turn off CarPlay on your phone and forget to turn it back on?

As a sanity check, I just brought the device inside and connected via my Mac with no problems.

 

[DayTrippin]

Funny, I just was playing around with earlier on my Mac too. For some reason my Plaid would connect to the WiFi of the device after the latest update but my Mac did just fine. I am going to take it down later and see if it works properly again.

 

[pbcsd]

For folks with the Ownice, are you keeping it in the center console and it works well there?

Also is anyone using this with two phones in the car at the same time (eg you and your significant other or whomever)? Curious how it handles that as I’d want to connect my wife’s phone to it when she drives the car on her own (and if we’re both in the car at the same time…what happens?).

 

[Mandingo]

I have it set left side under dashboard - this is where the switched power is located. Reception is full Wi-Fi bars and it appears to have solid connection as I drive.

Not sure about 2 phones.

 

[Mandingo]

STABILITY
Too soon to say, especially given both are running new firmware. Needs more testing to see if T2C’s issues with reconnections have been fixed with v4.6.

I have a stability update - I have been running the Ownice for a few days and taken quite a few trips and not run into a single stability issue so far. It connects and reconnects seamlessly.

I will switch back to the T2C soon and run that for a few days to test the v4.6 update in terms of bugs.

 

[BillN]

Nothing really in particular wrong the Ownice unit, but I’m not sure I like it as a general concept, and think I just prefer having my iPhone mounted on the steering column…

Issues:
- map is better (IMO) as a sort of HUD in front of you rather than off to the side on the main screen
- CarPlay doesn’t allow simultaneous navigation display on phone and on the CarPlay display
- only way to hear voice prompts is to have car source set to Bluetooth (ie no radio) or to have phone settings set to interupt radio with every prompt by making a pretend phone call
- ABRP is just better via the browser (same too with other apps like ChargeFinder)
- perhaps most importantly, even with hotspots active and apparently working okay, the car stopped sending status back to the Tesla app, and hence also any other services using the API like ABRP or Tessie.

Can’t really see it being something I’ll use on a regular basis tbh

 

[BillN]

Ended up having to scroll wheel reset the car to get the Tesla app and other services working again…

 

[RyMY]

I did just yesterday and forgot I turned off the ability for the T2C to auto connect while in the setup screen. It wouldn’t connect after the update because I switched this off. Once I turned it back on it worked. Also did you turn off CarPlay on your phone and forget to turn it back on?

Just tried to use it in MY and it was doing the same thing. Just spins and doesn’t load CarPlay. I think my device is kaput. Going to return. Probably won’t order another one. Maybe try Ownice.

 

[BillN]

I’m pretty sure this is the optimal solution still…
Apple Maps (or Waze or whatever you prefer) on MagSafe steering wheel column mount, ABRP on Tesla browser. Waze running in background for safety alerts only.

Bluetooth controller (or just Siri - which crazily doesn’t work with CarPlay) to switch apps on the phone etc

Just need Tesla to bake in a decent dedicated podcast app

 

[DB288]

question:

got t2c working

seems good

but screen is a bit blurry…usable but not the best…

i can find any settings…thx

 

[sbtz]

I’m pretty sure this is the optimal solution still…
Apple Maps (or Waze or whatever you prefer) on MagSafe steering wheel column mount, ABRP on Tesla browser. Waze running in background for safety alerts only.

Bluetooth controller (or just Siri - which crazily doesn’t work with CarPlay) to switch apps on the phone etc

Just need Tesla to bake in a decent dedicated podcast app
View attachment 936960

Do you have a link/recommendation to the steering wheel mount you use?

 

[BillN]

Do you have a link/recommendation to the steering wheel mount you use?

One Tap Design Cellphone Mount Phone Holder Compatible for Tesla Model 3/Y | S3XYWORLD

Supports ALL Mobile Phones in the market, iPhone, and Androids! For iPhone User - For iPhone 12 and up with the Magsafe feature, simply tap your phone to the mounting base. For other iPhones without the Magsafe feature, place the magnet pad (which came with the package) in the back of your...

www.s3xyworld.com

 

[Yipsan]

For folks with the Ownice, are you keeping it in the center console and it works well there?

Also is anyone using this with two phones in the car at the same time (eg you and your significant other or whomever)? Curious how it handles that as I’d want to connect my wife’s phone to it when she drives the car on her own (and if we’re both in the car at the same time…what happens?).

I just received the Ownice T1 12 days after order. I have not tested the 2 phone situation yet, since it is mostly my wife driving on her own. But I want to chime in a data point from using Tesla Android for quite a few months. On Tesla Android, it depends on the Carlinkit to connect to iPhone, and in situations of 2 iPhones showing up about the same time, it seems usually the phone that was connected the last time will connect first. And if the connected phone got out of range, the Carlinkit will go back to searching for device, and if the other phone is present, it will connect to it. This could take some time, and occasionally require a reboot. Also, the latest Autokit version made it worse for me.

I got the Ownice mainly for the 2 wifi so I can use the phone hotspot and skip having another SIM card to maintain. I want the car to remain online so I can receive data and also use Tesla nav with online information. This part seems to setup well on first try, but will have to see how it performs as we drive around.

I notice one feature that seem to have not been mentioned. The Ownice will disconnect wifi with Tesla when CarPlay is not active, so if you leave car without powering off Ownice, car should shortly return to LTE, I have to observe this more to see if true. If so, on days when you are in and out frequently, you can just leave it powered.

 

[Yipsan]

Even at the glovebox (under), it was wildly inconsistent. The only place it seemed to perform well was on top of the dashboard, right next to the A-pillar, up against the window. Not a great permanent mounting location. Thanks for the info on AMD-required - I wonder if it's because of the (apparent) higher resolution Ownice provides.

The Ownice T1 I just received mentioned a Compatibility Mode "for earlier car such as the 2019 Tesla with Atom chipset" for better performance. Not sure if this gives you any better info but just thought I should put it out.

 

[Mandingo]

question:

got t2c working

seems good

but screen is a bit blurry…usable but not the best…

i can find any settings…thx

Push the Tesla app icon on the CarPlay Home Screen, takes you to T2C settings.

 

[Mandingo]

The Ownice T1 I just received mentioned a Compatibility Mode "for earlier car such as the 2019 Tesla with Atom chipset" for better performance. Not sure if this gives you any better info but just thought I should put it out.

Interesting, I’ll try that out today.