No, it doesn't work. I remember reading somewhere in the product description that voice command on AA doesn't work with the unit.
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Aftermarket Tesla CarPlay and Android Auto Devices
- Thread starter jorhett
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- android auto
ElectricAnt54
Active Member
Hello All - I got the T2C device, and was just messing around with it trying to get it all setup. I am at the point where, when it all connects, it works well - but the initial connection is very random it seems.
I get in and plug the device into power, it powers itself up, but never gets to the point where carplay comes up on my phone. so I have to go into my bluetooth settings and forget the device, and then pair it, allow sync, and finally carplay. Once this all happens, I have about a 50% chance that the page will fire up in the web browser. Sometimes I have to do the forget process two or three times for it to kick in.
Has anyone experienced this? I checked the software version, and it says I am up to date (version 23071316.4.9)
Thanks!
Matt
I get in and plug the device into power, it powers itself up, but never gets to the point where carplay comes up on my phone. so I have to go into my bluetooth settings and forget the device, and then pair it, allow sync, and finally carplay. Once this all happens, I have about a 50% chance that the page will fire up in the web browser. Sometimes I have to do the forget process two or three times for it to kick in.
Has anyone experienced this? I checked the software version, and it says I am up to date (version 23071316.4.9)
Thanks!
Matt
HighPotential
Member
I am making a third attempt at the T2C working smoothly in my Model S. Here is my setup order. It is super specific and weird.
First, make sure your phone's personal hotspot is OFF.
1. Connect the T2C to phone bluetooth through the Phone Settings - Bluetooth
2. Connect the car to the T2C's wifi. The Tesla wifi connection setup (add a wifi network) MUST be done when the car is in forward (not parked). This will allow you to select the new wifi network to "stay on when driving"
3. Now the last step is critical and super wonky. First, you must have already connected the T2C manually through bluetooth for Step 1, NOW you must FORGET the device in the bluetooth setup. It sounds stupid but this sets up the next step which is the key. Leaving the T2C on, now turn on your phone's Personal Hotspot. Now your phone asks to pair a new bluetooth device TO THE HOTSPOT. This is the same T2C device. You pair it right there in the Personal Hotspot page of the phone settings. Lastly, the phone will then ask to allow this device to use CarPlay. Say yes and that is the proper setup. ANYTHING ELSE will not work properly or not at all.
One key distinction I THINK that is happening and that is very hard to understand is that connecting the T2C to the bluetooth as any other bluetooth device (ie through the bluetooth menu on the phone) WILL NOT allow it to access the phone's hotspot. The T2C MUST BE ADDED from the Personal Hotspot phone setting page, THEN it will have access AND show up as a bluetooth device in the phone's bluetooth settings. But again, it MUST BE ADDED at the Personal Hotspot page.
I don't know if this is helpful. I've been pulling my hair out but at least I know how to get it working.
What Carlinkit really needs to do is call the Tesla S3XY Buttons people at S3XY Buttons by Enhance | Buy Tesla Buttons | Tesla Accessories and setup their T2C to access the car's CanBus system via the S3XY buttons OBD-II hub. Then the Carlinkit can see the status of the car -on/off/drive, etc and become completely reliable and seamless when we get into and leave our vehicles. Once the T2C is setup properly, that is the only thing that is killing the T2C right now - coming and going. It just gets tripped up. They are so close but they need to fix this last piece.
First, make sure your phone's personal hotspot is OFF.
1. Connect the T2C to phone bluetooth through the Phone Settings - Bluetooth
2. Connect the car to the T2C's wifi. The Tesla wifi connection setup (add a wifi network) MUST be done when the car is in forward (not parked). This will allow you to select the new wifi network to "stay on when driving"
3. Now the last step is critical and super wonky. First, you must have already connected the T2C manually through bluetooth for Step 1, NOW you must FORGET the device in the bluetooth setup. It sounds stupid but this sets up the next step which is the key. Leaving the T2C on, now turn on your phone's Personal Hotspot. Now your phone asks to pair a new bluetooth device TO THE HOTSPOT. This is the same T2C device. You pair it right there in the Personal Hotspot page of the phone settings. Lastly, the phone will then ask to allow this device to use CarPlay. Say yes and that is the proper setup. ANYTHING ELSE will not work properly or not at all.
One key distinction I THINK that is happening and that is very hard to understand is that connecting the T2C to the bluetooth as any other bluetooth device (ie through the bluetooth menu on the phone) WILL NOT allow it to access the phone's hotspot. The T2C MUST BE ADDED from the Personal Hotspot phone setting page, THEN it will have access AND show up as a bluetooth device in the phone's bluetooth settings. But again, it MUST BE ADDED at the Personal Hotspot page.
I don't know if this is helpful. I've been pulling my hair out but at least I know how to get it working.
What Carlinkit really needs to do is call the Tesla S3XY Buttons people at S3XY Buttons by Enhance | Buy Tesla Buttons | Tesla Accessories and setup their T2C to access the car's CanBus system via the S3XY buttons OBD-II hub. Then the Carlinkit can see the status of the car -on/off/drive, etc and become completely reliable and seamless when we get into and leave our vehicles. Once the T2C is setup properly, that is the only thing that is killing the T2C right now - coming and going. It just gets tripped up. They are so close but they need to fix this last piece.
Have had the Carlinkit T2C for a week now and really like how it works. Easy to set up. One must have realistic expectations on the unit's starting process. Mine has occasionally needed a few minutes of manual adjustments but never a complete reset to get connected. You're basically tapping into the Tesla's native wifi connection and tricking it to recognizing the device (T2C, Ownice) as it's own. Unless Tesla implement Carplay into it's system you're not going to get the instant flawless system startup.
Once connected it works to my expectations and actually better -
Apple, Google, Waze all work flawless with my test drives for the past week. Turn by turn and map recalculations are accurate. Music source volume muted while directions are spoken is a big welcome. Don't know why Tesla cannot implement this simple needed feature and thinks it's OK to have both sources trying speak over the other. Google maps works best with this feature. Not only does it mute the music sources running in Carplay Apps when speaking directions it also implements running Tesla's native music sources.
Through Carplay I now have access to my iPhone complete contact list. From day 1 of owning my 2023 M3 I could never download my complete iPhone contact list.
Aside from iMessage I can now access and use Whatsapp. Vocal reading and writing to both messaging apps work great. Music source volume mute while message is read such a welcomed feature.
Having Carplay direct access to my music apps (Pandora, Sirius) opens up listening options.
Very Happy with the T2C. To the members that have tried both the T2C and Ownice does the Ownice performs the above functions better? What did you find better in the Ownice?
Once connected it works to my expectations and actually better -
Apple, Google, Waze all work flawless with my test drives for the past week. Turn by turn and map recalculations are accurate. Music source volume muted while directions are spoken is a big welcome. Don't know why Tesla cannot implement this simple needed feature and thinks it's OK to have both sources trying speak over the other. Google maps works best with this feature. Not only does it mute the music sources running in Carplay Apps when speaking directions it also implements running Tesla's native music sources.
Through Carplay I now have access to my iPhone complete contact list. From day 1 of owning my 2023 M3 I could never download my complete iPhone contact list.
Aside from iMessage I can now access and use Whatsapp. Vocal reading and writing to both messaging apps work great. Music source volume mute while message is read such a welcomed feature.
Having Carplay direct access to my music apps (Pandora, Sirius) opens up listening options.
Very Happy with the T2C. To the members that have tried both the T2C and Ownice does the Ownice performs the above functions better? What did you find better in the Ownice?
HighPotential
Member
ElectricAnt54
Active Member
I live in Glendale too. I do not have T2C. I use Tesla Android Project (google that term) but all these systems get powered the same ways. Either via car's usb-c or using a usb power adapter in cigarette lighter. If sentry mode is on then those power sources stay on for a while. I forget how long. Some people have mentioned on here and in Tesla android forums how they plugged their units directly in to Tesla low voltage power lines so the units turn on and off automatically. Personally, I power my device via a USB-A to usb-c cable which has a power switch and I turn it on and off all the time unless I'm stopping for quick errand & parked in shade (our cars get HOT inside so I like keeping the electronics powered down), then I leave it on. My Tesla android has a built in USB modem so the device still have internet connectivity which it passes on to the car while I'm away.
HighPotential
Member
I was just thinking of doing the switched USB thing. I have one of those dongles. Hmmm. I will check out that Android project also. I have the T2C with the SIM card but could not get it to work at all. Frustrating.
I just looked into the Tesla Android Project. Are you using it for Carplay? I see that it needs the T2C but only to enable Carplay. I can order the Android device with an LTE modem. I am curious how reliable your setup is. If all I have to do when I get into the car is flip a switch, I would be interested. If it is fussy, like the T2C, I will probably not look further into it.
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FWIW...After changing how my Ownice was connected to connecting it via my tow package harness thing, which automatically powers it off when I leave the car, the unit has become way more reliable than when I had it plugged into my USB port and "forgot" to unplug it.
It's also faster to boot up and connect.
I think to do this you have to have the tow package, but not 100% sure if that is the case.
ElectricAnt54
Active Member
Tesla android uses a carlinkit cpc200-ccpa dongle, different product than what you have (carlinkit T2C). I have made three tesla android setups and it is stable but T2C should be stable too.i sold one of my setups to a pal , my second setup was what i have been using for 1.5 years and my third is the compute module 4 I bought premade.
if you are not good with electronics, we could try to meet one morning since we live in the same city & I can try to see if I can get T2C working. I also might be interested in buying it from you (assuming it works) if you don’t want it so I can benchmark against tesla android.
the typical Tesla android CM4 bundle with a 256gb SSD drive (what they sell on store) is:
1) turn it on via a usb cable with power switch, you buy this.
2) wait 30 seconds for Tesla android hotspot to appear in Tesla vehicle’s list of hotspots and connect to it manually (Tesla vehicle only automatically connects to hot spots in a few situations).
3) go to Tesla browser and click on a url bookmark for device.teslaandroid.com (so you don’t type it all the time).
4) CarPlay will appear automatically assuming you set the autokit app to run automatically in the prefs.
i believe T2C has all the same steps so if that doesn’t sound familiar, this might be why T2C is not working.
No switched power as I don't think I need one. T2C is plugged into USB C. M3 is parked in garage when I'm home so power will be automatically shut down when M3 shuts down. Not worried when I'm out and about and sentry mode is on. The unit draws a small amount of power when left on so I don't bother unplugging. If I find it otherwise I will get one of those on/off USB C extension switches on ebay.
Still finding the T2C works well and overcomes the slight annoyance of sometimes having to initially connect manually. Just a 2 step process for me to turn on wifi manually, connect to T2C wifi and make sure Bluetooth is connected. Takes 1-2 mins.
I power it the same way. I can also confirm you MUST have the tow package for the tow harness to provide switched power.
One more trick for those who have wired into the tow harness - if you power on the climate from the phone app (perhaps to pre-heat the car now winter is almost here) it also powers up the harness circuit so when you get in the car CarPlay is already running eliminating the 30 second wait.
No, it's my biggest beef with the device, especially since my wife drives it more now.
Ok here's another mini-dash which *appears* to be:
Easier to install (one wire to the rear, no dash disassembly)
Combined CarPlay/AA display with speed/range etc.
All audio routed to car bluetooth (no tinny speaker)
Looks quite stylish
I have ordered one (there is a discount code) and I'll give a review when I have it.
I have been disappointed with aftermarket CarPlay before since there's always something missing ... but I keep trying!
Looks like a really interesting unit although I think it looses something by having cables that are visible, I would have preferred to have to remove a panel or two and it be installed with fully hidden cables.
Will be interesting to rear your review
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