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CarPlay solution for Tesla by Michal Gapinski using Raspberry Pi with Android

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#621
JimmyB said:
OK, decided to take the plunge ... I've installed android head units + CarPlay dongles in various German vehicles, and played with various Pi projects, so I figured this would be fun. Pi 4 arrived this morning, and although I'm still waiting for the Carlinkit dongle to arrive, I have Tesla-Android up and running "on the bench", as it were.

Two questions so far:

1 - I have the Pi tethered to my iPhone - in fact I'm sending this from my laptop, using my phone's tethered data via the Pi's wifi hotspot. So that works. I'm not much of an Android tinkerer, but can someone who understands Tasker (or similar automation apps) advise whether it's possible to run an automation so that the Pi's hotspot is only active when the iPhone is plugged in? (or maybe when the Pi detects an internet connection, whether USB, ethernet, bluetooth ...)?

2 - Less important but how do I change the Autokit icon to a Tesla logo? Do I need to download it from somewhere? Previous versions of Autokit have offered me various choices, but this one doesn't appear to have any built in, it just directs me to the 'gallery'.

Huge kudos to Michal for all the work that's clearly gone into this, I'm excited to have it up and running in the car - hopefully in time for a trip to NY and back on Thursday ...
Click to expand...
I don't know about #1 but I asked ChatGPT and it said 'You can use third-party apps such as "Internet Tethering Switch" or "Tethering Widget" that will automatically turn off the WiFi hotspot when the phone loses internet connection. '

shareg.pt

Check out this ShareGPT conversation

This is a conversation between a human and a GPT-3 chatbot. The human first asks: on an Android phone is there a way to automatically disable with WiFi Hotspot if the phone loses Internet connection?. The GPT-3 chatbot then responds: <div class="markdown prose w-full break-words...
shareg.pt shareg.pt

Agree with the rec to use an older version. 2023 versions aren't ready yet. And the 2022 version has the Tesla icon as I recall.
 
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#622
timeshifter said:
I don't know about #1 but I asked ChatGPT and it said 'You can use third-party apps such as "Internet Tethering Switch" or "Tethering Widget" that will automatically turn off the WiFi hotspot when the phone loses internet connection. '

shareg.pt

Check out this ShareGPT conversation

This is a conversation between a human and a GPT-3 chatbot. The human first asks: on an Android phone is there a way to automatically disable with WiFi Hotspot if the phone loses Internet connection?. The GPT-3 chatbot then responds: <div class="markdown prose w-full break-words...
shareg.pt shareg.pt

Agree with the rec to use an older version. 2023 versions aren't ready yet. And the 2022 version has the Tesla icon as I recall.
Click to expand...
I think the last update in 2022 changed to a new version of autokit which lacks the icon And all other car manufacturers icons. Perhaps autokit were getting trademark infringement threats. I thought I would care enough to see if I can add my own icon but eventually didn’t care the icon was generic “car” icon.
 
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#623
ElectricAnt54 said:
I think the last update in 2022 changed to a new version of autokit which lacks the icon And all other car manufacturers icons. Perhaps autokit were getting trademark infringement threats. I thought I would care enough to see if I can add my own icon but eventually didn’t care the icon was generic “car” icon.
Click to expand...

I noticed the same thing when I updated Autokit to the latest version on the previous Tesla Android 2022 versions that had an older version of Autokit - once Autokit was updated only the generic car icon shows up - The latest Tesla Android versions seems to have updated the Autokit to the latest version thus the generic car icon now.
 
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#624
OK well that was simpler than I thought. I installed "Macro Droid" which was super easy to understand. Set up two macros, one to disable the hotspot when there's no connectivity, and another to enable it when there is connectivity. Seems to be working perfectly - the hotspot switches on and off when I connect or disconnect the iPhone via USB (or the ethernet cable). This should mean that the Pi can be left running without the car losing connectivity?

I can live without the Autokit icon :)
 
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#625
JimmyB said:
OK well that was simpler than I thought. I installed "Macro Droid" which was super easy to understand. Set up two macros, one to disable the hotspot when there's no connectivity, and another to enable it when there is connectivity. Seems to be working perfectly - the hotspot switches on and off when I connect or disconnect the iPhone via USB (or the ethernet cable). This should mean that the Pi can be left running without the car losing connectivity?

I can live without the Autokit icon :)
Click to expand...

Not sure I fully understand how you are connecting all of the devices but from what I understood it seems that you have set Macro Droid to turn on and off the RPi4 WiFi based on the Phone being connected to the USB to the RPi4. If that is the case then the Tesla should revert back to its connectivity when the RPi4 WiFi is off even when the RPi4 itself is still on. I am assuming if you test it out it should behave this way. You do loose the capability to connect your Phone to the RPi4 (Android Tesla) wirelessly but if you prefer connecting the phone physically to the RPi4 to also achieve the Android Tesla tethering functionality (and not using a USB modem) then it should achieve what you are looking for.
 
#626
JimmyB said:
OK well that was simpler than I thought. I installed "Macro Droid" which was super easy to understand. Set up two macros, one to disable the hotspot when there's no connectivity, and another to enable it when there is connectivity. Seems to be working perfectly - the hotspot switches on and off when I connect or disconnect the iPhone via USB (or the ethernet cable). This should mean that the Pi can be left running without the car losing connectivity?

I can live without the Autokit icon :)
Click to expand...
That sounds nearly perfect! Perfection would have it killing power to the Carlinkit dongle and turning it back on accordingly.
 
#627
Following the feedback from jerome8283 I got a T2C and updated it to the latest firmware to test it and I have to say that it works pretty well. Here are my impressions so far - It is smaller than a RPi4, it only consumes 3W and will work on any USB version for power (it works on 5V 1A power sources), with the latest firmware version it can run on 4G LTE or Bluetooth hotspot (so you do not need a SIM card or pay carrier fees) - this makes it fully wireless (no need for any cables besides the power cable for the T2C) with internet access and without having to pay fees, it has been stable after 3 hours of continuous driving, from turning on to webpage access is 50 sec (same experience as jerome8283), access/use is fluid without jerkiness, image quality is fine, sound quality is fine, normally it cots $99 on amazon but now it is on sale for $76. The only con so far is that you need to learn how to set it up since there has been many firmware updates that have changed the way to configure the device and the documentation is outdated. I had to find a couple of different sources to figure out how to configure the way I wanted.

@jerome8283 since you have had the T2C for a longer time what has been your full impressions and pros and cons so far.
 
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#628
EMEV said:
Following the feedback from jerome8283 I got a T2C and updated it to the latest firmware to test it and I have to say that it works pretty well. Here are my impressions so far - It is smaller than a RPi4, it only consumes 3W and will work on any USB version for power (it only requires 5V 1A), with the latest firmware version it can run on 4G LTE or Bluetooth hotspot (so you do not need a SIM card or pay carrier fees) - this makes it fully wireless (no need for any cables besides the power cable for the T2C) with internet access and without having to pay fees, it has been stable after 3 hours of continuous driving, from turning on to webpage access is 50 sec (same experience as jerome8283), access/use is fluid without jerkiness, image quality is fine, sound quality is fine, normally it cots $99 on amazon but now it is on sale for $76. The only con so far is that you need to learn how to set it up since there has been many firmware updates that have changed the way to configure the device and the documentation is outdated. I had to find a couple of different sources to figure out how to configure the way I wanted.

@jerome8283 since you have had the T2C for a longer time what has been your full impressions and pros and cons so far.
Click to expand...
If possible, Test out answering an incoming phone call. does person on phone report any echo or do you hear echo? Any oddness with answering the call and not hearing audio (could be fixed via iOS accessibility touch options). Just curious. I highly doubt I’d ever buy a T2C since I have spent too much $$$ on CarPlay already, a used fire hd, 9” linux hansshow console display, old carlinkit dongle, newer carlinkit dongle, 2 rasberry pi, fans, cases..etc 😹. My CarPlay budget is blown.
 
Last edited:
#629
ElectricAnt54 said:
If possible, Test out answering an incoming phone call. does person on phone report any echo or do you hear echo? Any oddness with answering the call and not hearing audio (could be fixed via iOS accessibility touch options).
Click to expand...

Ok, just tested a couple of calls, no echo on neither sides, call was good quality, no oddness on answering, music was playing stopped for the call and then resumed after the call.
 
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#632
ElectricAnt54 said:
If possible, Test out answering an incoming phone call. does person on phone report any echo or do you hear echo? Any oddness with answering the call and not hearing audio (could be fixed via iOS accessibility touch options). Just curious. I highly doubt I’d ever buy a T2C since I have spent too much $$$ on CarPlay already, a used fire hd, 9” linux hansshow console display, old carlinkit dongle, newer carlinkit dongle, 2 rasberry pi, fans, cases..etc 😹. My CarPlay budget is blown.
Click to expand...

Fully understand not spending any more money on Carplay, I did not buy anything else for my Tesla for Carplay besides what is needed for Tesla Android (The one RPi4 Tesla Android solution - not two) so in my case since I have many projects using RPi's I can always reuse the most expensive item of this set on another project.
 
Last edited:
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#635
EMEV said:
Following the feedback from jerome8283 I got a T2C and updated it to the latest firmware to test it and I have to say that it works pretty well. Here are my impressions so far - It is smaller than a RPi4, it only consumes 3W and will work on any USB version for power (it works on 5V 1A power sources), with the latest firmware version it can run on 4G LTE or Bluetooth hotspot (so you do not need a SIM card or pay carrier fees) - this makes it fully wireless (no need for any cables besides the power cable for the T2C) with internet access and without having to pay fees, it has been stable after 3 hours of continuous driving, from turning on to webpage access is 50 sec (same experience as jerome8283), access/use is fluid without jerkiness, image quality is fine, sound quality is fine, normally it cots $99 on amazon but now it is on sale for $76. The only con so far is that you need to learn how to set it up since there has been many firmware updates that have changed the way to configure the device and the documentation is outdated. I had to find a couple of different sources to figure out how to configure the way I wanted.

@jerome8283 since you have had the T2C for a longer time what has been your full impressions and pros and cons so far.
Click to expand...
I’m glad to see someone else try the T2C. That’s a great price too! I paid about the same including a discount via my job. I figured I would simply return it if it did not work out. It works!

Until today my experience was pretty good. Late yesterday I updated my T2C firmware to 23010419.3.4. You can check the firmware version within CarPlay, there’s an icon. As I mentioned yesterday I did some testing today, leaving the device on while out running a few errands. Twice when returning to the car I lost connection to the T2C. My iPhone flashed the CarPlay icon on/off every few minutes and I could not get to CarPlay via the browser. I got a DHCP error. I had to power off/on the T2C to restore connectivity. I did not have this experience a few weeks ago. Again, this occurred when returning to the car during startup each time. When connected, driving using Waze, Phone and Apple Music works as expected.
 
#636
jerome8283 said:
I’m glad to see someone else try the T2C. That’s a great price too! I paid about the same including a discount via my job. I figured I would simply return it if it did not work out. It works!

Until today my experience was pretty good. Late yesterday I updated my T2C firmware to 23010419.3.4. You can check the firmware version within CarPlay, there’s an icon. As I mentioned yesterday I did some testing today, leaving the device on while out running a few errands. Twice when returning to the car I lost connection to the T2C. My iPhone flashed the CarPlay icon on/off every few minutes and I could not get to CarPlay via the browser. I got a DHCP error. I had to power off/on the T2C to restore connectivity. I did not have this experience a few weeks ago. Again, this occurred when returning to the car during startup each time. When connected, driving using Waze, Phone and Apple Music works as expected.
Click to expand...

Yes, same thought, since I bought using Amazon I have 30 days to return. I also updated to the latest firmware version you have but not experience this problem since, as discussed previously, my Tesla turns off the power that I am using when the doors is closed so I always have a fresh boot when I return to the car and open the door (and thus why boot time is important to me).
 
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#637
EMEV said:
Yes, same thought, since I bought using Amazon I have 30 days to return. I also updated to the latest firmware version you have but not experience this problem since, as discussed previously, my Tesla turns off the power that I am using when the doors is closed so I always have a fresh boot when I return to the car and open the door (and thus why boot time is important to me).
Click to expand...
Same here, mines shuts down when the doors are closed so my experience was when it boots after returning to the car. It happened 2 out of 5 times. What Tesla version are you running? I updated to 2022.44.30 this past Friday.
 
#640
ElectricAnt54 said:
If possible, Test out answering an incoming phone call. does person on phone report any echo or do you hear echo? Any oddness with answering the call and not hearing audio (could be fixed via iOS accessibility touch options). Just curious. I highly doubt I’d ever buy a T2C since I have spent too much $$$ on CarPlay already, a used fire hd, 9” linux hansshow console display, old carlinkit dongle, newer carlinkit dongle, 2 rasberry pi, fans, cases..etc 😹. My CarPlay budget is blown.
Click to expand...
I’m sure you can find someone to buy the 9” linux hansshow console display and spend the $76 dollars for the T2C.
 
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