Wireless Android Auto (AAWireless on sale)

[Don Mac]

As everybody should know by now (unless you work in a Toyota dealership apparently...) UK Corollas do not support wireless Android Auto. If you want this feature you need to buy a dongle.

I can vouch for the AAWireless box. I have had one myself for a couple of years and it has worked in my new Corolla without a hitch. I have it hidden under the console trim, when it boots up (generally less than 30s after the car is started) the car's screen switches to Android Auto and presto - I can shout at Google for navigation, phone calls etc.

If you're looking for a way to get rid of the wires on AA you might be interested to know that the AAWireless is on sale on Amazon at the moment (£69.99, with a 20% off code - so it should be £56).

Installation & setup is very straightforward (download the app & follow instructions, connect your phone to the car via cable, then connect the dongle - job done).

Apologies for the infomercial style post (I do not stand to gain from this, honest), this topic has been discussed a few times across various threads I know, just thought it might help someone.

[Paul john]

“Carlinkit v5 - 2air” works seamlessly too. 

[bewA]

These always seemed slightly pointless to me, due to needing to have the phone plugged in for charging anyway, however as my new car will have wireless charging i'm reconsidering to getting one of these, i'll have a look on one of the many chinese websites.

With that said i'm still somewhat confused by wireless carplay is available but wireless android auto isn't, given that the tech is there I guess it's some licensing/compliance thing.

[Don Mac]

2 hours ago, bewA said:

These always seemed slightly pointless to me, due to needing to have the phone plugged in for charging anyway, however as my new car will have wireless charging i'm reconsidering to getting one of these, i'll have a look on one of the many chinese websites.

With that said i'm still somewhat confused by wireless carplay is available but wireless android auto isn't, given that the tech is there I guess it's some licensing/compliance thing.

The attraction for me is not being able to connect to a fast charger & not having to plug in at all for shorter journeys when I don't need to charge (I tend to forget my phone when getting out of the car...).

Elsewhere on this forum someone said it was licensing, but I don't know for sure.

[beeblebrox]

8 hours ago, bewA said:

With that said i'm still somewhat confused by wireless carplay is available but wireless android auto isn't, given that the tech is there I guess it's some licensing/compliance thing.

Got to be cheaper for Toyota to buy an android auto wired license than a wireless license.

It's normally all about money.

[seadoo180]

Slight hijak, I've just purchased a MY20 Corolla Touring (not picked it up yet) am I right in thinking it will come with AA/Carplay enabled or will i need to take it to Toyota and pay? I guess AA will be wired only based on this thread?

Many Thanks,
 

[bewA]

I think the 2020's it was standard, only the 2019's needed the retrofit and you are correct it's wired for that year car.

[seadoo180]

Thanks v much, on the my toyota app its stating MY20 based on the VIN so hopefully thats the case!

[erem]

On 9/10/2023 at 11:46 AM, Don Mac said:

I can vouch for the AAWireless box. I have had one myself for a couple of years and it has worked in my new Corolla without a hitch. I have it hidden under the console trim, when it boots up (generally less than 30s after the car is started) the car's screen switches to Android Auto

Hi Don Mac, I am considering AAwireles for my corolla TS, 2023. Iguess it got same multimedia as yours.

Tell me please - does yours AAwireles still work fine w/out any glitches or connection losses? If you turn off the car and then start it again - dose your phone connect autoamatically? What phone do you use? I'm asking all that because my last  try was carlinkit 5.0. which I had to return it to the seller. It simply did not work with my car. So tell me more, maybe I'll give it a try.

[Don Mac]

1 hour ago, erem said:

Hi Don Mac, I am considering AAwireles for my corolla TS, 2023. Iguess it got same multimedia as yours.

Tell me please - does yours AAwireles still work fine w/out any glitches or connection losses? If you turn off the car and then start it again - dose your phone connect autoamatically? What phone do you use? I'm asking all that because my last  try was carlinkit 5.0. which I had to return it to the seller. It simply did not work with my car. So tell me more, maybe I'll give it a try.

Yes, it's working perfectly (I hope those aren't famous last words...)

Connection is automatic as per the quoted text. My phone is a Pixel 7a.

[bewA]

I have a pixel 7 pro and it works flawlessly now! 

I admit when I first got it there were awful problems and I nearly returned it but the last update a couple of months ago fixed all the connection issues I had!

[AndrueC]

If I want to use AA for navigation then I'm likely travelling for at least an hour. The Battery on my aging S10 would be significantly depleted by that and the return journey. I'm not saying it couldn't handle a couple of hours of use but what's the point in running the Battery down when I can plug it in and actually charge it?

If I just want to listen to music then I can stream it over bluetooth from exactly the same app that I'd be using on AA.

I will say, however, that on occasion when using AA I have left my phone in the car and had to go back and get it so perhaps with a newer phone that had better Battery life it might be more useful as I could leave the phone in my pocket where it normally is. I used to have an app that would play a sound when unplugged from power which would remind me but unfortunately there as sometimes a delay so by the time it played the sound I was already walking away from the car.

[Paul john]

40 minutes ago, AndrueC said:

If I want to use AA for navigation then I'm likely travelling for at least an hour. The battery on my aging S10 would be significantly depleted by that and the return journey. I'm not saying it couldn't handle a couple of hours of use but what's the point in running the battery down when I can plug it in and actually charge it?

If I just want to listen to music then I can stream it over Bluetooth from exactly the same app that I'd be using on AA.

I will say, however, that on occasion when using AA I have left my phone in the car and had to go back and get it so perhaps with a newer phone that had better battery life it might be more useful as I could leave the phone in my pocket where it normally is. I used to have an app that would play a sound when unplugged from power which would remind me but unfortunately there as sometimes a delay so by the time it played the sound I was already walking away from the car.

Not sure what point you make about a 5 year old phone. 
are you saying you would or would not use android auto. 
there is no reason why you would not charge your phone from the 12v cigarette socket whilst using aa wireless 

or have i got your comments wrong?

[Extreme_One]

13 hours ago, AndrueC said:

If I just want to listen to music then I can stream it over Bluetooth from exactly the same app that I'd be using on AA.

Audio quality will be significantly better using Android Auto over bluetooth, especially on an aging S10 which likely uses an older version of bluetooth with older codecs. 

Even wireless Android Auto will offer quite noticeable audio improvements, as the bandwidth offered by a 2.4Ghz wireless connection is greater than that with a bluetooth connection. 

All this will depend on your source audio too, for low bitrate mp3s it probably won't matter, and of course not everyone's hearing will discern a noticeable difference.

 

[MC1216]

On 6/5/2024 at 6:48 AM, bewA said:

I have a pixel 7 pro and it works flawlessly now! 

I admit when I first got it there were awful problems and I nearly returned it but the last update a couple of months ago fixed all the connection issues I had!

I bought one 2 years ago and sent it back because it kept dropping off...glad to know they have sorted the problems but i will stick to wired as most of my journeys are long so it's nice to have the phone charging.

PS looking at the reviews on Amazon it's still hit and miss if it works.

[AndrueC]

13 hours ago, Paul john said:

Not sure what point you make about a 5 year old phone. 
are you saying you would or would not use android auto. 
there is no reason why you would not charge your phone from the 12v cigarette socket whilst using aa wireless 

or have i got your comments wrong?

You're misunderstanding. I'm not saying I wouldn't use AA with my 5-year old phone. I'm saying that I think my 5-year old phone needs to be on charge during navigation(*).

If I'm going to charge my phone from the 12v socket I'd need to buy an adapter. And when all is said and done I'm still attaching my phone to the car with an electrical lead.

It seems simpler and more sensible to just connect the phone to the car using a USB cable in those situations.

Most of the time I don't need navigation anyway so most of the time I'm happy to leave the phone in my pocket and connect via BT to get music streaming.

(*)I'm not completely sure about that. AA works with the head unit so perhaps it gets GPS information from the car and with its screen off the Battery demands might not be as onerous as they used to be.

[Obsidian Estate]

I'm going to start using AA and Google maps now my free map update period has expired. Are these wireless things reliable?

The few times a year I'll be using a cable isn't a problem if a wireless jobbie is a pain.

[Paul john]

3 minutes ago, Obsidian Estate said:

I'm going to start using AA and Google maps now my free map update period has expired. Are these wireless things reliable?

The few times a year I'll be using a cable isn't a problem if a wireless jobbie is a pain.

Found my wireless thingy to be reliable since new. Even used it in 3 hire cars without making any adjustment. (Toyota CHR, MG ZS, Volvo XC90)

[Obsidian Estate]

9 minutes ago, Paul john said:

Found my wireless thingy to be reliable since new. Even used it in 3 hire cars without making any adjustment. (Toyota CHR, MG ZS, Volvo XC90)

I presume the one you mentioned further up?

Carlinkit v5 - 2air?

[Paul john]

2 minutes ago, Obsidian Estate said:

I presume the one you mentioned further up?

Carlinkit v5 - 2air?

Thats the one. There are some tricks to make the default connection faster. And its quite configurable from the web interface.