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Got it in a couple of days and installed it. As you know, the original USB to USB-C connector is too big (tall) to allow for the console door to close. I got a 5" double right angle cord for about $7, and it works fine. Question...when connected, does it flash, or fade green, on/off, or is it totally solid green.
Are you using the talk button on the steering wheel to tune the GX radio stations only, or have you found a way for it to interact with CarPlay?
Just a comment, this little device brings the '21-'23 GX's into the edge of the 21st century! 🤣 Love em!
There's another good thread on this topic, with lots of good ideas posted. Here's what I did:
One cable is to charge my phone, the other is a female USB A I can use to charge my watch, wife's phone, or whatever. There's a wireless AA device in the cubby, so I can stuff the cables in and shut the door completely if desired. In practice, I never do that.
Mark
I just bought that, and came back here to see how it wasnt sagging in your pics. then saw you closed the door. I was going to print something as a center support but partially closing the door is a better move. much cheaper than the wireless carplay/android but i will still try and figure out a way to put the cable in the arm rest area.
FWIW... I have been testing both latest carlink and Ottocast. The Carlink seems to be a lot more stable than Ottocast (it doesn't always auto connect to phone, startup screen hangs, etc). However the Ottocast seems to be slightly faster when you skip songs and with Ottocast I can hold down fwd button on steering wheel and it can actually fast fwd through the active song in CarPlay where the carlink can’t for whatever reason. Will continue to test both going on week 2 testing in a 2023 GX
I have found that the Carlink connects in a reasonable amount of time, less than a minute or two, but if I try to play Pandora or Spotify, it seems to get confused and may take 4-5 minutes to connect with those apps. Waze and other map apps connect very quickly. Any insight or recommendations are appreciated!
I got this one for a little bit and had the wife use it, but I can tell you that the hassle of the settings is not worth the juice. This is a great idea and concept, but the technical aspect is just not going to do you any good. You can't use a hotspot and be connected to the internet at the same time, so therefore, it will not work if you tether your phone and use CarPlay at the same time. So, if you are tethered to your phone with a hotspot, you cannot have CarPlay; you can only use the built-in apps like Netflix, Hulu, etc. Not all apps will show videos as they are restricted. I tried customer service, but it's all in Chinese, and it's pretty bad asking or talking to them. They use broken English and sound condescending and more accusatory rather than helpful. I figured I'd chime in on my experience with this device.
My thought is to rerun the usb input for car play away from the little space under the cover to the armrest console and then use the wireless dongle and have it there and out of sign. I have not found an extended adapter that can be used to run the cables to the console and then install the ports under the armrest. I got something like that for my Tundra truck, it was to move the roll down button for the rear window to the center console. It came already wired up and plugged for both side.
Let me know how its goes ! I can report - still going strong, no issues. And top tip - hard press the talk button for Siri ! I also found you can use he built in voice in the GX to tune stations and set the temperature !
Four month Carlinkit update...Once I got used to the fact that there is about a 2 second delay from when you touch your GX screen, all has been good. However, the past few weeks, it's not totally auto connecting on bluetooth. My iPhone finds it's WiFi signal, but not bluetooth, so I have to go to settings on my phone and manually touch "Autokit", then all is good. I checked out their website and they mention firmware updates, but not to do it on your own. Just wondering if anyone else has had that minor issue, or if I'm missing a setting?
02-18-24, 06:44 PM
