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> nor does it affect Android Auto which is a "dumb" screen mirroring protocol with the bulk of the software running on the connected phone rather than the head
by mschuster91 2mo ago
> nor does it affect Android Auto which is a "dumb" screen mirroring protocol with the bulk of the software running on the connected phone rather than the head unit
Huh, how does that work anyway? And while we're at it, Apple CarPlay as well? Both can run wirelessly via Bluetooth, but BT is nowhere near capable enough to stream full bandwidth video?
- dhc02 2mo agoThe way I understand it, the connection is negotiated via BT, but then wifi is used for the fat data pipe to run the display.
- m-s-y 2mo agoWireless CarPlay uses Bluetooth to exchange SSID and key info before switching over to WiFi for the duration of the session.
- NewJazz 2mo agoWow that's cursed, never realized that's how it worked.
- xp84 2mo agoCursed is exactly how I would describe it - because it works great until it doesn’t and it of course gives you zero clue why it won’t connect.
- NLMichel 2mo agoAnecdotally, I just got back from a holiday trip across Europe and crossed four international borders. At every single border crossing, my CarPlay session disconnected, and I had to toggle CarPlay off and back on in my phone settings to reconnect. Very strange, and I still have no idea what caused it.
- bluGill 2mo agoIt's a good idea actually, but it's also really complex to get right. Early version of Android Auto could transfer over USB 2.0 instead of Bluetooth, which works, but it's not near as high bandwidth.
- izacus 2mo ago> Early version of Android Auto could transfer over USB 2.0 instead of Bluetooth, which works, but it's not near as high bandwidth. This sentence doesn't make much sense - Auto (and CarPlay) still work in wired mode over USB 2.0 if the head unit supports it. They never worked over Bluetooth. (And they use less than 15Mbps so USB 2.0s 480MBps are more than enough)
- bluGill 2mo agoThey use Bluetooth to configure WiFi. Most people call that Bluetooth, but technically you are correct.
- StilesCrisis 2mo agoI thought the latest Bluetooth protocols were basically designed to hand off to an ad-hoc Wi-Fi connection between the two devices after the initial handshake. (Might be an oversimplification of the real protocol)
- 306bobby 2mo agoWireless AA and CarPlay use a hotspot your car emits that your phone connects to and transfers the image/inputs/audio that way
- scoot 2mo agoGot into a weird situation recently where my cheap android head unit was displaying Car Play from my phone, but (Google Maps) audio from my partner's. Directions weren't coming from my phone's speaker or the car, but testing audio in the Maps app did (from the car). Still not sure what combination of connections it had managed to get itself into!
- alphager 2mo agoThey didn't run over BT. BT is used to initiate communication and share the password to a wifi-network. It then uses that Wi-Fi network for most communication, keeping the BT channel strictly for telephony.
- izacus 2mo agoThey actually run over WiFi (WiFi direct IIRC) - Bluetooth is mostly just used as a setup handshake and to help the head unit decide which phone in the car should be the one connected.
- iamjackg 2mo agoIt uses Bluetooth to stream audio, but everything else happens through a WiFi connection exposed by the car that the phone automatically pairs with after the Bluetooth handshake.
- russelg 2mo agoNot sure about CarPlay, but Android Auto connects via wifi to the head unit for the video feed.
- deaton 2mo agoNot sure about carplay, but Android Auto wireless uses wifi for the video stream.
- dolmen 2mo agoMy car requires wired connectivity (USB) for Android Auto.
- 3guk 2mo agoFor a decent amount of the older android / CarPlay usb implementations - you can also buy little WiFi / USB dongles that perfectly enable wireless CarPlay - I’ve used them now on a few vehicles and they have been perfect !