Android Auto Wireless dongle beginning to ship

[Grump]

Holy shit it works! I was worried because I haven't been able to get OBD2AA or aagateway from the same dev working on any of my rooted devices. The head unit doesn't agree with the USB trickery.
Really happy to see this on the Stinger!

 

[OneIota]

Great to see, I'm #14000something and I think they're around the 9000s - they've been sending out updates noting the chip shortage affecting the production so crossing my fingers

 

[NIU_Huskies]

Looks like anyone who had a ship date of June is now delayed at least 2 months to August.

 

[OneIota]

I'm #14000 something, I got a notification a few days ago that mine has shipped and has a tracking # but the tracking info hasn't updated in the last week, looks like it's in Hong Kong

 

[stoopid]

It looks like most people are reporting success with the device, with the small update hiccup on the original design requiring a usb / direct connection to update (later design does this OTA).

Shipping delays has been the reason I haven't jumped aboard, and debating whether the minor convenience is worth $75 and the bit of space/clutter this takes up. I only need it for google maps to show, which I don't need too often.

 

[P22Tyler]

Looks like anyone who had a ship date of June is now delayed at least 2 months to August.

Yeah sounds like they don't have the gen 2 prototype yet. Bummer.

 

[JezH]

Hi everyone,

First post on the forum, I'm in the UK with a Pantera metal 3.3GT with red leather. Love it, although the dealer's over here are nothing to get excited about.

Anyway, I received my AA wireless dongle a few weeks back, I was one of the early supporters. To me what's the point of having a wireless charger if you have to plug in your device to use AA. Bonkers!!! Therefore, for $75 this was a no brainer.

I can confirm this works seamlessly for me. There is a known WiFi glitch on Huawei phones with the device, so once I had dealt with that it was all plain sailing. Get in, start up and within 30 seconds or less AA is up on the screen. You may also want to go into the AA wireless settings and check the box that tells the car to auto switch the screen to AA as by default you get the reading usb device message and then the AA logo appears on the car screen when connected which you then have to press. Checking this setting means you will see the reading usb device and then it will go straight into AA on the car screen.

I cannot recommend this unit enough. They really need to be banging on manufacturers doors and getting the tech integrated in cars. I'm amazed at the lack of support for wireless connection in the automotive market.

 

[stoopid]

To me what's the point of having a wireless charger if you have to plug in your device to use AA. Bonkers!!! Therefore, for $75 this was a no brainer.

What's your specific need for the AAWireless? For me music and phone calls can be made over bluetooth, I'm only lacking visual google maps on the car screen. [I'm asking in case I'm missing something I hadn't thought of]

 

[boosted1g]

What's your specific need for the AAWireless? For me music and phone calls can be made over bluetooth, I'm only lacking visual google maps on the car screen. [I'm asking in case I'm missing something I hadn't thought of]

For me the reasons I prefer AA over BT is:
- Being able to actually reply to a text message (and I would imagine others have other apps they use as well)
- Sure you can skip tracks over BT, but I cant select a different playlist from spotify without looking down at my phone, thus safer
- There is the quality loss of BT for music
- Then there is also just the visual improvement of the UI, like seeing the album artwork

For many others they likely also need the maps more.
I could see many people using navigation for their work commute in lg cities just for the traffic updates.

 

[stoopid]

For me the reasons I prefer AA over BT is:
- Being able to actually reply to a text message (and I would imagine others have other apps they use as well)
- Sure you can skip tracks over BT, but I cant select a different playlist from spotify without looking down at my phone, thus safer
- There is the quality loss of BT for music
- Then there is also just the visual improvement of the UI, like seeing the album artwork

For many others they likely also need the maps more.
I could see many people using navigation for their work commute in lg cities just for the traffic updates.

True on most points.

If only streaming MP3s the BT standard has more than enough bandwidth headroom to send the MP3 data without compromising it. BT is like 2Mbps, and MP3s are 320Kbps (about 1/7th the total throughput available) max. FLAC or WAV, then yes there's degradation.

All good reasons for AAWireless if needing/wanting those things.

 

[boosted1g]

True on most points.

If only streaming MP3 the BT standard has more than enough bandwidth headroom to send the MP3 data without compromising it.

Its not just about the bandwidth, its about the compression/loss of data that Bluetooth natively performs. Current Bluetooth standards can send the music from phone to stereo without the compression/loss, but requires both ends to have the codec and accept it.

For my preference, I prefer to go with the more guaranteed level of quality.
Admittedly, I am a little more anal about this sort of stuff, I don't like to compromise quality for convivence when I don't have to.
I ran Ethernet cables throughout my home (including to my security cameras), as well speaker cable for living room, garage and patio.
The line from the villain in the Incredibles 2 movie instantly became a favorite quote of mine: "it might be crap, but hey, its convenient"

To be fair, if the possible loss of music quality was the only con to me for using BT vs AA then yea I would likely just do that.

 

[stoopid]

Its not just about the bandwidth, its about the compression/loss of data that Bluetooth natively performs. Current Bluetooth standards can send the music from phone to stereo without the compression/loss, but requires both ends to have the codec and accept it.

For my preference, I prefer to go with the more guaranteed level of quality.
Admittedly, I am a little more anal about this sort of stuff, I don't like to compromise quality for convivence when I don't have to.
I ran Ethernet cables throughout my home (including to my security cameras), as well speaker cable for living room, garage and patio.
The line from the villain in the Incredibles 2 movie instantly became a favorite quote of mine: "it might be crap, but hey, its convenient"

To be fair, if the possible loss of music quality was the only con to me for using BT vs AA then yea I would likely just do that.

I'm fairly picky as well (hobbyist music producer and surround music listener), and know of the BT compression you're referring and it's a non issue streaming MP3s from my Samsung 10 to the Stinger. I have heard this artifacting in prior BT implementations, so apparently I have compatible phone/Stinger in my favor.

As I've also said in other threads on this forum, with road noise being fairly high in the Stinger, there's a point in which the details gained from higher bitrate/resolution audio is lost/drowned out. FLAC/WAV is a waste IMO unless driving in a vacuum (like Mercedes or Bentley).

 

[boosted1g]

As I've also said in other threads on this forum, with road noise being fairly high in the Stinger, there's a point in which the details gained from higher bitrate/resolution audio is lost/drowned out. FLAC/WAV is a waste IMO unless driving in a vacuum (like Mercedes or Bentley).

Good point there

 

[NIU_Huskies]

For me the reasons I prefer AA over BT is:
- Being able to actually reply to a text message (and I would imagine others have other apps they use as well)
- Sure you can skip tracks over BT, but I cant select a different playlist from spotify without looking down at my phone, thus safer
- There is the quality loss of BT for music
- Then there is also just the visual improvement of the UI, like seeing the album artwork

For many others they likely also need the maps more.
I could see many people using navigation for their work commute in lg cities just for the traffic updates.

Great points.

Yes, I always use Google maps even though I know where I'm going just to see how bad traffic is or if there's an accident I need to avoid and take another route.

I also like Android Auto because I can tell Google to "call [insert name here]" or ask it to search for "[insert place here] in city, state" and then it gives me the directions automatically.

 

[BrandonFYIA]

Great points.

Yes, I always use Google maps even though I know where I'm going just to see how bad traffic is or if there's an accident I need to avoid and take another route.

I also like Android Auto because I can tell Google to "call [insert name here]" or ask it to search for "[insert place here] in city, state" and then it gives me the directions automatically.

Maps for traffic, google assistant for well a lot of things, and album artwork are the top of my list. That and I'm just not a huge fan of the new purple UI.

 

[rdromance]

I got mine a few weeks ago and it works fine. The only thing is that the USB port you use is always powered. Not a big deal. You can just unplug AAWireless at the end of the day or, leaving it plugged in, it would take about 2 weeks of non-use for there to be a battery problem. They do have a workaround that once bluetooth loses connection, it turns off but, you have to reconnect it using Device Connections. If you have to do that, you might as well unplug it.

 

[OneIota]

Just got mine yesterday and works well just trying it out. Took quite a while to find the unit initially but seems fairly quick to connect and load subsequently, at least so far. It's nice to have the Android Auto UI (and the album art for Spotify) without having to plug in and unwantedly charge my phone.

 

[boosted1g]

Anyone hardwire and hide their AA dongle yet, or everyone just have it sitting out in center console?

 

[BrandonFYIA]

Anyone hardwire and hide their AA dongle yet, or everyone just have it sitting out in center console?

oh now we're talking. be sure to take pics!

 

[NIU_Huskies]

oh now we're talking. be sure to take pics!

Yes, I was also just going to ask how folks were hiding the unit to clean up their console area.