AAWireless - Wireless Android Auto Dongle - Connects Automatically to Android Auto - Easy Plug and Play Setup - Free Companion App - Made in Europe

Android Auto is great for connecting to my car, and navigating using the map. However using my car's wired connection was flaky, and Android Auto would frequently quit, a well-known issue with Android Auto, caused by bad cable connections. Replugging the cable at the phone end would fix it temporarily. Every cable I bought would fail quickly; an expensive USB cable from a well-known brand lasted up to 2 years of occasional use. But cheaper cables, about two months. I'm guessing it was the vibration, and seasonal temperature and humidity changes destroying the cables.The solution may be to eliminate the cable entirely. Once learning how cars now come with "Wireless Android Auto", I thought there must be a way to do that with my older car, somehow bridging the car's USB port and my phone wirelessly. That's what this adapter does! Sure there is still a wire to the adapter itself, but so far I have no disconnection issues.Edit - March 10, 2025: From online discussions, there is another possible cause of disconnections, cause by the phone's battery setting for Android Auto. The fix is to change the phone's battery settings for Android Auto from "Optimized" to "Unrestricted". It is buried deep in the phone's "Settings" app. It has helped me with some recent disconnects. Now back to the review!Setup is easy, but one thing I wish they did better was have a manual, or at least some short instructions on how to set it up. I couldn't find a manual online from the official AAWireless site anywhere, and the booklet that comes with it is just the standard warnings, and states to download the app. There are some 3rd-party guides on YouTube.Here's how I set mine up:1. Download the "AAWireless" app from the app store. It's necessary to configure the device to work.2. Activate your car's Android Auto USB port, and the infotainment system. (Not all USB ports will be connected to the infotainment system, some are charging-only.) I didn't start my engine, and only turned the key to the "ON" position to activate internal power.3. Plug in the AAWireless dongle to the car's infotainment-connected USB port.4. Open the AAWireless app, and run through some prompts. It will scan for the dongle to connect. At this point a firmware update can be done, but my dongle came with the latest firmware at the time of this post, version 3.5.0.5. Once connected, Android Auto can be used as normal. There are some options in the app to adjust the dongle's settings, but I didn't need to change anything.Notes:A. There is a "Passthrough" mode in the app, which disables some of the app's advanced configuration options. I tried it, and my dongle connects to the car much faster in Passthrough mode, only seconds! It will take about a minute to connect with Passthrough turned off.B. The app is required to facilitate the phone-dongle connection. I tried uninstalling the app to see if the phone would still connect to the dongle, it didn't, and the phone got stuck in a "Looking for Android Auto" loop.C. Android Auto seems just as responsive as being connected to the phone via USB, although I have not tried a side-by-side comparison.D. Using a wireless dongle provides the added benefit of being able to charge the phone faster than my car's USB port can, by using a separate 12v fast car charger supporting modern charging speeds. Android Auto works just fine while fast charging. I can now top my phone up on the drive home.E. My dongle was supplied with a USB-A to USB-C connector, with the "C" end going into the dongle. If your car's infotainment system only has a USB-C port, you'll need to supply a USB-C to USB-C cable. However most modern cars with USB-C ports now come with Wireless Android Auto, so this may be a moot point.Other thoughts:OT1: There are advantages and disadvantages to having and requiring an app to get the dongle to work. The advantages include customization, setup, and supporting dongle firmware updates. These are major advantages. Disadvantages include requiring the app for the phone-car connection. The app needs to be kept up to date for the dongle to work. If updates stop in the future, then eventually the app won't be supported in the app store and Android itself, which will make the dongle useless as technology and time move forward. However, taking this info into context, my car is several years old and Android Auto still works fine on it. As I understand it, Android Auto's processing is done on the phone instead of the car, helping to prevent obsolescence of the car's infotainment system.OT2: Make sure your car's infotainment system is up-to-date. My car's system can only be updated at the dealership, and there have been some updates in the past few years, which have fixed bugs and updated software. This may also help Android Auto work better. I ask the dealership about twice a year if there's any updates for it, as my system isn't updated that often. Very modern cars can likely be updated wirelessly over-the-air (OTA) without going to the dealership.

BackgroundI have an Alpine iLX-W650 head unit in my car that worked perfectly with my OnePlus 8T running Android 11. Eventually, the Waze app would quit tracking speed and "following" me on my drive, especially when I had it set to give me driving directions. Tidal and music apps still worked fine, but with Waze in a broken state, I needed to come up with a solution. I previously attempted updating my OnePlus to Android 12 and ended up rolling back when I was unable to make Android Auto work. (I got AA to work once after clearing the AA app cache/config, factory-resetting the radio, then rebooting the phone. The USB device mode prompt showed up once, let me pair up, then nothing thereafter. It was quite frustrating.)After realizing that Android Auto was half-broken (and the important half at that), I figured I had nothing left to lose and updated to Android 13. My phone is a bit less "goofy" now (fewer random glitches), but Android auto is flat-out busted. My iLX says "unsupported device" no matter what combination of things I try (clear AA cache and/or data and reboot, factory-reset head unit, try a dozen different cables, etc.)At my wits end and after a bunch of web searches and research, I came to the conclusion that Google had deprecated Android Auto for all but a small handful of aftermarket receivers, making my $350 iLX-W650 all but useless. For me to keep using an Android phone and have AA support, I’d need to replace my head unit. Alternatively, I could buy a phone from the Cupertino fruit factory, but I just can't stand the user experience in the recent versions of the OS (and my pockets just aren't deep enough to check the all the boxes on my must-have feature list).I'm thinking, "Great, more money down the drain and a head unit worth almost nothing to have to unload on flea-bay," at this point. I could keep using it in Bluetooth Audio mode, but I am always having to fiddle with the phone and the navigation prompts don't consistently come through over the radio. All this does is add more distractions.I managed to stumble across someone's Reddit post mentioning the AAWireless device and figured $80 wasn't too much to gamble (plus I could send it back for a refund if it ended up being a bust). I could keep my phone *and* my head unit if this turns out to be successful.Initial SetupAAWireless features a mobile app that is designed to facilitate setup of the AAWireless device. As a test, I applied power to AAWireless and launched the app, then proceeded to add the device.One of the first instructions the app provides is to connect your mobile device to your head unit. Um, yeah, about that - my head unit says my mobile phone is an unsupported device, which is why you're here. As a test, I skipped that step and paired my phone with the AAWireless adapter. Once complete, I checked to see if there were any updates to install (there were none), then pulled the plug on the AAWireless and proceeded to hook it up in the car.Key in, head unit energized, I plugged the AAWireless device in and waited. I saw a brief flicker of "Welcome to Android Auto" on my head unit, then the head unit went to FM radio mode. I scratched my head and figured I'd wait a moment longer to see if it was just a transient thing. About five seconds later, the "Welcome" screen returned and I was able to pair up my phone in Android Auto. Waze and Tidal are back in action now; at least I can now access them without having to fiddle with my phone. Next step: the test drive.Test DriveHere's where I get to find out whether this AAWireless device has to find a new home or not. I ran a couple errands and the remote display performed well. There was a touch of jumpiness, maybe from wireless lag, but it kept up throughout my drives. The map "followed" me like it was supposed to and turn-by-turn functionality appears to work as it should. I was once again able to manage music playback without having to fumble with the phone.Despite big G's attempts to kill Android Auto on whatever they consider "unsanctioned" hardware, AAWireless has come to the rescue of us "poor" folks who don't want to shell out big bucks to get trapped into an auto maker's ecosystem of sub-par in-car entertainment choices.