Gen1 2014 Phoenix Android Radio upgrade thread.

[bavarian-raptor]

when will you get the unit? I was thinking installing my Ipad pro + an alpine unit. But comparing costs, this unit would be very interessting. Looking forward to your oppinion.

 

[dirtaddicted]

My SYNC 3 is a NAV unit, so as long as my antenna has signal I have GPS. If you go with the Android/Phoenix unit, yes you lose the physical controls. You will have to wait for the unit to boot up before you can control your HVAC. I have read with the newer gen radios if you go with the higher memory model, then the boot up times is pretty quick anyway. IMHO, you are really relying on that software being stable, because if you lose the radio you lose your HVAC (if the radio bricks or resprings/restarts). I was not comfortable giving up my physical controls if my radio pooped the bed even though that large screen is rather sexy.

Yeah, I hear you. Ill be sure to keep the stock setup In my spares box when I go into the desert. Ill look into rigging physical Max AC and Defrost buttons if the physical harness is not used. Will let you know.


Thanks!

 

[dirtaddicted]

I’m taking this on tonight. Will include pics.

Thanks!

 

[dirtaddicted]

So it’s in. I opted to put it in. It’s all plug and play with one power splice on their harness:

Installation tips:
Dude on YouTube (redbeard) gets you a general idea on install but it’s different for us:
Passenger airbag needs to come out to get the trim off. Unlike the driver side here is a screw on the trim under he airbag that needs to be removed...at least on my 2014.


Disconnect your battery before touching the airbag!!! It’s not hard to do this...but be safe!

Airbag has Three bolts and two connectors. Pinch connectors to disconnect...there are two plastic latches on those.
Sync cover on the bottom pulls straight out to get the the lower two screws on the trim.

Key links

https://www.raptorforumz.com/threads/radio-bezel-removal.17370/


https://phoenixautomotivellc.freshd...les/36000094274-install-ford-f-150-2013-2014-

On my fast boot unit hvac comes up right away.

 

[dirtaddicted]

INSTALL—-

Box

Cables.

Airbag screws


Connections on truck with old sync 2 out. Notice the red green splice in their harness provides OEM camera power before I soldered and shrink wrapped (lower left of pic)


Plus one more connection for usb under armrest

 

[dirtaddicted]

First impressions:

Good:

It went in pretty easy.

Steering controls seem to work out of the box. No extra add ons needed. Only tried volume and channel change so far...it was a busy boating day so I have not tried everything yet...

OEM back up camera works great out of the box. We loose the center hitch line though.

Radio works

Hvac works.

Seat cool an warm works.

Screen is bright enough

It fits perfectly. Looks great

 

[dirtaddicted]

TIME AND OEM CAMERAS ———

Making progress on this. It’s really important to take the screen protector off or the system freaks out and causes slowness and instability as it deals with the cheap plastic cover on the screen. Removing that helped a lot!

Front camera works out of the box! You still need to shift to 2L and activate with steering wheel controls but it works great.

Terrible glare in the photo but it works fine. Says rear camera but it’s front parking lot with the open sunroof glare.

Rear cam and sensor warnings work

Time fixed. You have to remove China and set zone in advanced settings.


Here is the general look

 

[dirtaddicted]

Gaia offline maps——-

Here is the main reason I got the thing: Offline topo maps with Gaia. I paid for premium which gives me overlays like hunting areas, property ownership, USFS trail systems, and more. If you have never tried it pull down the free version on you phone pull it down on your phone and check it out! There is a free version.



One thing that sucks is that music shuts off when Gaia is running so I’m working on that.

I removed the “bads’ From my first impression post because a lot of those were because of the screen protector, and mis configuration out of the box.

I am warming up to this thing

 

[dirtaddicted]

APPLE CARPLAY———

Apple carplay is up and works good so far. You do have to download and install a 4gb app to run this. The app comes from a private server and is, my guess, not supported by apple. Something to keep in mind.

 

[dirtaddicted]

SECURITY—-

One thing to consider is security of the device. Being an IT engineer, I’d recommend using a new dedicated google account instead of your personal account to use google play store and download apps.

I’m also going to remove all certificates and apps that are not necessary to run this device. There was a vpn app that I disabled. Ill write this all up, save the config and post it here.