GEN 2 Tesla Style Android Radios - 14.5 inch Screens, Octacore, QHD and FHD and 128GB

[caleb]

1. The sim is a nice to have. You can’t use any of the apps on the radio without data. You can tether to your phone but have to manually go and tether every time. Super annoying.

2. Go 8GB. I’ve heard the 4GB is super sluggish and not very responsive.

If all you plan to do is use CarPlay, then you aren’t gaining anything besides a poor experience. The radio is sub-par as a CarPlay device. It does technically work, mostly (it will some time not connect and will also randomly disconnect). If you’re not wanting to use the apps (streaming like Spotify, Pandora, or whatever audio you use, maps like Waze, etc) natively on the radio, then you’d just wasting your money as you can buy a $100 device that will plug in to your current radio to give you wireless CarPlay and be a better CarPlay experience.

 

[Sonicsunspot]

Appreciate all the help - pulled the trigger on a loaded Autotec 12.2" today. Moving closer to the glass cockpit...

 

[Sonicsunspot]

Appreciate all the help - pulled the trigger on a loaded Autotec 12.2" today. Moving closer to the glass cockpit...

And just received it. 9 days from order placed to my door. Not too bad.

 

[Sonicsunspot]

I have completed the install. Seems to work perfectly, but I have a lot of questions. Lifetime iPhone user, not sure the best way to go about getting the most out if it.

It IS awesome. Love the ability to fine tune the sound with all the equalizer settings and individual gain controls.

I have no idea if I should try to use Bluetooth or wifi or hotspot or get a cellular subscription . Would like to use all the features. I noticed Google maps doesn’t work - I have no idea why.

I also can’t figure out why on cold starts radio always comes back to a setting for what used to be “media 2nd page button 3”. Every time.

 

[thatJeepguy]

1. The sim is a nice to have. You can’t use any of the apps on the radio without data. You can tether to your phone but have to manually go and tether every time. Super annoying.

2. Go 8GB. I’ve heard the 4GB is super sluggish and not very responsive.

If all you plan to do is use CarPlay, then you aren’t gaining anything besides a poor experience. The radio is sub-par as a CarPlay device. It does technically work, mostly (it will some time not connect and will also randomly disconnect). If you’re not wanting to use the apps (streaming like Spotify, Pandora, or whatever audio you use, maps like Waze, etc) natively on the radio, then you’d just wasting your money as you can buy a $100 device that will plug in to your current radio to give you wireless CarPlay and be a better CarPlay experience.

I heard calls don't sound good unless you answer them via entering back into the sync partition. I wanted to buy/install this but thats a hard no for me. That and my usage case is exactly as you describe.

 

[XSTNKT]

I have completed the install. Seems to work perfectly, but I have a lot of questions. Lifetime iPhone user, not sure the best way to go about getting the most out if it.

It IS awesome. Love the ability to fine tune the sound with all the equalizer settings and individual gain controls.

I have no idea if I should try to use Bluetooth or wifi or hotspot or get a cellular subscription . Would like to use all the features. I noticed Google maps doesn’t work - I have no idea why.

I also can’t figure out why on cold starts radio always comes back to a setting for what used to be “media 2nd page button 3”. Every time.

The loss of last radio setting on start-up thing is my biggest gripe, honestly. I have no idea if it can be fixed or if anyone has tried. It doesn't do it because the truck has been off, either.... I've got back in the truck and all is set as it was (sirius playing same channel I was listening to before I got out). But, a few seconds later, the tablet runs a script of some kind and it wipes everything out again (back to FM radio, setting 1). It's just odd.

Soooo, if you have an iPhone, I've found that IF you do want to use EVERYTHING on the unit, anytime you want, you need a SIM card. The Apple CarPlay pirates both the WiFi signal and the Bluetooth signal and won't let anything else use it. That's why things get all goofy when you try and switch to Waze Maps... or YouTube... or any weather app (CarPlay refuses to let you see the weather)... The tablet gets all confused and fights with Apple CarPlay for one or both signals (Apple will win every time). If you have a SIM card, the tablet uses that for Android things and the Apple CarPlay gets to keep hording your WiFi and Bluetooth and everyone is happy happy happy. With that set-up, it works darn near flawlessly.

 

[caleb]

The loss of last radio setting on start-up thing is my biggest gripe, honestly. I have no idea if it can be fixed or if anyone has tried. It doesn't do it because the truck has been off, either.... I've got back in the truck and all is set as it was (sirius playing same channel I was listening to before I got out). But, a few seconds later, the tablet runs a script of some kind and it wipes everything out again (back to FM radio, setting 1). It's just odd.

Soooo, if you have an iPhone, I've found that IF you do want to use EVERYTHING on the unit, anytime you want, you need a SIM card. The Apple CarPlay pirates both the WiFi signal and the Bluetooth signal and won't let anything else use it. That's why things get all goofy when you try and switch to Waze Maps... or YouTube... or any weather app (CarPlay refuses to let you see the weather)... The tablet gets all confused and fights with Apple CarPlay for one or both signals (Apple will win every time). If you have a SIM card, the tablet uses that for Android things and the Apple CarPlay gets to keep hording your WiFi and Bluetooth and everyone is happy happy happy. With that set-up, it works darn near flawlessly.

Yep, 100% this. The standalone sim makes the radio much more enjoyable, but the dumb switch back to fm 1 on every start is still annoying.

Previous to this radio, I’ve never had an Android device so I e had to learn a lot but getting the hang of it. For being able to do “whatever you want” on Android I feel awfully limited in what you can actually do.

 

[nikhsub1]

So a few things here. First, it is annoying how everytime you start the truck the radio goes to some unknown band and station and not where it was last set to. A clue to this behavior is if you force close the console app (basically sync 3) it will do the same thing, you will lose what you were listening to and have to reselect whatever that was.

Second, I think I use the tablet in a unique way that works perfectly for me. First, I have a wireless carplay dongle plugged into the center USB slot, so I never need to plug the phone in for carplay. Second, I use carplay VIA sync 3, not directly to the tablet. IMO going carplay direct to the tablet is a waste of time as mentioned above. What does using carplay via sync 3 actually do and not do? Glad you asked! First, I can use the button on the steering wheel to say, "call muh wife" or "text so and so" and it just works. When I do this, whatever is on the screen is UNAFFECTED. I can be full screen waze for example, tell siri to call someone, and I continue to have full waze. Now, the downside to that is when I want to hang up, I need to either leave waze on the tablet and go into the sync screen, then carplay and end the call OR, just end the call on my phone - which is what I do. I have my phone magnetically mounted on my dash so it is right there and not an issue.

So basically, with carplay still linked to the sync module, the tablet remains free to do what it does best. In my normal course of driving I usually run split screen with waze on top and sync on bottom as I still like to deal with the radio with muh fat fingers

 

[XSTNKT]

So a few things here. First, it is annoying how everytime you start the truck the radio goes to some unknown band and station and not where it was last set to. A clue to this behavior is if you force close the console app (basically sync 3) it will do the same thing, you will lose what you were listening to and have to reselect whatever that was.

Second, I think I use the tablet in a unique way that works perfectly for me. First, I have a wireless carplay dongle plugged into the center USB slot, so I never need to plug the phone in for carplay. Second, I use carplay VIA sync 3, not directly to the tablet. IMO going carplay direct to the tablet is a waste of time as mentioned above. What does using carplay via sync 3 actually do and not do? Glad you asked! First, I can use the button on the steering wheel to say, "call muh wife" or "text so and so" and it just works. When I do this, whatever is on the screen is UNAFFECTED. I can be full screen waze for example, tell siri to call someone, and I continue to have full waze. Now, the downside to that is when I want to hang up, I need to either leave waze on the tablet and go into the sync screen, then carplay and end the call OR, just end the call on my phone - which is what I do. I have my phone magnetically mounted on my dash so it is right there and not an issue.

So basically, with carplay still linked to the sync module, the tablet remains free to do what it does best. In my normal course of driving I usually run split screen with waze on top and sync on bottom as I still like to deal with the radio with muh fat fingers

Yeah, I have an '18... so no CarPlay connectivity as standard.

 

[Sonicsunspot]

I think what @nikhsub1 said still works in a 2018. I have a 2018, and that’s what I have used (Apple dongle) previous to this radio and it worked great.

I might start a thread with FAQs on this radio - not sure the best approach. I have several questions!

There is a thread on the F150 forum that’s seems to be 100s of lines and it’s all over the place.