OEM Car Play Solution for 2016 and 2017 models

There are two plugs for the anytime back up. NOW I have it all working

 

Have been on this forum for a while now but never said anything. However, I would like to give my thoughts on this after hooking up this unit to my 17 sr5 today. I have the bigger screen head unit from my fathers totaled 17 sport and not the stock head unit that came with my 2017 SR5. Overall I am happy I ordered this, the resolution does not bother me that much, I think having a dark background set for carplay helps. I also think the so of the resolution problem is from the CARabc unit itself and not the screen. I do not have a lot of switches underneath the climate control panel in my truck so i was able to set the box behind that. I also removed the antenna that comes with the box so it would free up some space. I also did this thinking the Bluetooth connection would not work without the antenna but it still does. I would rather go wired with the USB so that I could still have my phone connected to the stock interface if I needed it. I also read people here saying they interfere with each other if the phone is connected to both at the same time, I did not see issues with that while my phone was connected to both wirelessly but I did not play with that long. Since the box is not connected wirelessly it keeps popping up with a code on screen to try and connect wirelessly. So I was wondering if anyone knows how to disable Bluetooth on the CARabc box? I was also wondering if my phone was connected to the box and stock head unit interface via Bluetooth would there be problems when getting a phone call?

Overall for $200 I think it is worth it and I am happy to have Waze, Spotify, Siri, and the messages on screen. Some annoying things I found are if I am in carplay and I turn up the volume using the button on the steering wheel it does not show the volume level like it does on regular entune 2.0. The button does work because I hear it going up or down, and all the other buttons on the steering wheel work on carplay also. Another complaint is when I turn the truck off with it on carplay and then start it again and connect my phone I have to go off the aux source to a different source and back to aux to get carplay to start back up when I turn the truck on. So it does not automatically come back on when you get back in the truck or it takes a while. It seems the usb from the box does not charge my phone only maintains its current battery level.

 

I did some testing with this tonight because I was hearing some crackling in my music, from my tweeters it sounded like.

When directly comparing entune BT to carplay, the carplay lacked bass. I double checked that the sound settings for AUX input on entune matched what I had on entune BT. That being said, I went to the EQ on the carplay device and did +1 on the lower bass frequencies. Doing so I can her a crackle...going to any of the other presets in the EQ sound so bad...tons of crackling. Can anybody else with a unit see if they have the same issue?

Another thing...I've used this device for like a week or so now and I had a passenger in the truck today connect their phone to the entune BT...and it was so refreshing seeing that screen and how clear it looked lol. All that being said, I think I confirmed I will be returning it.

 

I installed mine this past weekend too and noticed the crackle. In the CARabc settings there are volume levels for music, mic, phone, etc. I lowered the levels down to 12(?)... around 60%. That fixed the crackle.

And yes I also made sure my Entune aux sound settings matched what I had on my Bluetooth and USB. Left the EQ at standard on the CARabc. I like it.

 

How does one know what version of Entune is in their truck ?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-entune-radio-head-unit-comparison.682700/#post-24064772

 

I noticed the crackling this morning too, it is very light but there. I also noticed the lower bass immediately because I like a lot of bass so I will be going in and changing that EQ setting, thanks!

 

I think the bass in CarPlay thing is a bit endemic to CarPlay and not necessarily the unit. (Full disclosure I have yet to install my unit.)

The reason I say this is in my Corvette I have a full aftermarket stereo system that had been installed prior to my purchase. It used an old but at the time high end Kenwood HU and the bass was ridiculous with my 10” Boston sub. I switched to a newer Pioneer NEX-4100 with CarPlay and I had to max all the settings in the system and on my amp to get 60% of the bass I could get with the Kenwood system.

Connecting my phone via BT or using a USB flash drive brought bass levels back to 80-90% the Kenwood unit.

 

Bought one, arrived today. Hoping to get installed this weekend. Not sure what to expect. Basically had to see “how bad” the resolution is myself. $200 so why not try it?

 

Installed mine yesterday. So far, so good. Worked great, but then had issues with Bluetooth connecting correctly. Unpaired my phone to Entune like another post suggested and now it seems to be working as it should. Resolution is not great, but good enough for paying $200 to be able to have CarPlay and keep the OEM set up. Not perfect, but a million times better than the POS Entune apps that only work if you go through 10 steps on the crappy Toyota app and the horrible nav set up.

 

And installed. Here's my installation impressions, in no particular order:

• I went with the wired CarPlay option. I did not attach the supplied antenna to the unit as I didn't anticipate needing any of the wireless options. If I'm ever back in my dash, I'll put it back in.
• I used a USB extension cable to go from the supplied USB input to my phone cable. My reasoning was that phone cables fail from time to time, but USB extensions typically don't. This will likely bite me later, but I'm all for future Mike problems.
• I was able to keep my XM unit intact. For my truck I tucked the unit to the right hand side of the dash opening under the vents. I was able to make some room likely because I skipped the antenna as described in #1.
• I have an amplifier that's fed from speaker level inputs using one of @daveeasa 's prototype breakout harnesses (thanks Dave!) so I have a LOT of wire behind my dash which made fitting everything a challenge, but it's all in there.

Here's my preliminary usage thoughts:

• By keeping CarPlay wired using the unit's USB input, I am able to fully divorce the systems in terms of being able to go completely non-CarPlay or go CarPlay. I wanted the ability to divorce this system if it starts to go wonky without losing any of the stock truck features.
• Phone calls are interesting as an initial phone call clicks in through CarPlay but if you delay in answering it kicks through Entune's BT as it would on a stock truck.
• As everyone knows you cannot listen to AM/FM or XM with the unit in CarPlay mode. If you get a phone call in FM or XM the unit switches over to CarPlay for the phone call and then you have the situation as shown in (2) above. If you answer the call in BT / Entune the unit still transfers back to CarPlay even if you were using XM / FM prior to.
• If you are listening to music using BT and switch to CarPlay, the Apple Music app (I have a ton of music loaded on my phone) the song freezes for whatever reason and cannot be restarted without rebooting the unit.
• There are differences in audio quality as other commenters have noted. I have played around a bit with the EQ trying to get it close to where my non-CarPlay EQ is. Bass definitely does suffer and I'm still trying to dial in the right tone. I have a bass boost knob on my 5-channel amp which helps, but it's very interesting to play with those volumes. It's quite cold here today so I didn't want to spend three hours getting it perfect. I have not had the pops and clicks other commenters have had, although I have found that dropping the music volume in the device settings seems to help. I only at the end of tinkering realized you can access the settings without having to plug in and out the unit. I think as I get more and more used to the unit I will get it closer. The stock HU has very few settings to tweak itself, so it's a lot to expect of the unit. I don't know if I'm effectively double or triple-EQing it by having an EQ on the aux setting, an EQ on my phone and then an EQ in the HU. I'm trying to find a middle ground between high school level bass on electronic songs I like versus having lower quality recordings of punk rock songs sound good.
• Resolution is not great, as others have noted. I notice it on the Spotify app and album art with my regular Apple music app. It's' hardly enough to be annoying, but it's there. Resolution for Waze is a non-issue for me.
• The screen mirroring / AirPlay option is fun to play videos. Again you can see the issues there with resolution, but this is one of those features I rarely see myself using.
• I find that Spotify's EQ seems flatter than the music on my phone, maybe it's just a function of their app rather than a quality of the HU. Maybe I need to EQ it a bit more.
• The stock Tacoma touch screen plays okay-ish with this unit, but I do notice it's not terribly sensitive, especially compared to the aftermarket units I've had over the years.
• This unit might barely maintain charge on your phone, but best I can tell it will NOT charge your phone while you're using it for testing. It might charge if the screen's off.

Overall conclusions:

For $200 this unit is a no-brainer. For $300+ I would not waste my time unless you loathe Entune (I didn't) and are a die-hard CarPlay / AA person compared to an aftermarket solution (especially if you've got upgraded audio components). I definitely think the ability to have Waze and the better Spotify interface makes this a really nice unit, especially once I get the EQ better dialed in. MA recently renumbered all its exits so my 2016-era nav is out of date and if I'm going somewhere I'm not super familiar with having new numbers is helpful.

I'm curious moving forward how much I will or will not use the CarPlay side of the HU as Entune has become force of habit compared to my Vette which has an aftermarket CarPlay unit that is necessary for phone usage in the car.

Thanks to @Technique for doing the heavy lifting on this unit, even if he didn't really like it.

I'm happy to answer any / all questions anyone has that haven't been answered in this thread.

The basic user interface. You can see the quality reduction on the album art. This is about where the quality was on my Pioneer AVIC-D3 from 2007, or the Entune HU on my 2G.


The Spotify App again shows the issues with the interface, especially the text in "Punk Mix". Hardly the end of the world and a function of an older HU.



I personally see no issues with the Waze app.

 

@MikeyMcFly so I got mine roughed in tonight. Didn’t get to spend much time (a n o t h e r kids Soccer tourney gets in the way of play time) but I noticed when in wireless CarPlay mode I lost Wifi, and mobile data also died. Is that right?

 

Unfortunately I cannot comment on wireless CarPlay as I’m set up for wired only.

 

I'm on Android Auto though I'm sure the connection is similar to Carplay... The phone needs to connect via Bluetooth, it doesn't need to connect to wifi. When the prompt on your phone asks to connect to the box wifi, just ignore it or press home on your phone. If you've already connected to the wifi previous then forget the network. You may need to restart you truck after this.

I use both wired and wireless. I get mobile data and can use a hotspot too with both ways.

 

Ok I’ll reset it up to CarPlay and pay closer attention.

also regarding the crackling - I had it too. Ended up leaving the units EQ to ‘standard’ (all flat) and just using the Entune sound settings. Crackling stopped for me.

Also also, easiest way to exit CarPlay and go back to Entune? I’m holding the voice button for a few secs. Has to be a quicker way, no?

 

Tap / hold the power / volume button on the HU.

I have mine EQ’d but I’ve reduced the music volume level from 18 to 15. I’m going to play around with it a bit today and see if I can make it crack before I consider mine crack free.

 

Well this is an interesting turn of events.

Nobody has mentioned it, so I’m assuming you have touchscreen control of CP? That’s the big go/no-go factor for me.

I also have the germes anytime camera so that makes me a little nervous.

<edit>. For the CARabc unit

 

Correct, full touch screen ability. Touch screen quality is very meh, but it’s there. Likely no better or worse than stock Entune.

Others in the thread would be better to ask about the camera. There is a video input and wiring for it.

 

I apologize if this was posted already earlier in this thread or in another and I just missed it, but does anyone know how viable of an option it would be to just buy a 2022/2023 OEM unit from Toyota that already has carplay/android auto capability and install it in an older 3rd gen? In my mind I would assume it would just be some adapters and fairly plug and play but I don't see anything anywhere supporting an OEM swap as an option. Any insight is appreciated!

 

Post #4 https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...or-2016-and-2017-models.792198/#post-28370397