[chadstout]

It allows you to use wireless android auto with a vehicle that has (wired) android auto but doesn't natively support wireless android auto. Hopefully that doesn't muddy up the water worse lol

 

[Vice-White]

Sorry guys. I’m not too knowledgeable with this. Could someone take a moment to list the benefits of having this? (I don’t drive the Durango in my house…the wife does…and I listen to her complaints about Uconnect and phone issue. )Thanks.

This device is not meant to fix anything, rather it is meant to eliminate the need for a USB cable needing to be attached to your phone to use Android Auto. It makes it wireless from your phone to the AA unit while the AA unit is plugged into the USB.

 

[keegantimber]

Thanks guys. I checked out a couple vids too.

 

[Vice-White]

I ordered one and hope it ships in October. Why wife's Jeep which was 3k more then my DDRT only has wired and wireless is the way to go.

 

[keegantimber]

So. I took a few moments to actually listen to the wife. Lol. Uconnect was always a pain with her android phone, so it never was used. Her Durango was put away for winter storage, and since getting it out in the spring, every time she connects her phone via USB , Uconnect opens rather than android auto and she can’t listen to her audio books other than placing her phone on her lap and turning off car radio. Any quick tips before her trip so I can help her out? I haven’t looked at her settings yet and never drive her beast.

 

[keegantimber]

She doesn’t have the Uconnect app on her Samsung phone…

 

[bjd223]

Just being able to type without getting locked out is worth it.

 

[DurangoCitadel]

Will this work be useful on a 2014?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mnunes]

For those that have this, a few questions.

What's your experience with the time to connect? One of the articles linked from the product page indicates 25-30 seconds with a 6 second boot time.

Assuming you leave it connected to the USB jack on the media hub, those are powered off when the vehicle is off so it doesn't risk killing the battery if you don't drive for a few days at a time, right?

How reliably does it work? For instance, if you were to take 10 trips, does it work 9 times and fail once or does it work 10/10 times?

Is the experience as smooth as a wired connection or do you find it to be sluggish or lagging?

 

[Vice-White]

I bought one and got it last week. It is for my wife's 2021 Jeep. In the Jeep, the USB ports stay active for 1 hour after the Jeep is off (no way to disable that) but I leave the AA plugged in.
Takes 15-30 seconds to boot (so what, no biggy) and works great. Worth the money 1000 percent! Stellantis is so behind the times with features it takes an 80 dollar device to bring the Jeep up to date.

 

[mnunes]

@Vice-White Thanks! Just ordered it. Est shipping Jan 2022.

 

[PilsNer]

I bought one and got it last week. It is for my wife's 2021 Jeep. In the Jeep, the USB ports stay active for 1 hour after the Jeep is off (no way to disable that) but I leave the AA plugged in.
Takes 15-30 seconds to boot (so what, no biggy) and works great. Worth the money 1000 percent! Stellantis is so behind the times with features it takes an 80 dollar device to bring the Jeep up to date.

Have you tried this with the 2021 Durango by chance? I'm having issues with the wifi android auto and not sure if there will ever be a firmware update for our units. I'm wondering if this may have to be my alternative. Thanks.

 

[Vice-White]

Have you tried this with the 2021 Durango by chance? I'm having issues with the wifi android auto and not sure if there will ever be a firmware update for our units. I'm wondering if this may have to be my alternative. Thanks.

It would work but the Android Auto will work the same but the difference is you connect to the AA device via wifi/bluetooth so if if you have connection problems that may fix it.
It would be a gamble for you but it is not expensive to try it.

 

[mnunes]

Well, I got my AAwireless about a month ago and have had really poor reliability with it.

First of all, when it works, it works great! Hop in the car and everything is ready to go in about 20 seconds. Nice!

Now for the problems.
Since the USB port remains powered for about 30 minutes after turning off the ignition, my phone keeps connecting and disconnecting from Android Auto until the adapter goes to sleep. My garage is close enough to where I spend most of my time in the house that I'm usually just within range so my phone is constantly connecting and disconnecting. I tried turning on the option in the AAwireless app to only launch android auto when the phone connects via Bluetooth to uconnect, but the launch time is over a minute that way.

I also ran into an issue where every third or fourth time, it fails to connect and I have to disconnect the AAwireless dongle and plug it back in for it to be recognized.

I have tried to completely unpair everything and redo the installation from the start but I haven't had better luck. I really did want this to work....

 

[bjd223]

Well, I got my AAwireless about a month ago and have had really poor reliability with it.

First of all, when it works, it works great! Hop in the car and everything is ready to go in about 20 seconds. Nice!

Now for the problems.
Since the USB port remains powered for about 30 minutes after turning off the ignition, my phone keeps connecting and disconnecting from Android Auto until the adapter goes to sleep. My garage is close enough to where I spend most of my time in the house that I'm usually just within range so my phone is constantly connecting and disconnecting. I tried turning on the option in the AAwireless app to only launch android auto when the phone connects via Bluetooth to uconnect, but the launch time is over a minute that way.

I also ran into an issue where every third or fourth time, it fails to connect and I have to disconnect the AAwireless dongle and plug it back in for it to be recognized.

I have tried to completely unpair everything and redo the installation from the start but I haven't had better luck. I really did want this to work....

Make sure the firmware is up to date.

I use the start/stop feature and it does increase the time it takes to connect but makes it a lot less anoying after you stop using it.

Looking online the real solution is to wire a relay into the USB power wire so it turns on / off with the ingnition.

If that's too ambitious apparently you can get a USB adapter that seperates data and power. Then use the uconnect USB for data and use another source for power that turns off with the car (like a cigarette lighter) or another USB that is tied to ignition.

My brother is going to wire in the relay for me since he has experience doing that kind of stuff.

Mine connects every single time so it's possible it can work. I manually set it to MTP mode and it seems to work better that way.

 

[mnunes]

Make sure the firmware is up to date.

I use the start/stop feature and it does increase the time it takes to connect but makes it a lot less anoying after you stop using it.

Looking online the real solution is to wire a relay into the USB power wire so it turns on / off with the ingnition.

If that's too ambitious apparently you can get a USB adapter that seperates data and power. Then use the uconnect USB for data and use another source for power that turns off with the car (like a cigarette lighter) or another USB that is tied to ignition.

My brother is going to wire in the relay for me since he has experience doing that kind of stuff.

Mine connects every single time so it's possible it can work. I manually set it to MTP mode and it seems to work better that way.

Hi bjd,
Thanks for the reply! Firmware is as up-to-date (1.8.0) as I can get it without joining their beta. From the very little I've seen about it, the beta isn't totally stable yet.

Interesting idea about putting in a relay to kill power to the USB. I may end up going that route. I might end up getting a new phone in the next couple weeks (problems after changing mobile carrier) so I'll hold off on making that change until I know for sure.

 

[RebelRye]

Same issues here. Supposedly they are fixing some bugs with the auto start/stop with Bluetooth. There's time where mine won't even come on unless I go into my phone's Bluetooth devices and select it. I hope they fix the issues soon.

 

[bjd223]

I got 2.0 firmware and it doesn't connect every time now. I think it worked better on 1.12.

They updated the app from 2 to 2.5 pretty quick so hopefully they make it more reliable quickly.

My brother hasn't wired in the relay but I suspect that it will work a lot better once I can turn off the start/stop feature.

 

[Vice-White]

I updated to 2.0 for my wife's jeep and the unit disconnects now when you shut the Jeep off.
BUT, next time you go to drive the Jeep, it will not connect unless you unplug it form the USB port then plug it back in. It's almost like there is enough power still going to it to keep something in memory which should be cleared when you shut the vehicle off. I sent this to the porgrammers and they acknowledged a prblem still exists.

This is turning into the typical "put the product out and WORRY about making a few million dollars" as opposed to also making sure programming is done correctly with the least amount of regression, preferrably none.

I have hopes for the unit but firmware updates take way too long.

 

[bjd223]

I updated to 2.0 for my wife's jeep and the unit disconnects now when you shut the Jeep off.
BUT, next time you go to drive the Jeep, it will not connect unless you unplug it form the USB port then plug it back in. It's almost like there is enough power still going to it to keep something in memory which should be cleared when you shut the vehicle off. I sent this to the porgrammers and they acknowledged a prblem still exists.

This is turning into the typical "put the product out and WORRY about making a few million dollars" as opposed to also making sure programming is done correctly with the least amount of regression, preferrably none.

I have hopes for the unit but firmware updates take way too long.

Well I think it's an issue with the start stop which runs mostly on the phone so they can update it a lot easier then the firmware if that is where the issue is.

I agree though the product should be labeled beta if it isn't that's for sure.