Getting Android Auto into the Lucid

[Dr Chill]

Hydbobs device now only $101 on Aliexpress.

 

[maztadon]

Fyi looks like Amazon increased its price. If you go directly on the carlinkit website this exact unit is much cheaper.

Thanks for all your help @AtlTiger78. I literally did what you suggested. Returned the first box back to Amazon, bought this second one directly from Carlinkit's website, and now it all works perfectly. Screen calibrated correctly the very first time. Love messing around with it so far...and having a back button to navigate!

 

[PyynkBOB]

I'm interested in getting started, but I'm struggling to sort the difference between these two options. Thoughts?

Amazon 1

Amazon 2

 

[hydbob]

I'm interested in getting started, but I'm struggling to sort the difference between these two options. Thoughts?

Amazon 1

Amazon 2

They should work approximately the same, IMO. Let someone else chime in =)

 

[SubSailor]

Not wanting to purchase 3rd party item for this premium vehicle. Just spent 2 weeks at the Meritage in Napa. Avis rental Chevrolet Malibu had CarPlay and Android Auto. Hooked spouse's iPhone and my Android up in less than 5 minutes. Used the Android Auto app almost every day and it was great the Bay area. Now I am rejoining the Android Thursday group. Of course, I see Rivian is getting a free NACS adapter offer...so two little issues I would like implemented soon. I was somewhat appeased, having a Tesla and Lucid Air GT, when I had to fill up the rental car with gas.... $5.79 a gallon. Yikes!!!!

 

[DeaneG]

Not wanting to purchase 3rd party item for this premium vehicle...

Same here. I have the Pep Boys chrome wheel covers and exhaust tips, but I'm drawing the line at CarLinkit.

I'm expecting (without evidence) that Android Auto will appear in our cars around the end of the year, following the Gravity's production start.

 

[kerplunk]

Is the device supposed to automatically pop up as a carplay device ? Or do I need to connect it somehow to the car? (Besides just plugging it in).

I've got it plugged in, got a steady blue and a flashing red light but the lucid doesn't act like there is carplay connected.

 

[kerplunk]

Is the device supposed to automatically pop up as a carplay device ? Or do I need to connect it somehow to the car? (Besides just plugging it in).

I've got it plugged in, got a steady blue and a flashing red light but the lucid doesn't act like there is carplay connected.

Edit: Weird, once I swapped to the USB C connection it popped up. But also, I connected my phone to the carlinkit via Bluetooth. So not sure what was the fix.

But it works!

 

[borski]

Edit: Weird, once I swapped to the USB C connection it popped up. But also, I connected my phone to the carlinkit via Bluetooth. So not sure what was the fix.

But it works!

It takes a minute or so to boot sometimes, but it should load “automatically” if it’s plugged in. If it doesn’t, check the car’s device connections and ensure it’s selected and hit CarPlay.

 

[mshmovie]

They should work approximately the same, IMO. Let someone else chime in =)

They are the identical model in two discrete listings. Android 13, 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage is the ideal device. The ambient lighting had no importance to me so I got the model without it ( CarlinKit Android AI Box Adapter-2023 New with Android 13.0/Netflix/YouTube/Wireless CarPlay&Android Auto/GPS/4G,Magic Streaming Box for Wired CarPlay and Touchsreen Car,8+128GB with SIM/TF Card Port https://a.co/d/cDkmLR0 ) which I paid $193 pre-tax).

Note that they'll support a 1TB (likely 1.5TB available now and 2TB when it's shortly available) microsd formatted FAT32; how I leverage my HiRes music content including the Musicolet app (Onkyo was buggy, Fiio didn't send sound).

 

[PyynkBOB]

They are the identical model in two discrete listings. Android 13, 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage is the ideal device. The ambient lighting had no importance to me so I got the model without it ( CarlinKit Android AI Box Adapter-2023 New with Android 13.0/Netflix/YouTube/Wireless CarPlay&Android Auto/GPS/4G,Magic Streaming Box for Wired CarPlay and Touchsreen Car,8+128GB with SIM/TF Card Port https://a.co/d/cDkmLR0 ) which I paid $193 pre-tax).

Note that they'll support a 1TB (likely 1.5TB available now and 2TB when it's shortly available) microsd formatted FAT32; how I leverage my HiRes music content including the Musicolet app (Onkyo was buggy, Fiio didn't send sound).

Thank you so much! Order placed, fingers crossed!

 

[mshmovie]

You're very welcome. Feel free to reach out (DM) if you need help. It's very straightforward, but I've been in tech for over forty years so I'm atypical.

 

[PyynkBOB]

You're very welcome. Feel free to reach out (DM) if you need help. It's very straightforward, but I've been in tech for over forty years so I'm atypical.

Hopefully it'll go smoothly, but I very much appreciate the offer.

 

[Pejorative]

Just got my Air GT yesterday, got my carlinkit today... Works great... disappointingly small display screen, but handles android auto well. And I don't need to set up alexa to read my messages and have access to my contacts....

 

[Pejorative]

Sad update but music on it sounds like crap. I'm not sure if it's over modulating or just poor Bluetooth connectivity. I'm gonna try to fiddle with settings, but any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[mshmovie]

Sad update but music on it sounds like crap. I'm not sure if it's over modulating or just poor Bluetooth connectivity. I'm gonna try to fiddle with settings, but any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi, Some additional info would likely make it viable for me to provide suggestions w.r.t. sound from your AI Box:

1. Regarding the source of your music, is it any of these:
   1. Streaming App
   2. Media Content (files) on the A) AI Box itself or B) your phone connecting wirelessly to the AI Box (a potential source of quality loss)?
      1. If so, HiRes (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, DSD, etc)?
      2. Or compressed (mp3)?
2. What app are you using for playback?
   1. I found Musicolet to be best (so far); retains a cache of the files in storage, resumes where it lat left off reasonably well (not perfectly).
3. Does you Air have Surreal Sound or Surreal Sound Pro?
4. Have you adjusted volumes and equalizations in any way (app or car)?

My set up utilizes a 1TB micosdxc card formatted FAT32 (requires formatting software as FAT32 is not offered as a formatting option by th Operating System/Windows).

• It's loaded with HiRes Content (FLAC, etc.)
• Sends music to the Air using the USB cable that powers it too; you do not want to make a bluetooth connection from the AI Box to the car - it's lossy.
  • If you established a bluetooth/wireless connection from the AI Box to the Lucid, go to the AI Box' setting and forget it.
• I use the Musicolet app:
  • FiiO visually played but sent no sound
  • Onkyo sounded great but caching files did not work well and it crashed a lot
  • Plex did not read local content and accessing my server for the same content I have on local storage adds more connections to access the music and is dependent on solid internet connectivity and will unnecessarily consume a finite data allocation (it would use either an installed SIM or connect to your phone's WiFi HotSpot).
  • Note: All my apps run on the AI Box' Android OS. While I have an Android Phone (Samsung Note 20 Ultra), it's better to run natively on the AI Box installing apps from the Google Play Store (or side load them if necessary) rather than use The AI Box' ability to connect to your phone via wireless; limit the number of technical actors involved to get direct access to the content.
• I use the SiriusXM App on my AI Box rather than license the Internet based SiriusXM app that's native to the car - no desire for an extra and unnecessary subscription.
  • This is dependent on having internet connectivity via an AI Box SIM or WiFi HotSpot.

I hope this helps. Feel free to DM me if necessary and we'll summarize to the group if somethink else that's material is discovered.


In short: My AI Box playing local HiRes content using a natively installed app using the USB cable for the contents' data sounds great.


Regards,
Marc

 

[edschifman]

I spent a great deal of time finding the right aftermarket product, as I feel that Android Auto is so important to the way that I interact with the car. My 2023 Touring has had some issues, mostly fixed now, but had I known that Lucid was not going to offer Android Auto soon after my purchase, I was both unhappy with the response and willing to find some way to re-integrate an aftermarket product to the car. This fourm is excellent, but I went about this a little differently. I purchased five different Carplay/Android Auto aftermarket units, including one with a 12 inch screen. I found that each of them had different problems, but the biggest one was sizing the Android Auto/Carplay to work with the upper right hand side of the long screen we would consider the control panel of the car. If the unit loads and it does not come up on the display properly sized, you won't ever get it to work properly because many of the programs you wish to use are out of sight and cannot be accessed.

The one that finally worked for me was the Carlinkit that is for Android 13. I know that this thread shows that the Android 12 works, but in my Lucid, it did not. The link to the unit that I purchased is shown below. You only need a memory card...if you carry your phone, you can pair to your Verizon/AT&T or whatever your carrier is along with your pair to bluetooth, but the additional SIM car option for this device for which they offer a slot is unnecessary. The keyboard is funky and small, so if you have something to use other than your finger to provide your name, etc., you will find that much easier. You might also find pairing the bluetooth is not simple and the name that you find in your phone as a possible pair does not match what you might think it would be identified as, but there will likely only be one that is the likely bluetooth pair. You can alway unpair it and try again. Once I was able to get it working, it is the single most important addition to the car that was (at least in my view) absolutely necessary. It has Google maps (I don't know the name of the Lucid mapper, but it sucks). The quality of audio is actually enhanced, although this is a matter of opinion, but for me, I am thrilled.

This single item is the reason I am keeping the car. Without it, the funky screens, the goofly way that you have to unhitch the top screen when closing your garage door because it was designed improperly (again, my opinion), but so many have discussed the problems with software, if you own the car, you already know.

All I can say is that this really was the biggest upgrade I could wish for and after 4-5 units going back to Amazon, the one below worked perfectly for me.

 

[gavram]

Do these CarlinKit boxes only plug into the smaller USB C plug in the armrest or can it also use the larger USB A plug? I'm currently using my USB C plug for the Twraps phone charger and don't want to give that up.

 

[edschifman]

I am afraid if you want to keep your Twraps phone charger on that USB C plug, you are out of luck. Unfortunately, that is the USB port that is tied to the onboard CarPlay.

There may be some way to connect more than one plug to the same USB plug...I have never tried it, but you can most likely find one on Amazon. Android Auto trumps anything else I could think of using.

Good luck and if plugging two into one C plug works, drop me a note...I would be interested to know.

 

[hydbob]

I am afraid if you want to keep your Twraps phone charger on that USB C plug, you are out of luck. Unfortunately, that is the USB port that is tied to the onboard CarPlay.

There may be some way to connect more than one plug to the same USB plug...I have never tried it, but you can most likely find one on Amazon. Android Auto trumps anything else I could think of using.

Good luck and if plugging two into one C plug works, drop me a note...I would be interested to know.

I have my twraps plugged into my USB A and my Carlinkit in my USB C