Getting Android Auto into the Lucid

[hydbob]

With some help from some forum friends, we are able to reliably get Android Auto in the car with a little workaround. Credit to @Bocabob for testing and @LucidDropkick for the guide and flowchart.

To achieve Android Auto in the Lucid you will need to purchase the following:

CarLinkit AI Box

Other AI boxes may work, this tutorial is specifically this product. The box runs through WIRED CarPlay.

Plug the unit into the car, either USB port should work, but this is being written running it through the USB-C. First boot will take a long time (several minutes).

It'll be recognized as a CarPlay device by Lucid. It should auto-open, if not, open from Lucid Home screen. You can enable CarPlay in 2 different places as shown below:

Next you should see the loading screen for the box is shown as such:

The screen now shows you some interface options. You don't have to touch anything. It will automatically size the screen to fit the Lucid screen.

 

[hydbob]

On your phone, open your Bluetooth menu and look for a device called "Autokit Ambient". Pair to it.
Once it's paired, look for the app on the Lucid screen that says "Autokit".

Tap AutoKit and you will see the AutoKit loading screen.

You'll go through some first time Android Auto setup.
You're now in Android Auto.

 

[hydbob]

You can also set Android Auto to load automatically when the Carlinkit boots up. To do this, hit the settings icon (gear wheel) in the AutoKit menu. Then select Wireless Auto Connect

 

[hydbob]

There is also some more advanced features, by treating the Carlinkit as an Android device, you can insert a SIM card or use your phone as a hotspot and tether to your phone to access all the Android apps such as Netflix

 

[hydbob]

Here is a handy flowchart? Diagram of some sort? Tree chart? Whatever, it was made by @LucidDropkick and it's badass.

 

[hydbob]

reserved

 

[BerkeleyLeaser]

At laaaast!

 

[Amster]

@hydbob, great write up!!

 

[ViperSSD]

Fyi - if you have trouble connecting or getting carplay to come up, you will need to reboot the car multimedia
Also you should unplug it when you leave the car because if your car wakes up in the garage, your phone will suddenly start projecting to AA and you'll lose your wifi and audio, this is probably the worst part of these kinds of devices

 

[GMan]

Great write up and thanks for sharing

 

[elusive7]

This is so sick, thanks for sharing! If I'm reading the chart correctly are we able to finally watch YouTube while charging if we use our phone as a hotspot?!

 

[thecodingart]

The real question is why has the ball been dropped on this sooooo badly

 

[hydbob]

This is so sick, thanks for sharing! If I'm reading the chart correctly are we able to finally watch YouTube while charging if we use our phone as a hotspot?!

Yes

 

[Halodde]

The real question is why has the ball been dropped on this sooooo badly

Yeah exactly. I know that a lot of us are quick to defend Lucid and don't like it when people here or elsewhere say/post less than flattering things about Lucid, Lucid's management, business model etc... So, we tend to politely redirect such behavior. At some point though, Lucid should take ownership of some of these glaring shortcomings.

As I eagerly read this post to assess if I was going to buy this unit and set it up, I found myself thinking that Lucid should honestly be embarrassed by the fact that although they had touted AA from the beginning, here we are 2 1/2 years later and people (some very smart people) are having to design work-arounds for a feature that Lucid sold us but failed miserably to deliver. If they 'can't' do it, tell us that. If they are 'choosing' not to do it, tell us that. Ignoring the elephant in the room does not make it go away and doesn't make it any less of an elephant. It just makes the elephant think that it is being ignored, get angry, feel unimportant, and leaves a bad taste in the elephant's mouth. OK enough of the symbolism. Ignoring that Lucid advertised and promoted AA and it isn't here is barely better than Musk doing similar things over there.

And I realize that the majority of the people here have iPhones. That's not relevant. Please don't tell me that information again. You'd all be screaming louder than us if the situation was reversed.

 

[tmilone103]

What I find funny is that the Lucid Media system is run on Android and they only support Apple CarPlay. You would think it would be easier to integrate Android Auto and not force us to look for 3rd party solutions to give us what we should have had from the start. Android Auto support and no dash cam using the included cameras are my biggest complaints. I am an Android user and I will never run an iPhone so its annoying to see 2 years later they still have not offered it natively.

 

[HariK]

There is also some more advanced features, by treating the Carlinkit as an Android device, you can insert a SIM card or use your phone as a hotspot and tether to your phone to access all the Android apps such as Netflix

View attachment 19076

But be aware that it only take 4G LTE SIM card and your phone does much faster 5G and can be used as a hotspot even if you pay extra for the hotspot.

 

[HariK]

What I find funny is that the Lucid Media system is run on Android and they only support Apple CarPlay. You would think it would be easier to integrate Android Auto and not force us to look for 3rd party solutions to give us what we should have had from the start. Android Auto support and no dash cam using the included cameras are my biggest complaints. I am an Android user and I will never run an iPhone so its annoying to see 2 years later they still have not offered it natively.

I understand your frustration but we now have a way of getting AA in Lucid. Let Lucid do other things in software for us which we cannot get otherwise.

 

[Halodde]

I understand your frustration but we now have a way of getting AA in Lucid. Let Lucid do other things in software for us which we cannot get otherwise.

I disagree. IMHO Lucid should prioritize AA as it was promoted and advertised. Although we are a minority of owners, most android users factored AA into their decision to buy this vehicle. While pet comfort and other features (that were previously not promoted or advertised) are welcomed and appreciated, they were not part of anyone's decision to buy.

 

[Ampere]

I fully agree with Halodde's post. I definitely value the pet safety feature (we have a dog who loves our Lucid), that was not part of the promise when I bought the car. I was promised Android Auto. It should not have to be a work-around with a third-party device. I've owned my Lucid Air Touring for 13 months and still no AA. It doesn't matter that only about 25 percent of owners use Android. A promise is a promise. I know we've been through this a score of times on the forum and I apologize for the redundancy.

​

 

[Ampere]

PS: Carlinkit advertises Android 12. The current Android operating system is Android 14.