CarPlay and Android Auto device

[Jörgen]

If navigation next will work with this device, it will be mounted on my bike. ASAP.

https://www.elebest.de/products/elebest-motorrad-navi-7-zoll-carplay-navigationsgerat

I hope it will.

[Con Hennekens]

@Jörgen, There is no indication of the OS version. Usually on cheap devices that's an Android 6 ot 8. I'd rather go for a popular rugged phone from CAT ar Ulephone or Blackview.

[Jörgen]

It is probably based on Linux, we will see.

To prevent misunderstandings, this is only a display that works with your smartphone in your pocket or backpack.

[Con Hennekens]

Yes I see. Work is being done on Carplay and Android Auto compatibility, so in the final version it SHOULD work with these headends. I can tell you I would prefer such an option immediately if proven to work as intended. Also for my car. But in this price-range, without more info on OS and hardware, I can't have much belief in it. I hope I am wrong about it

[Tim Thompson]

I'm not sure I see the point of the thing. Why would one use this vs. a smartphone and associated mount?

[Con Hennekens]

@Tim-Thompson, The biggest advantage is the integrated mount with charging connector built in (no flimsy USB connector). Second it is (much) cheaper than the average daily phone (not everyone is interested in putting a 1K phone subjected to the elements and vibrations on their handlebar). Third, if it is a non OS dependent device like IOS or Android, and takes it's functionality from your easy interchangeable phone, it doesn't need to be replaced when something newer comes around.

Imagine a Zumo that runs MyRouteApp from your phone... Fancy huh?

[Tim Thompson]

@Con-Hennekens

Ok... But to run Android Auto or CarPlay you're likely going to have to have a data connection - either USB or WiFI (depending if the phone and device support it). If it has to be USB, that seems like more cabling mess. Plus where are you going to put the phone if it has to be hooked up with a cable? In either case, you talking some power consumption on the phone. I presume this device consumes a (and perhaps the only) power source on the bike. What are you going to power the phone with?

[Jure Sirena 0]

@Tim-Thompson i tried to use phone only….in summer at 35 with direct sun there is no phone that will not dimm the screen due to overheat…..

For proper trips (rain, fog, cold, warm…) a dedicated gps is needed. I use tomtorider 550. Tried phone, cant be used seriously on my 500-600km daily routes at any day in year (all year)

[Con Hennekens]

@Tim-Thompson, If your phone can't handle a days ride in your pocket with the screen off, buy a new one... CarPlay and Android Auto are wireless (nowadays at least), so no cabling needed. The headunit itself of course needs power from the bike.

[Con Hennekens]

@Jure-Sirena-0 said in CarPlay and Android Auto device:

@Tim-Thompson i tried to use phone only….in summer at 35 with direct sun there is no phone that will not dimm the screen due to overheat…..

Most rugged phones have no need for extra phonecases, then the risc of overheating is much less. On a naked bike at least I have not seen my screen go dimm yet. Out of precaution, on hot days I often switch off the charger, that leaves out a lot of overheating. My CAT phone can easily operate on battery only for 4 to 5 hours at full brightness.

For proper trips (rain, fog, cold, warm…) a dedicated gps is needed. I use tomtorider 550. Tried phone, cant be used seriously on my 500-600km daily routes at any day in year (all year)

That is absolutely bogus... Just chose your phone wisely.

[Tim Thompson]

@Jure-Sirena-0 said in CarPlay and Android Auto device:

@Tim-Thompson i tried to use phone only….in summer at 35 with direct sun there is no phone that will not dimm the screen due to overheat…..

For proper trips (rain, fog, cold, warm…) a dedicated gps is needed. I use tomtorider 550. Tried phone, cant be used seriously on my 500-600km daily routes at any day in year (all year)

I understand this challenge and indeed it's an issue I keep in mind when considering these things. In fact, I made a suggestion a while back that Next have an option to display the battery temperature somewhere for this very reason. For now I just use a simple app called Battery Temperature that displays the temp in the notification bar. Only problem with that is the font size of the temp is pretty small/hard to read. As to the suggestion for Next... Don't think it got much traction. That said...

I've only had temperature problems with one setup. I use a small smartphone tank bag on one of my bikes to hold my phone. The phone can get a little hot if operated in this setup - the screen is angled up towards the sun, less air flow etc. However, I practically never need full time navigation on this bike, so it's not much of an issue.

On my other bike... I use a Ram Mount. When hot out, I may take the phone out of it's case and mount it naked. I don't ever recall having a problem with heat with this setup. Presumably the phone gets plenty of cooling air and the screen doesn't generally face up towards the sun.

[Tim Thompson]

@Con-Hennekens said in CarPlay and Android Auto device:

@Tim-Thompson, If your phone can't handle a days ride in your pocket with the screen off, buy a new one... CarPlay and Android Auto are wireless (nowadays at least), so no cabling needed. The headunit itself of course needs power from the bike.

Have you tried running a navigation app and Android Auto or CarPlay on a phone not plugged into a power source? My experience suggests that a phone consumes a fair amount of power - even with the screen off - in such a scenario. New phone/fresh battery or not, it's likely that a significant power draw will be experienced on anything other than a fairly short trip. I personally don't fancy arriving at my destination - or worse an intermediate stop with potentially no opportunity to recharge - only to find that my phone has been significantly drained. Additionally, I prefer the phone to maintain a fairly healthy state of charge in case it's needed in an emergency while traveling.

[Corjan Meijerink]

Navigation apps on phones do consume quite some power. We are currently matching battery usage of Google Maps (which is a good benchmark).
When you are tracking, consumption is slightly higher. We will always recommend connecting your phone to a (wireless) power source.

Based on environment conditions, age of the phone & screen brightness there are significant differences in battery life.

Regarding the CarPlay / Android Auto device. We develop the app for all official platforms and cannot guarantee good performance on such devices from day one. Michel has quite some experience with a aftermarket CarPlay installation and that was rather unstable. Crashes of the app were not caused by our app but simply by the device that was 'simulating' CarPlay.

Hope to have an early (official) CarPlay version early Februari!

[Jure Sirena 0]

I have quadlock with wireless charging. Neither samsung or iphone couldnt keep up the whole day

[Corjan Meijerink]

@Jure-Sirena-0 My exact same setup too Without charging I get about 4 to 5 hours of battery life while constantly using the app.

[Con Hennekens]

@Tim-Thompson said in CarPlay and Android Auto device:

Have you tried running a navigation app and Android Auto or CarPlay on a phone not plugged into a power source?

To be honest: I have not tried that, no. But I think we can agree that the screen on it's brightest setting will always be the highest powerdrain possible. Both my phones will have absolutely no problem surviving more than a day without charging in my pocket. The CAT S52 can even handle at least 4 to 5 hours of navigating on it's brightest setting. My P30 Pro has less battery capacity, but with it's screen off, no youtubing, tiktocking and apping (hey, we are riding...! ) I am sure it will survive a whole day. The trick is not to charge when needed, but to charge to full before leaving

EDIT:
Completely unrelated, but triggered from a post in a forum elsewhere:
Many people seem to be desperate to have their USB chargers connected behind the ignition of their bikes, to prevent power leak. I am advocate for connecting it (fused!) directly to the battery. Buy a charger with integrated switch, or buy a separate switch. I use this sometimes to charge my bluetooth headset while having a coffee break. That is otherwise impossible without the engine running. You can easily charge a phone this way too of course.

[Tim Thompson]

@Con-Hennekens said in CarPlay and Android Auto device:

@Tim-Thompson said in CarPlay and Android Auto device:

Have you tried running a navigation app and Android Auto or CarPlay on a phone not plugged into a power source?

To be honest: I have not tried that, no. But I think we can agree that the screen on it's brightest setting will always be the highest powerdrain possible. Both my phones will have absolutely no problem surviving more than a day without charging in my pocket. The CAT S52 can even handle at least 4 to 5 hours of navigating on it's brightest setting. My P30 Pro has less battery capacity, but with it's screen off, no youtubing, tiktocking and apping (hey, we are riding...! ) I am sure it will survive a whole day. The trick is not to charge when needed, but to charge to full before leaving

EDIT:
Completely unrelated, but triggered from a post in a forum elsewhere:
Many people seem to be desperate to have their USB chargers connected behind the ignition of their bikes, to prevent power leak. I am advocate for connecting it (fused!) directly to the battery. Buy a charger with integrated switch, or buy a separate switch. I use this sometimes to charge my bluetooth headset while having a coffee break. That is otherwise impossible without the engine running. You can easily charge a phone this way too of course.

Yes... Certainly the screen on fully bright (typical during day time riding/navigating) is going to be a significant power drain. If memory serves, the drain from running with the screen off, Android Auto on and using a Navigation app still consumes a non-trivial amount of power. This is with a USB connection. I can't say for sure what the impact would be if using WiFi for the data connection. Could it be worse? Maybe.

One thing I do to protect the phone battery is to manage charging and battery temperature. Theory has it that one can extend Lithium battery life by keeping charge cycles limited to between 20% and 80%. You can manage battery charging on an Android device via software or hardware/software combination. The software only option requires rooting the phone (I would need a more compelling reason than this one application to root the phone). The other option is use something like a Chargie (hardware/software solution).

Chargie link

Chargie allows you to manage charging, rate of charge, and battery temperature. One feature it has is called Android Auto mode. If this is not set to "on" when using it in the car, then the phone will not recharge (go back into charging mode ) after hitting the low threshold (in my case - generally set to 77%) to reinitiate charging.

So why am I telling you all this? Well, this is how I know that the battery drain impact of running Android Auto and a Navigation app without external power to the phone is non-trivial. I've missed the Chargie's Android Auto mode not being set to "on" a couple of times on my way to work and saw the results when I got there.

I understand the appeal of such a device as this Elebest unit. It appears to be designed for the harsher conditions (rain, temperature, etc.) that is experienced when riding. So that's a plus - perhaps a solution to common problems. Certainly might reduce wear and tear on the phone in these respects. However, the power issue with the associated/still needed phone is an issue in my mind. Like I said, maintaining the phone in a healthy state of charge while riding is a requirement for me. Anything that will significantly drain it during a day long outing/while traveling is a unacceptable problem in my book. A practical solution would be required here. In the end, the hassle of such a solution might not be worth it. Instead I'd just use the phone as I currently do now.

As to the Chargie... They came out with a smaller, inline Chargie C unit that makes installation on the bike viable. I should also note that Chargie supports both Android and iOS. However, it doesn't not have an equivalent to the Android Auto mode for CarPlay.

[Con Hennekens]

@Tim-Thompson said in CarPlay and Android Auto device:

I can't say for sure what the impact would be if using WiFi for the data connection. Could it be worse? Maybe.

I don't think so, because most people work on wifi the whole day also when NOT riding their bike. The navigation software will of course consume power, but so does spotify and youtube and ticktock what people listen to or watch almost continuously. And following my earlier tip about charging while having a break will most likely prevent a to high drain. But yes, it wil have it's cons and pros.

[Tim Thompson]

@Con-Hennekens @Jörgen

So anybody tried one of these out yet?

Seen another variant under various names...

WIZCAR Mate

MAXCA XPlay Lite C5

Ottocast CarPlay Lite C5

iorigin

BINIZE

[Jörgen]

Morning,

no I haven´t tryed yet, because the Elebest device is not available at the moment. (maybe end of Feb.)

I have contacted Elebest and they are willing to provide a test sample for some weeks. 1. When they can ship 2. When Navigation Next is CarPlay capable.
I will provide a test report, then.

I prefer the Elebest device, because it has a 7inch display and a German/Europeen contact.
I am not sure what support will be provided for the other devices, may be none.