[mrdeux]

Can anyone confirm if the upgraded 10.5" radio on the Limited trim levels have wireless android auto? I tried the search function but did not see any info. Apologies if this has already been answered.

 

[Sparkland]

Can anyone confirm if the upgraded 10.5" radio on the Limited trim levels have wireless android auto? I tried the search function but did not see any info. Apologies if this has already been answered.

It has been discussed and the larger 10.5" display DOES NOT have wireless AA or Apple CarPlay. That is a shame since you are paying so much extra for the Limited. Once again, a hit and miss by Hyundai. The smaller screens do have the wireless feature.

 

[Rxturbo7man]

Rumor is they're working on getting it into the Limited, don't know if it will be a retroactive update, or just moving forward.

 

[JASmith]

I believe you can still place and receive phone calls with a paired phone separate from that used on android auto or apple carplay, so a workaround could be that you take an old phone that you have laying around and permanently connect it hiding it somewhere out of sight, and you always have AA/CP without the hassle of plugging in your phone every time. You would just need a fast way to turn on hotspot functionality on your phone for the data connection, probably some automation software out there that can do it triggered by the bluetooth connection to your car but I haven't set that up yet.

 

[Sparkland]

Hyundai should have included those features on the most expensive trim, period. A car manufacturer should not be eliminating features as you go up the product line. Hopefully they will be able to correct this in the near future.

 

[bruesjoh04]

I believe you can still place and receive phone calls with a paired phone separate from that used on android auto or apple carplay, so a workaround could be that you take an old phone that you have laying around and permanently connect it hiding it somewhere out of sight, and you always have AA/CP without the hassle of plugging in your phone every time. You would just need a fast way to turn on hotspot functionality on your phone for the data connection, probably some automation software out there that can do it triggered by the bluetooth connection to your car but I haven't set that up yet.

If this operates like any other Hyundai/Kia model with the 10.25” infotainment, it doesn’t work that way. Having a phone plugged in to AA/CarPlay will use that device as the connected phone, overriding any phone that might have been connected via Bluetooth. These systems support having multiple device connections for Bluetooth audio, but not for phone calls. It doesn’t treat AA/CarPlay any differently… still just one phone at a time for phone calls.

So you would either need to not care about being alerted through the infotainment about calls/messages if you were using an old device for this purpose.

Or, you could just get a wireless CarPlay adapter like CarPlay2Air, or a wireless AA adapter like AA Wireless.

Or, you can just use regular Bluetooth audio if that’s good enough for you and seeing the whole phone interface isn’t necessary.

Hyundai should have included those features on the most expensive trim, period. A car manufacturer should not be eliminating features as you go up the product line. Hopefully they will be able to correct this in the near future.

The only Hyundai/Kia models to date with wireless AA/CarPlay support are those with the smaller, most recently updated 8” infotainment (first seen in some of their 2021 models). None of the 10.25” or larger systems support this at this time, so it’s nothing specific to the Santa Cruz.

 

[Mike_TX]

I think the issue with the larger screen is aspect ratio. To make it work on the 10.25" screen, the display has to be stretched and that distorts the image or clips part of it off. Hyundai's hardware/software has to be rewritten to adapt the phone display to the wider screen.

That said, it would be nice to just be able to "cast" the phone image to the vehicle's display screen via Bluetooth. You could open Google Maps, for instance, then hit the Cast button and you'd be done.

 

[SmoovC]

I actually prefer a wired connection to wireless; it charges faster and transfers data seamlessly.

 

[bruesjoh04]

I think the issue with the larger screen is aspect ratio. To make it work on the 10.25" screen, the display has to be stretched and that distorts the image or clips part of it off. Hyundai's hardware/software has to be rewritten to adapt the phone display to the wider screen.

That said, it would be nice to just be able to "cast" the phone image to the vehicle's display screen via Bluetooth. You could open Google Maps, for instance, then hit the Cast button and you'd be done.

Aspect ratio doesn’t have anything to do with it; every Hyundai/Kia vehicle sold with a 10.25” screen can display CarPlay in beautiful widescreen if you want. Same isn’t true for Android Auto… the first 10.25” system was introduced before AA supported non-standard aspect ratios, and that logic seems to be baked in. So AA still can only take up 2/3 of the display (with the remaining 1/3 left over for the Hyundai interface).

Also, displaying a live feed from the phone demands way more bandwidth than Bluetooth can offer. Which is why wireless CarPlay and Android Auto uses WiFi.

 

[SmoovC]

On some vehicles, enabling developer options in AA and setting 1080p output works. Maps will stay the same size, the navigation pane moves to the left side vs. bottom, and a right-side panel shows the time, date, signal, and battery details; with another panel underneath that shows current media source.

 

[ToadVine]

The only Hyundai/Kia models to date with wireless AA/CarPlay support are those with the smaller, most recently updated 8” infotainment (first seen in some of their 2021 models). None of the 10.25” or larger systems support this at this time, so it’s nothing specific to the Santa Cruz.

This might be a limitation of the 3rd party infotainment systems used in the cars, since it is not specific to Hyundai. Honda Ridgelines, for example, have the exact same issue of small- vs. large-screen connectivity.

 

[Sparkland]

This might be a limitation of the 3rd party infotainment systems used in the cars, since it is not specific to Hyundai. Honda Ridgelines, for example, have the exact same issue of small- vs. large-screen connectivity.

There are no Honda Ridgelines that have any AA or Apple CarPlay wireless connectivity. Maybe I am mistaken as to what you are getting at.

 

[ToadVine]

There are no Honda Ridgelines that have any AA or Apple CarPlay wireless connectivity. Maybe I am mistaken as to what you are getting at.

I often hear folks use 'wireless' and 'BlueTooth' interchangeably, when they're really interested in whether thay have to plug in a cable or not. As the owner of neither a Ridge or SC, yet, however, I may not understand the issue.
.

 

[bruesjoh04]

I often hear folks use 'wireless' and 'BlueTooth' interchangeably, when they're really interested in whether thay have to plug in a cable or not. As the owner of neither a Ridge or SC, yet, however, I may not understand the issue.
.

Bluetooth is a wireless technology, and it allows you to play your music and take phone calls in the car without plugging your phone in. Bluetooth capability for phone calls has been a thing for a while now, and Bluetooth capability for wireless audio has been a feature making its way to more and more cars over the past decade (it's basically a given at this point). However, it is not the topic of this thread.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are a way to project the information from your phone directly to your car's display for your iPhone or Android phone, respectively. Rather than using the car's interface, it uses the interfaces designed by Apple or Google. If you use CarPlay, it will look identical whether you're driving a Hyundai, Chevrolet, BMW, etc. Since their inception, CarPlay and Android Auto have been almost universally wired only. So if you want to get these specific interfaces, you'd have to plug in. In the last few model years, wireless CarPlay and Android Auto have become available in more and more cars. This allows you to still get the CarPlay or Android Auto interface without having to plug your phone in. Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto require a WiFi connection to work since Bluetooth is not sufficient to handle the bandwidth streaming from the phone.

In the case of the Santa Cruz, the SE and SEL have an 8" infotainment system that supports wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. The Limited, however, has a 10.25" infotainment system that does not have the hardware to support this functionality. Perhaps for future model years it will be upgraded, but at this time, it doesn't have that capability. You can reference one of my earlier posts on this thread to see the options for connecting your phone if you have a Limited depending on what interface you are desiring or okay with.

 

[Walking Black Bear]

I''m not overly concerned with wireless AA/CP because I normally only charge my phone during the week on my commute. Although, with the Qi pad built-in, it would be nice to have. I'll remain hopeful that they will find a way to add it through a firmware update in the future. It DOES still baffle me why it's a feature on the base head unit but not on the premium one. Seems backwards.

 

[KBummer99]

Since I haven't seen it said yet, as someone who sells cars for a living (different manufacturer), I am glad the Limited doesn't get wireless Apple CarPlay. It only takes a single instance of using CarPlay wirelessly for you to understand why it's inferior to wired. The convenience is a plus, but everything else is a drawback. At the top of the reasons for me is the delay in sending commands: pressing play/pause/next track/etc takes literally multiple seconds to activate. There is also an audio delay that causes the sounds (ex: YouTube) to lag behind the video portion noticeably. It's expecially immersion-breaking when watching someone talk. Finally, the audio quality will always be subpar when compared to wired, it's inherent to any system. This one isn't as big of a deal to most people but for audiophiles and people wanting the best quality experience, it'll be a drawback.

 

[Sparkland]

Yet another reason for me to consider something other than the Limited trim of the SC apart from cost.

 

[Chuck]

Since I haven't seen it said yet, as someone who sells cars for a living (different manufacturer), I am glad the Limited doesn't get wireless Apple CarPlay. It only takes a single instance of using CarPlay wirelessly for you to understand why it's inferior to wired. The convenience is a plus, but everything else is a drawback. At the top of the reasons for me is the delay in sending commands: pressing play/pause/next track/etc takes literally multiple seconds to activate. There is also an audio delay that causes the sounds (ex: YouTube) to lag behind the video portion noticeably. It's expecially immersion-breaking when watching someone talk. Finally, the audio quality will always be subpar when compared to wired, it's inherent to any system. This one isn't as big of a deal to most people but for audiophiles and people wanting the best quality experience, it'll be a drawback.

My K5 had the wireless AA and I wasn't a fan of it either. The one thing that annoyed me was that it uses wifi to connect to the car as a network connection, with no internet connection, tying up your wifi connection so that you couldn't access real external wifi with internet. With the wired connection, your phone is still able to access real wifi when available.

 

[JMII]

Finally, the audio quality will always be subpar when compared to wired, it's inherent to any system.

This is true with any wireless connection, for example the same goes for home streaming options like AppleTV or Roku.

Now it would be nice to have a choice since there are times I don't mind the quality trade off. However there are so many better things on the Limited I'm fine with having to connect a wire occasionally.

 

[Mike_TX]

Wow, thanks for the clarifications. I see why wireless AA might not be as desirable as I thought! I was assuming it could do anything wirelessly that it can do wired, but apparently that's not the case.