greynolds
SILVER Star
A few of us have recently upgraded from the previous version of EC Offroad's Android module, discussed here to the new version of the module that was released in September of 2020. This new thread will cover dicussion of the new version of the module since it has a number of enhancements and differences.
Here's the main page for their 200 series LC products:
They also have products for 2013-2015 200 series and "Tesla" style options, but I'd suggest starting separate threads for those if there's interest so we can keep this one focused on the 2016 and newer models.
Some feature / functionality highlights:
Here's the main page for their 200 series LC products:
SAHARA 2016-2021
We have head units for every budget from 7inch screens to 16inch multimedia touch screen units all tried and tested here in Australia. Specialising in off road navigation and Hema maps.
www.ecvisionsound.com
They also have products for 2013-2015 200 series and "Tesla" style options, but I'd suggest starting separate threads for those if there's interest so we can keep this one focused on the 2016 and newer models.
Some feature / functionality highlights:
- The Android device supports running native Android apps without having to pair a smartphone to it, (other than to use the smartphone as a personal hotspot for Internet access). It can also get Internet access through a USB dongle or any sort of device that provides a WiFi Internet hotspot.
- The device runs Android 8 and is compatible with pretty much any app from the Google Play Store that will run on Android 8.
- Netflix is supported and can be routed to the rear screens, if your LC is so equipped (someone other than me will need to test this as the HE doesn't come with the rear screens).
- An external microphone is included. We are initially mounting it on top of the center speaker, but are not done with determining the best location (EC Offroad recommends the driver A pillar, but we're trying to go with a simpler install option). The microphone comes with 2 mounting options - a small stand with double sided tape on the bottom and a clip mount. Both have a small plastic ball mount that the microphone connects to so you can adjust the angle a bit once mounted.
- A GPS module is included so that Android apps that require GPS (such as Google Maps) will be able to function. It uses a magnet for mounting rather than double sided tape.
- There are 2 USB ports that can be used to add storage to the unit, connect a USB keyboard or mouse, attach a USB WiFi dongle, etc. USB2 is also used for wired CarPlay and Android Auto.
- Wireless CarPlay has been tested by several of us and has worked well so far.
- The device also has a MicroSD card slot that can be used to add storage. This will be behind the screen, so plan on installing what you need for a card during the initial install unless you want to take things apart multiple times. We have successfully tested microSD cards up to 512GB formatted with the FAT32 file system and have confirmed that the exFAT file system does NOT work.
- The cable for the display is an optical cable, so be aware that it's more delicate / fragile than typical copper cable and handle it accordingly.
- This new version of the hardware no longer shows the front driver and passenger temperature setting on the touch screen when using the dashboard controls to change the temperature. Since the older version of the module always displayed "LO" this isn't a problem.
- This new hardware version no longer resets the HVAC settings on my 2020 LC after the car has been shut off for more than a few hours.
- The new wiring harness and connectors on the module are better thought out. All wiring connections are on the same side of the module, which makes it easier to mount behind the screen.
- Wireless CarPlay works.
- The boot time is significantly faster.
- App install times and performance are significantly faster; all around performance is much better.
- Runs Android 8 instead of 7.
- The home page now supports 2 pages of apps in the default app launcher instead of 1.
- The home page and settings user interfaces has received a major face lift and has a nicer look and feel.
Notes and links: - Installation instructions are attached to this post.
- This YouTube video (thanks @stolikat) has excellent instructions for taking the dashboard apart to remove the screen and head unit to get access to the connections that need to be made. The rest of the video is not relevant to the EC Offroad product, but I found this extremely useful to follow along with when I installed mine.
- Re-connection to an iPhone personal hotspot requires going into the iPhone > Settings > Personal Hotspot (or going to the Control Center and enabling discovery of the Personal Hotspot) each time you start the car. This appears to be an iOS quirk, not an issue with the EC Offroad unit as it auto connects to my house WiFi just fine when within range.
- Some of the factory buttons can be used to control the EC Offroad device:
- Press and hold the HOME button to switch between showing the factory infotainment and the video from the Android unit.
- When in Android mode, press "HOME" to get to the App Launcher; if already on the App Launcher it will switch to the previous app
- When in Android mode, press "NAV" to go to your configured Android mode navigation app
- When in Android mode, press "SETUP" to launch the EC module's setup page
- When in Android mode, press "AUDIO" to launch the preinstalled music app (unfortunately, it is not possible to configure which app is launched)
- The steering wheel next/previous buttons work while in Android mode
- Of course, the steering wheel volume up/down buttons work to adjust the volume
- The Torque Pro app combined with the Veepeak Mini WiFi OBD2 dongle can provide a display showing current speed, throttle position, and a bunch of other info as well as provide useful OBD2 diagnostic information. @DomSmith provided some additional info and sample photos here. Since this connects to the WiFi on the unit, wireless CarPlay and this device cannot be connected simultaneously because wireless CarPlay also connects to the WiFi on the unit. It may be possible to get around this limitation by connecting a USB to WiFi adapter to create a 2nd network connection, but this has not been tested yet.
- VLC for Android is well known as a great video player, but it can also be used for other media file types, such as music. The user interface for music is pretty good and it indexed the ~10K files on my microSD card in about 20 minutes.
- Poweramp Music Player also works well and did the initial indexing of my music quite a bit faster than VLC. The user interface also appears to be very good in initial testing. Start with the free trial version and then upgrade to the paid version if you like it. Also consider adding on the $yaps$ skin as it allows a lot of customization which makes the player more usable in the car (larger fonts, a "car" mode, etc.); the developer of this skin has been receptive to some feedback that should make Poweramp even more usable in the car (the ability to hide a few things that make the UI too cluttered for car use, etc.).
- To zoom in and out on the Android Google Maps, double tap the screen and on the 2nd tap, slide your finger up or down to zoom. I haven't found a way to turn on zoom in/out buttons in the Google Maps app.
- You can install the native Android Auto app to run Android Auto in "standalone" mode. I navigated to APK Mirrorin Chrome on the EC unit and installed Android Auto by downloading one of the links for a recent version of the Android Auto app.
- This works fairly well, but standalone mode of Android Auto does have a few glitches, such as sometimes only displaying music or navigation apps when you're attempting to switch apps. This can make it difficult to switch from a music app to a navigation app or even between music or navigation apps. Other than that, it works well and gives you the Android Auto user interface for apps that are installed on the EC unit. This issue is not specific to the EC unit as the same thing happens on my Samsung Galaxy S8.
- Also note that without providing the EC unit with an Internet connection through a personal hotspot on your smartphone or other device, such as a USB hotspot device, you won't be able to use apps that require a data connection such as Waze or Spotify.
- If you exit CarPlay, connect to a WiFi network and try to launch the CarPlay app again, you will need to go into the Bluetooth settings on your iPhone and select the EC CarPlay entry to initiate a new connection. This is because CarPlay uses Bluetooth initially and switches over to WiFi and since the module only has 1 WiFi connection, the CarPlay connection gets interrupted if you tell the Android unit to connect to a WiFi hotspot. We don't believe this to be a defect in the module, just an expected side effect of how the CarPlay interface works.
Known Issues: - The Media Monkey, Musicolet, and Muzio Player Android apps consistently crash when music is played.
- The Spotify Android app crashes somewhat frequently when starting to play music.
Enhancement Requests: - At startup, the unit displays a car brand logo that randomly shows the Toyota or Lexus logo. It would be nice if there was a setting to select which logo is shown.
- Add a setup option that allows a user selected app to be launched when the Audio button is pressed, currently it is hard coded to launch the preinstalled audio app, which has a pretty terrible user interface.
- Add a config option to boot to the factory infotainment mode (useful for when taking the car in for service as the service tech will have no idea how to get to the factory mode if they need to look at any settings)
- Make it easier to disable zlink, if desired (provide an option to not auto start the app)
- Configure the WiFi to automatically connect to known WiFi access points if CarPlay isn't in use
- Enable Bluetooth to be used for devices rather than just for CarPlay
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