GROM VLine - Google apps/Android&iPhone integration (1 Viewer)
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jLB
Another one followed me home. Can we keep it?
Nothing fancy...
Enabled GooglePlay.
Went to the play store, logged in and searched for "torque", and downloaded the app.
(I did have to use a "Y" cable in order to use both the OBDII Bluetooth dongle and my wifi hotspot dongle.)
Paired the OBDII dongle to the VLine in the Bluetooth settings.
Created a "torque" shortcut on the DashLinQ dashboard
Launched and configured Torque.
jLB
Another one followed me home. Can we keep it?
I don't know. I read the same warning and lasted about 2 days before I enabled it. Maybe I could've played around with "side loading" the APKs, but it really didn't seem worth the effort.
It seems to work fine. It's not something that I run all of the time, but I've found it useful. I like being able to pull up actual numeric values instead of the OEM good/bad gauges (volts, coolant temp)
Reading the (GROM provided) GPS seems a little slow, causing the GPS speed to be a bit erratic, but I haven't really fiddled with trying to figure out if it's a setting or hardware limitation.
It doesn't read "trans temp" but that's more of a torque issue than a GROM issue and I haven't dug into that yet.
I've got a few panels set up on info/gauges that I find interesting.
It seems like a usable alternative to the scan gauge in my son's 2000 LC, and I don't have to figure out where to mount it.
It seems to read trouble codes, although I haven't really had any since it's been setup.
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I am thinking very hard or purchasing one, strictly for the carplay feature and seems like it doesn't have as many issues. If I were to use it strictly for the CarPlay feature would it be worth it?
jLB
Another one followed me home. Can we keep it?
Using it purely as a CarPlay device, you'd probably see these issues:
- The reverse camera doesn't work every time, but there is a workaround when it doesn't work (Press "disc" [to change to the OEM disc changer] before placing the vehicle in "reverse").
- Making voice calls through CarPlay have a nasty echo. (Allegedly they are working to fix this)
- Occasionally it starts up (CarPlay) with a distorted display. If you can press where the buttons are supposed to be, you can exit and return which will fix the display
jLB
Another one followed me home. Can we keep it?
Yes, it needs to be plugged into a USB/lightning cable.
Well, that's kind of a grey area. Technically CarPlay is disabled when you receive the unit, and you have to do the secret handshake to enable it. I don't think that would be classified as "production" software/firmware, but of the software on the box, CarPlay seems the most stable method to run the box.
Well, that's kind of a grey area. Technically CarPlay is disabled when you receive the unit, and you have to do the secret handshake to enable it. I don't think that would be classified as "production" software/firmware, but of the software on the box, CarPlay seems the most stable method to run the box.
I enabled Gapps, and downloaded torque lite to play around with it. The screen resolution on the Nav unit is marginal- making the gauges kind of hard to read (with my crappy short range vision) I don't think it's going to take the place of my Scanguage II.
jLB
Another one followed me home. Can we keep it?
If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret...
Post #217 in this thread
GROM VLine - Google apps/Android&iPhone integration
Would this Touch Screen work w/ an 06 LX?
Any updates on this? Is it ready for prime-time or still a bit tweaky?
jLB
Another one followed me home. Can we keep it?
I've gotten adjusted to its quirks and within certain limits it is pretty stable.
CarPlay works fairly well.
Native Spotify (Google Play app, not Grom "plugin") & Waze seem to work well together.
Every once in a while it will act a little "stupid".
For instance, ~10 hour (each way) road trip for my son's college orientation, we ran the following apps: Waze (navigation), Spotify (music) and Torque (monitor temps). On some gas/bathroom/food stops we'd get back into the car and Waze couldn't find a GPS or network, but Spotify was playing so the network was there. Seemed to narrow it down to a conflict between Waze & Torque on restart. If we killed the Torque process, everything was happy again. Restart torque and everything was still happy.
It's much less stable than the OEM system. It's less stable than my IOS devices (iPhone/iPad/iPod). It's slightly more temperamental than my Android phone (HTC One M8). It's about on par with the little Chinese Android TV boxes (similar to AppleTV/FireTV/Roku), but the apps from GooglePlay are a bit more "hit or miss" as to whether or not they will work on the VLine. Note that on my Android TV boxes I got fed up with their lack of stability, and replaced Android w/ Linux.
I still wouldn't install a VLine in a non-technical person's vehicle, but I am willing to forgive some of the "warts" because of the added features, and I am to the point that I am happy with the purchase.
CarPlay works fairly well.
Native Spotify (Google Play app, not Grom "plugin") & Waze seem to work well together.
Every once in a while it will act a little "stupid".
For instance, ~10 hour (each way) road trip for my son's college orientation, we ran the following apps: Waze (navigation), Spotify (music) and Torque (monitor temps). On some gas/bathroom/food stops we'd get back into the car and Waze couldn't find a GPS or network, but Spotify was playing so the network was there. Seemed to narrow it down to a conflict between Waze & Torque on restart. If we killed the Torque process, everything was happy again. Restart torque and everything was still happy.
It's much less stable than the OEM system. It's less stable than my IOS devices (iPhone/iPad/iPod). It's slightly more temperamental than my Android phone (HTC One M8). It's about on par with the little Chinese Android TV boxes (similar to AppleTV/FireTV/Roku), but the apps from GooglePlay are a bit more "hit or miss" as to whether or not they will work on the VLine. Note that on my Android TV boxes I got fed up with their lack of stability, and replaced Android w/ Linux.
I still wouldn't install a VLine in a non-technical person's vehicle, but I am willing to forgive some of the "warts" because of the added features, and I am to the point that I am happy with the purchase.
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I'm a tech geek (I built a custom touchscreen carputer about 10 years ago, for perceptive), but have come to realize that quirk limits are very personal. It sounds like it's close to my limit, but maybe needs a touch more refinement (I still get pissed at iOS at times) - I just want things to work (like Apple products used to).
Thanks for the update - I'm hoping before long it will be where I want it to be. Sounds like it's very close...
jLB
Another one followed me home. Can we keep it?
I've spent the last ~35 years working in IT. I'm accustomed to being able to fix the problems myself. It's been a very different experience (read frustrating), sitting on the other side, as a user/consumer without access to the source code. At least I've tried to give Grom useful bug/error reports with instructions on how to reproduce the issues.
I've been sitting on the fence on this for a long time. When I bought my LX, it had a cord to hook the iPhone into to play music. I have put off getting a Bluetooth unit hoping this would eventually be worth it. Has anyone seen any updates on when the next version of the VLINE will be coming out?
jLB
Another one followed me home. Can we keep it?
You might poke around or post in this thread:
anyone getting the grom vline? - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion
as Grom seems to participate in the conversation at CL.
anyone getting the grom vline? - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion
as Grom seems to participate in the conversation at CL.
jLB
Another one followed me home. Can we keep it?
With the latest software/firmware update, I am finally starting to see the consistent behavior and stability I would expect in a product like this.
Reverse camera finally seems to work without having to press any buttons. (Probably my biggest bitch after the "boot loop" issue was resolved)
Bluetooth audio seems to work properly again.
Wifi isn't losing the password intermittently.
The HDMI (input) port is finally operational.
The dashlinq plugins seem to be more reliable.
Up until upgrading my iPhone to IOS 11, CarPlay seemed to be more stable (although I haven't tried a handsfree call through CarPlay recently, as I expect it still has an echo problem) After upgrading to IOS 11 I am seeing some new odd behaviors under CarPlay
Bluetooth audio seems to work properly again.
Wifi isn't losing the password intermittently.
The HDMI (input) port is finally operational.
The dashlinq plugins seem to be more reliable.
Up until upgrading my iPhone to IOS 11, CarPlay seemed to be more stable (although I haven't tried a handsfree call through CarPlay recently, as I expect it still has an echo problem) After upgrading to IOS 11 I am seeing some new odd behaviors under CarPlay
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