Nifty City CarPlay unit for LC200

[hendooman]

So a week of going back and forth to work and still going strong. Have continued to test start up on factory screen and all is good as it stays where you left it. Sound is good, Bluetooth sound is good and so says my callers. There is a gain and it seems I got a few more decibels of volume as well. Still getting the random flash of the climate control, it is just a bar across the bottom or top. I really think it flashes when the system switches down a degree on auto or the seat heater goes down on auto. Have yet to test with climate control off I will do that. Will test connecting wired this weekend and connecting to hot spot.

 

[seajeff]

I also have the EC offroad unit so am curious on the Android version of this one. (It looks like you may have posted it in a photo but then deleted it for security reasons (or it's just not showing on my pc)). Could you (re)list the android version that is included with the Nifty City model?)

Also, when you turn on the car, I think you mentioned it starts with the last thing you had - in your example, the AM radio (or the last setting you had) but then it connected wirelessly to Carplay. With the Nifty city, how do you switch between Carplay, stock radio, and android? (For example, on the EC offroad unit you hold down the Toyota "Home" button for more then a second or two and it kicks into the stock system. And do it again to get back to Android/Carplay. But then if you restart the car, it boots back into the Android (and Carplay).

Just curious how the UX is with this alternate Android/Carplay system.

 

[hendooman]

I have just been hitting the source button and hitting aux. I think the home button works as well, I know the home button will switch from CarPlay to the Android interface and back.

 

[seajeff]

Cool, thanks! From Nifty City website it looks like they support more apps than EC Offroad and I suspect it's because Android 9 (vs 8). Which makes me wonder... I'm curious if you cloned the boot up SDCard of the nifty city unit if it would work in the EC Offroad unit... (I am guessing the hardware is similar but probably not exact (let alone possible hardware initialization checks that could fail, which means this might not work, but on the other hand....) Hack-a-thon anyone?

 

[greynolds]

Cool, thanks! From Nifty City website it looks like they support more apps than EC Offroad and I suspect it's because Android 9 (vs 8). Which makes me wonder... I'm curious if you cloned the boot up SDCard of the nifty city unit if it would work in the EC Offroad unit... (I am guessing the hardware is similar but probably not exact (let alone possible hardware initialization checks that could fail, which means this might not work, but on the other hand....) Hack-a-thon anyone?

There's probably a chance it would work, but I sure don't want to be the proud owner of a bricked unit LOL. It looks like the hardware is pretty similar, but hard to say if it's identical or not.

 

[seajeff]

There's probably a chance it would work, but I sure don't want to be the proud owner of a bricked unit LOL. It looks like the hardware is pretty similar, but hard to say if it's identical or not.

Well, I may have answered my own question, looks like android boots from ROM (and may then transfer to an Embedded MultiMediaCard (eMMC) built in (and not simply stored on a removable/user serviceable/cloneable SDcard). (Plus many devices have integrity checking on boot up, image validation, etc...) So I don't think it would work. But this whole concept is really interesting to me.

 

[Turd Furgeson]

Pics attached

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Sturgill cuttin grass! Love it. Thanks for all the detail on this.

 

[hendooman]

Sturgill cuttin grass! Love it. Thanks for all the detail on this.

Yeah one of my favorites! Love the Sunday Valley original version, it originally hooked me on Sturgill.

 

[hendooman]

Things are still working well. Only had one issue where it didnt connect, restarted and it worked.

I still cannot figure out how to hook it to my hotspot for the android features. If the wifi on my phone is on it auto connects to the unit, bluetooth as well. If I turn them both off it wont find my hotspot signal. Still playing with it

 

[h777]

Can you report if the Land Cruiser auto surround view camera system comes up when the vehicle is below 10 mph when viewing carplay screen? Also, when the vehicle goes over 10 MPH, will it automatically return to carplay screen? I really like the camera system coming on automatically when speed is below 10 mph. If you have to hit view button at any point to engage or leave the 360 view camera screen, then that is a no go for me. Otherwise, looks like a great system to me. I really hope this unit allows the factory 360 camera system to override it.

 

[hendooman]

Can you report if the Land Cruiser auto surround view camera system comes up when the vehicle is below 10 mph when viewing carplay screen? Also, when the vehicle goes over 10 MPH, will it automatically return to carplay screen? I really like the camera system coming on automatically when speed is below 10 mph. If you have to hit view button at any point to engage or leave the 360 view camera screen, then that is a no go for me. Otherwise, looks like a great system to me. I really hope this unit allows the factory 360 camera system to override it.

Honestly I have never used that feature. I will try it out later today.

 

[h777]

Just checking to see if you had the chance to check it out.

Basically, just wanted to know two things:

1) When using Carplay and your vehicle goes under 10 MPH, does the surround view camera system come up automatically?

2) From a stop with the 360 Camera screen showing, when your speed goes over 10 MPH, does the Carplay mode come back automatically? Or do you need to hit VIEW button or any other button to return to Carplay?

Remember, you have to ensure the Auto button selected for this test to work. If Auto button is unchecked in the Camera screen, this will NOT work.

 

[hendooman]

Just checking to see if you had the chance to check it out.

Basically, just wanted to know two things:

1) When using Carplay and your vehicle goes under 10 MPH, does the surround view camera system come up automatically?

2) From a stop with the 360 Camera screen showing, when your speed goes over 10 MPH, does the Carplay mode come back automatically? Or do you need to hit VIEW button or any other button to return to Carplay?

Remember, you have to ensure the Auto button selected for this test to work. If Auto button is unchecked in the Camera screen, this will NOT work.

1. Yes
2. Yes

Works perfectly and transfers back and forth seamlessly between CarPlay and auto view.

 

[hendooman]

I am still struggling to get the unit to pick up my hotspot. They are not a lot of help either so don’t count on much there. Everything is pretty self explanatory but in this instance they basically told me my signal probably isn’t strong enough…it is

 

[lsumatt1514]

Are you still recommending this module? Did you ever figure out what caused the climate settings to flash on the screen? Thanks!

 

[hendooman]

Are you still recommending this module? Did you ever figure out what caused the climate settings to flash on the screen? Thanks!

definitely still recommending. It connects to wireless CarPlay every time. I have not gotten a resolution to the climate showing but I still do feel when the auto climate system makes a change it pops up. I think it is doing what it is supposed to do just a coding error or something. When you manually change the climate control it pops up as well. Still haven't gotten it to connect to my hotspot either, it connects to my home wifi just fine. I do wish I could get it to work but I use CarPlay so it is not really needed. Other than those two little glitches it works flawlessly.

 

[DomSmith]

Great to see more options available and thanks for taking the plunge. Will be following closely.

As for USB cord location I have changed them around but currently run them to the glovebox. 1 is connnected to a bluetooth mouse dongle to control the back screens better, 2 is a usb thumb drive with music i rarely use. the third is the wired caplay option (charge rate is not great... would be interested if this one is any better?) I have since determined that I want good access to the wired carplay usb. Once in a blue moon my wireless connection will take some time (either I had my wifi off or BT off and didn't turn them on before getting in the car. With quick access to the wired carplay connector I can quickly connect carplay via the usb and not wait for wireless if iI'm just taking a short trip and want to get on the road with little fuss.

 

[hendooman]

Great to see more options available and thanks for taking the plunge. Will be following closely.

As for USB cord location I have changed them around but currently run them to the glovebox. 1 is connnected to a bluetooth mouse dongle to control the back screens better, 2 is a usb thumb drive with music i rarely use. the third is the wired caplay option (charge rate is not great... would be interested if this one is any better?) I have since determined that I want good access to the wired carplay usb. Once in a blue moon my wireless connection will take some time (either I had my wifi off or BT off and didn't turn them on before getting in the car. With quick access to the wired carplay connector I can quickly connect carplay via the usb and not wait for wireless if iI'm just taking a short trip and want to get on the road with little fuss.

Honestly I never plug in for wired. But my wife did use it and said it was a little slow. What I do if I need to charge my phone is just plug it into the factory USB...it still charges great and doesnt interfere with anything. The unit has 3 USB's. 1 is for the wireless CarPlay adapter and the others are for whatever. For right now I ran them down the side of the middle console kick plate and just kind of hung them out the end. Really cant even see them but they are there on the passenger side for my wife to plug into if needed.

 

[40Man]

Do you have the rear screens working off the Nifty unit? If so, how was it connected?

 

[hendooman]

Do you have the rear screens working off the Nifty unit? If so, how was it connected?

I do not but it has an HDMI to do this.