[hondaguyinla]

SUCCESS! I purchased a CarlinKit 2 directly from the manufacturer. Their Web site confirms that it will work with the 2018-2020 Accord with Android v6 installed on the head unit.

Installing it was pretty straight forward, although the menus are in Chinese which makes it a bit difficult to figure this out.

Here's what I did and the order in which I did it.

1. I connected the supplied dongle (USBc to USB A) to the USB port in the center console. The red light came on solid on the CarlinKit 2.
2. The head unit displayed a screen that indicated that Bluetooth was on, but it was in Chinese.
3. I went to my iPhone 12 Pro and then Settings/Bluetooth and connected to the CarlinKit 2.
4. My phone appeared on the CarlinKit 2 setup Screen on the head unit of my Accord and I selected it.
5. The light changed to solid green on the CarlinKit 2 device
6. Apple AirPlay was recognized on the Home screen and my iPhone connected easily.
7. The CarlinKit 2 connects automatically with a solid green light when I restart the car.

More to come after I've had a chance to use it in daily driving. I'd caution anyone buying this to get it from Amazon, not directly from CarlinKit. I got mine because it was on sale at their Web site for less that Amazon, but the few dollars in savings aren't worth the extra time to receive it, and hopefully the Amazon version already has English as the default language.

I just received this item and am about to follow your directions, but did you also need to delete your existing bluetooth connection before you started these steps?

 

[bocaboy]

Hondaguyinla, no, I didn't delete anything. From what I can intuit, it uses Bluetooth to configure the adapter and then it's own internal WiFi to connect and operate, e.g. a Wemo smart plug. It takes just a bit longer to connect than, say, using Bluetooth Audio, but the small delay is well worth it for the convenience of wireless Car Play. Be sure and post your results!

BTW, I heard back from CarlinKit and the default language can be changed from Chinese to English by clicking on the globe in the lower right of the setup screen. I tried that during my initial setup, but it didn't respond for me. Maybe I just needed to keep poking away at it.

 

[hondaguyinla]

I purchased Carlinkit from Amazon and Cplay2Air directly from the seller in China. Both arrived today. I followed bocaboy's instructions exactly as he wrote them, and never once did I get past step 1. I must have tried it at least a dozen times. Turned the car off and back on. Did the same with my phone. Nothing.

I had purchased Cplay2Air about a year ago only for them to later tell me it wasn't configured for the Accord. This time they seem to have their act together. The product packaging is much more polished and professional. The instructions are simple and on the back of the box. Interestingly enough, the instruction booklet is the exact same as Carlinkit.

End result.... Cplay2Air worked immediately the first time. I'm happy too... much easier to return to Amazon than some Chinese seller.

Wireless CarPlay makes a great car even better!

 

[bocaboy]

So did you end up with CarlinKit 2 or Cplay2Air?

 

[hondaguyinla]

So did you end up with CarlinKit 2 or Cplay2Air?

Cplay2Air

 

[bocaboy]

Good to know that both are now compatible! I've been using the CarlinKit 2 for about a week and haven't had a hitch yet. I also just read on the forum that Honda is considering offering wireless CarPlay and Android Play as a paid software update.

Honda Apparently Considering Adding Wireless Android...

I got an interesting survey from Honda today... They were asking if I'd be interested in the ability to do a software upgrade to add wireless Android Auto to my 2018 Accord. Options included them shipping me a USB stick with the upgrade, me downloading the upgrade and installing it myself, or...

www.driveaccord.net

 

[hondaguyinla]

Well.... I may have spoken too soon. Cplay2air is quite buggy and it's either been making the infotainment system go to black every few minutes, or crashing it and rebooting it completely.

@bocaboy I may want to try Carlinkit again... but the descrption on Amazon of the one you bought refers to cars other than Accord. Can you confirm the specific one you purchased again... there are many listings on Amazon. I also wrote to Carlinkit and while they said it's compatible with Accord, they said I might want to wait until a firmware update before ordering, so that didn't inspire too much confidence.

Thanks for any insight.

 

[bocaboy]

The one I purchased is here. I bought mine directly from CarlinKit. It took about 10 days to arrive, and the default menu was Chinese. I've had it now for about 5 days and it reconnects every time I start the car. I have a 2019 Accord Touring Hybrid, and I did not have to upgrade the firmware.

I did change the location where I plug it in. Originally, I put it in the center storage bin. I then relocated it to the one under the head unit. I think there is slightly better performance from that location.

Oh, I heard back from CarlinKit about the language problem. When you first plug it in, there will be a small globe in the lower right hand corner. Tap that (it may take a few attempts in order to get it to respond) and you can change the language to English, or whatever you prefer.

The device uses Bluetooth to set everything up on the head unit, then uses its own built-in WiFi to connect and operate. Bluetooth is out of the picture after the initial setup.

Also, to customize your CarPlay apps on the head unit, go to your iPhone, then Settings/General/Carplay and look for the dongle's identifier. That's the one you can customize while using CarlinKit 2. You should see two: one for wired and one for CarlinKit 2. My wired connection in called Honda Display Audio and the dongle is HONDA-8C26.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes!

 

[hondaguyinla]

Thanks. I just ordered the item from Carlinkit and I'm hoping it will work. I'm going to assume the Carlinkit item I ordered last week from Amazon was a wrong version. I'll report back on the results.

 

[mtnagel]

Seems like these adapters work well for the 10th gens, but the screen will constantly freeze when using both the carlinkit and the cplay2air in my 9th gen so I've been emailing with support and they told me you can change some settings. If you go to the site to update, press the white button, the settings window will show up. Anyway, these are what the settings do:

-Synchronous mode (normal, compatible):
Default : Normal mode
Normal mode: Resolve instrument panel display problems.
Compatible mode: Resolves the issue of certain vehicles not connecting to the dongle.
-Media Sound (CD, DVD):
Default DVD
DVD : better sound quality.
CD: solves the problem that certain cars have static/playback issues
-Media Delay (300 to 2000 milliseconds):
Default 1000,
The greater the delay, audio is less likely to stutter. The lower the delay, music and album art/images will be more synchronised.
This delay setting is associated with the network environment in the vehicle can be adjusted according to the actual circumstances. Some of our customers has this set to 500 and gradually increase or decrease from there.

 

[hondaguyinla]

Thanks. I just ordered the item from Carlinkit and I'm hoping it will work. I'm going to assume the Carlinkit item I ordered last week from Amazon was a wrong version. I'll report back on the results.

Well.... I got the carlinkit item in and it connected fine, but the green light flashes and won't stay on continuously. And, like the cplay2air, it constantly reboots my system, or crashes it altogether. I can't understand why it's not working where others including you have had no issues.

 

[bocaboy]

Check the version of Android Auto you have installed in your Accord. It needs to be version 6. You can check it under Settings on your head unit.

My CarliKit continues to work reliably. The only issue I've run into is that once in a great while the screen will go black. I simply switch out of CarPlay into, say, Phone, then back, and the problem is solved. It happens very rarely, so I'm still very satisfied.

 

[hondaguyinla]

I will check but if it’s not version 6, can it be updated or am I out of luck?

I have an early 2018 Accord so thinking maybe it’s an earlier version.
Carlinkit gave me instructions on updating their firmware so will attempt that too.
Thanks for your help.

 

[bocaboy]

If your Honda software is like mine, it can be updated. Mine is set to do it automatically since I have it connected to my WiFi from the garage, but whether you do it manually or automatically, I'm pretty sure yours is upgradeable. If you can't figure out how to do it, ask your dealer to help you.

I did not upgrade the firmware on the CarlinKit since mine worked out of the box and I didn't want to tempt fate!

 

[hondaguyinla]

How do you set it to update automatically?

 

[bocaboy]

How do you set it to update automatically?

I'm not in front of my car head unit, but in settings you can connect to WiFi which will let it download and update the firmware or software automatically. I'm attaching the documentation from Honda. (System Updates.PDF)

 

[hondaguyinla]

Thanks so much... I'll try the fixes and see if it solves the problem!

 

[bocaboy]

Thanks so much... I'll try the fixes and see if it solves the problem!

So, how did it go?

 

[hondaguyinla]

I have Android 6 so that’s good.
Unable to download a firmware update via WiFi so I need to do it via USB should hopefully try that in the next day or so and report back.
Thanks for checking in

 

[randysolares]

I’m giving up on mine and introducing the Cplay2air to a hammer. My 2020 touring hybrid was just in for the recalls and first service last week, the recalls were for software issues and I thought it would help the rebooting of the head unit for the wireless CarPlay but it actually got worse. When it’s not rebooting it works great for about 10 minutes max.