Currently, Tesla cars do not support CarPlay, but by the beginning of the year, 9to5Mac reported a nice project called Tesla Android with CarPlay. Created by developer Michał Gapiński, this workaround to enable CarPlay on Tesla cars has now been updated to version 2022.25.1 with a ton of new features. In addition, it now supports all the cars the company has.
In a YouTube video, Gapiński says this update makes it easier for first-time users to download the software to enable CarPlay on a Tesla. Not only that, but the new features include support to up to 60Hz refresh rate, DRM video playback, so Netflix now works on the car again, while adding an orientation lock to Apple Music, so it launches in landscape mode.
The release notes show that Tesla Android with CarPlay now behaves normally when loaded in Drive or Reverse and there’s a simplification of the video stack that improves the stability of the Flutter app running in the Tesla Browser.
You’ll also find:
- Audio from Android is routed directly to your Tesla Browser. Playback is allowed even when Drive or Reverse is engaged, meaning that there is no need to pair Tesla Android with your car using Bluetooth (Bluetooth link with the car is only used by your phone for Android Auto or CarPlay);
- Audio output from Tesla Browser does not pause media playback fromTesla OS or CarPlay. In order to active this feature open Audio Capture app on your Tesla Android after installing the OS. It will automatically launch on each boot later;
- Audio Capture can be terminated using a button present in the status notification.
Gapiński says not all apps support Audio Capture, but this restriction will be removed in a future update.
The Tesla Android with CarPlay workaround is powered by a Raspberry Pi running a custom build of Android. That’s what makes it possible to load CarPlay into the Tesla in-car browser. You can learn more about it here.
9to5Mac’s Take on Tesla CarPlay workaround
CarPlay’s big appeal is a seamless experience with iOS from iPhone to the car. More and more vehicles are supporting wireless CarPlay, which of course doesn’t require plugging in.
While this Raspberry Pi workaround to bring CarPlay to Teslas is certainly impressive and fun to see – and the experience has improved by a lot – there’s still a ways to go for it to become as reliable as if Tesla had built-in support for Apple’s solution.
As of now, it seems the Gapiński project has more of a chance to become a better solution for Tesla owners to enjoy CarPlay rather than Tesla starting to support it in the near future.
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