Thanks for weighing in with some real world experience. Yeah I'm not expecting multi-touch, I just want it to start reliably! Really wish it did wireless CarPlay, but can't have everything.

I'm not too far from you, just up in Indianapolis actually...if I'm ever headed your way I may take you up on that. Thanks for the offer!

 

rogersmj,

I have 2 Vline2 units right now. I have owned VL1 unit, that was replaced with VL2 on Prius and now I have another VL2 on RX 2013. The first Vline2 still runs Android 6.0 and I don't want to update it and the second one almost on latest Android 8.0. In general the problems do happens, for example with Lexus I had 2-3 no start up problems in last 4 month.
But I have the same experience from GROM usb units, so now all my install are in an easy accessible place, for instance glove compartments. To solve the problem you just disconnect the main cable, turn the vehicle on again and everything should be back to normal.

But you should be ready for small issues, for example 3 weeks ago I have updated to latest FW (24) and I got 2 problems; one: after startup I was always thrown to Lexus multimedia screen, another one after pressing arrows over joystick I have got red bars that was really annoying especially in maps.
I have contacted support, but they were useless, so after a week of ping pong mails I just downgraded FW to version 23 and all issues have gone. And BTW support response time is not hours, but days and sometimes even more.

So, don't be fooled you are not buying an iPhone. It's more like Lego and you need to be ready to spend time in case that you have issues. But in general I more happy with Vline installed then without it, so I do usually recommend friends to install it...

 

Thank you for your detailed feedback as well, @armourer . Really helpful.

One thing I've learned that is less than ideal is that it won't automatically connect to the iPhone's hotspot because the iPhone hotspot goes dormant if nothing is using it, and you have to open up your Hotspot Settings on the iPhone to allow anything to connect to it (other than other trusted family Apple devices you've whitelisted). This isn't the Vline's fault of course, it's the iPhone's. But it's just a bummer because if I don't want to get out my phone and plug it in for CarPlay, I'd still at least like the mapping, streaming music, etc to work on the Vline without having to do anything. Maybe I can get a cheap pre-paid mobile hotspot and just keep that in the car...

 

My experience is the same as the others above. I would rather have it than not, as I love using Waze driving back and forth to Dallas and having the data on the larger screen, with the ease of switching the music files. My wife loves that I can access my TabloTV DVR and play back our local news and TV shows from back home (provided you have decent coverage on your mobile device). Granted she could do this from her phone, but it's nice that I can listen and glance at the screen occasionally on those lone open stretches of interstate, or I guess I could stare out at the vast cotton fields and cattle farms. Really nice with Sling/ESPN app/etc...to have a game up that we can stay up on while traveling. Spotify works fine, but the DashLinQ apps that reduce some of the inadequacies of the main app. Unfortunately, they are aesthetically lacking.

I have a problem with the latest FW that it does not boot up to the main app screen, but to a dark background with green, white, red lines. I push the Lexus Audio button or anything to change the screen and come back, and it's fine. More of an annoyance at this point, as they always have minor software glitches that you find.

I also have a problem whereby one of my speakers goes in/out as bumps are driven over. But honestly, I don't know if that is the speaker, the CD connection it uses (and whether I connected it firmly or not), or the VL2. I am waiting on my parts for the ZL? campaign, and I will have to disconnect it then for the new glove box to be installed, so I will verify those connections at that point.

The product is not rock solid, and if there was something better, I would switch in a heartbeat, but right now it's as good as it gets and I am a 7 out of 10 on the Happy Scale.

Good Luck

 

I assume you want the hotspot for when your iPhone is not to be connected via the lightning cable? CarPlay supports Waze, so when connected there is no need for the VL2 to have its own wifi. CarPlay runs the music and navigation off the iPhone AND integrates phone calls and messaging. My suggestion is to get a good phone cradle, such as the ProClip, for easy one hand connection/disconnection. The added benefit is that with the latest iOS 13 CarPlay and having the phone mounted nearby, you can run Waze full screen, while still seeing album art/lyrics on the phone screen. Admittedly there are occasions when I forget to connect my phone or just plain forget it, and have wished I had a hotspot to run Apple Music and/or Waze native off the VL2 though can't justify the added expense for just those few occasions.

 

Yeah I know...just don't like having to always plug in my phone. I wish the VL2 would support wireless CarPlay. It would seem to have all the necessary hardware -- bluetooth and wifi. But I'll try a nice mount (I have a ProClip, but it's really old and isn't easy to get the phone into) and see how it goes.

 

when you install VL2 - is the annoying "accept" screen still present ?

 

I got a couple of these a few years ago for my kids' cars. Back then they had some crazy deals on the hardware and cost per line. Comes with 2Gig of data. I have no idea how the prices look today. I haven't switched my vline2 over to this yet, but we did use it on an 8 hour trip with ipads and it seem to be quite performant when we had tmobile coverage. https://www.t-mobile.com/offers/syncup

 

NOTE: I TRIED REPEATEDLY TO CLEAN UP THOSE BAD ATTACHED FILES. NOTHING I DO SEEMS TO FIX IT. PLEASE IGNORE THAT CRAP.

OK, I've only had mine for a few weeks now. So far the only issue I had was the factory backup camera stopped working after the install. I pulled the power to the vline2 and reconnected and haven't had the issue since. I plan to use the tmobile device i mentioned above to provide wifi to the unit even though i primarily use my Pixel and Android Auto for most things. Oh, the only other thing is, yes, if you put the car in reverse then back to drive the Lexus head unit doesn't seem to switch you back to the vline2. I'm assuming that's a lexus thing, could be wrong there. Hopefully I am wrong and that'll be addressed at some point. That, IMHO, is about as small a nit as I can pick tho.

I haven't read the entire thread, so forgive me if these have been mentioned previously.

Some interesting things I've found.....
I knew from the start that I have an 06 IS 350 withOUT capacitive touch, So..... I AM happy with overall performance of the interface, all things considered.
Mounting in glove box went quite well. Wanted to make sure it was always easily accessible.... just in case.
I'm an android use. I can say that android auto works very well.
My son has an iPhone and the few times we tested it we found no issues. That's just a "few times" tho. So that could change with extended use.
I can watch YouTube, YouTube TV, etc. while driving. No, I don't do that, but my family enjoys it.
I have a bluedriver odb2 tool that i can interface with directly from the vline2.
You can use "find my android" to locate your car. I'm assuming this WILL require the mobile hotspot so the car is able to report location without your phone attached.
I will be testing some wifi enabled dashcams next week to see if there is anything useful there.
Overall other than the initial backup camera issue, mine has been 100% reliable. Again, that's only a few weeks worth of data so will update if things change.

Using bluedriver


Decent install in the glove box.

Yeah, not a good idea while driving.

Top port is to the vline2. Bottom port is to a standard charger to get full charge.

 

Could you tell a little more on the system you have? I have an 2008 without the screen but if this is an option, I will look for oem screens and replace it in mine with this option for carplay. I have to say when it comes to cars stuff, I tend to dislike if it has flaws or delays. Have you heard of anyone doing what I am aiming to do?

Thanks in advance.

 

I think the VLine 2 finally now supports wireless CarPlay. I'm waiting for wireless compatibility to Android Auto.

 

Now we're talking!

 

Hey Guys,

I love these options from these units. My big thing is functionality and price. From previous research I have found this unit on amazon that I purchased because I wasn't finding something that had all the features I wanted. For an alternative I bought this bluetooth adapter that I use and plug and play in the aux input inside the center console. There is a remote that comes with it that just peeks out from the console and I can control the phone feature for music. This is just something that if you have certain parts you may be able to use with your unit, stock or aftermarket. The sound is great and it always reconnects automatically. Obv. its not a VLINE unit, but I wanted to share in case you were not finding all the features you may have been looking for. Im not affiliated with them at all, this is just something to help, facilitate, or temporarily cover features you may have been looking for. Here is the link from amazon. Hope this helps or at least is an option for setting up your system in this awesome car we have. Let me know if I can answer any questions.

Lu

 

@gromaudio I read an article that Android 11 will support wireless AA connection. Will this work with VLine2 or will there need to be an OTA software update to have this functionality?

 

VLine2 does not support Alcoholics Anonymous. If AA is referring to Apple Airplay Then yes it does work. You have to manually tell it to connect, but it does work