T9 Headunit

Carplay is limited in the maps they allow. From Apple website, these are the Nav apps available to Carplay, as well as Apple Maps.

 

Also, one feature I do like about our stock head unit is the split screen ability. Carplay can't currently do that, but the next update (in a month or 2) will allow split screen.

 

Thanks!

Do you know if the head unit can install apps from the google play store?

Does the head unit have GPS?

 

Not sure. I had a Carplay unit in my last vehicle. Following this thread to decide if I get another simple Carplay unit or this one.
I think you can install apps from store, and I think it has built in GPS, but I don't know for sure. One or 2 guys on here have the unit installed and could answer better than I.

 

The device is basically an android tablet. You can install anything from the Google Play Store into it. It does have GPS as well. So you could install Navmii from Google Play. When in CarPlay it will only run CarPlay apps. You could download maps to run offline with Google Maps as well within CarPlay.

 

Not sure if an adapter is available; Seems like it’s bundled into the factory wiring harness somewhere, but not sure which wires. I looked at a couple wiring diagrams but didn’t see it (was a quick glance though, I haven’t dove very deep into it yet).

1. No xm support (aside from using the xm streaming app on it).

2. It does. It comes with a gps antenna (doesn’t use the oem one). It does work well though.

3. I would assume so, yes. You’ve got the full play store to browse through. I’m running back country navigator and Avenza on it currently for off road mapping.

4. Negative. Everything said and done, it’s the same apple car play and limitations as any other car play unit. But, pretty much anything your missing, you can just skip car play and run on the head unit directly.

 

This might be a brainfart moment, but the amp specifies 4x45watt amp. If you have the JBL system, you have 6 speakers (plus sub), correct?

 

Anyone willing to check if it is rooted or not? Install/run/report findings then uninstall. I like to do full backups of my phones from time to time. Now the same can be applied to android head units. Yay?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.joeykrim.rootcheck&hl=en_US

 

There is a wiring harness to connect to the JBL system (the harness is unused in non-JBL installs). Otherwise, you typically have 8 speakers - dash speakers, front door speakers, rear door speakers, and rear hatch speakers. The dash and front door are in parallel, and the rear door and hatch are in parallel; so for the average install, 4 channels is correct. If you have the JBL, I think it's moot, as it's wired to the stock amp, and the amp is powering your system and not the radio.

I have mine connected to an aftermarket amp, using the RCA outs; so can't really confirm how the audio performance is for JBL or non-JBL though.

 

Ahh - that makes sense, and me happier knowing that the speakers would be powered by the existing amp. Much thanks to the detailed response!

 

Do you have to manually enter CarPlay when you start the car every time, or will it remember and automatically launch?

 

I just got mine installed tonight. First impressions, pretty good!
Overall fit wasn't great. Kept popping out at the top and I had to slightly modify the top clips to get a snug fit. The brackets didn't line up perfectly and I was only able to get one screw into the sides of the head unit using the oem bracket. I plugged it in, and everything worked immediately. I was pretty impressed.

Boot time is good, overall speed is good, just like a very decent android tablet. I did want to install it before the end of the Las Vegas summer to see how it does in 120 degree heat. The OEM unit has a fan, this does not. It seemed pretty warm at 11pm tonight and it was only 103 degrees at that time. We will see how it does tomorrow during the day.

I haven't tried a phone call yet, the whole mic situation is pretty concerning. I bought the wifi obdII thingy and I really should have gone with the bluetooth option.

At this point, I've just been tethering my phone- or more accurately, using the house wifi since I was just in the driveway. I might try a sim chip tomorrow to see how it does.

Does anyone know how to change the default icons on the bottom of the home screen? I'd like to put my own down there but it doesn't appear to be possible.

 

Meh...

Apple car play or android auto also, which I hate. But... meh.. she does ok for what it is

 

you have to launch it each time; and it takes a little while to connect to the phone and launch. There’s also a funky audio issue via car play that causes intermittent skips in music, and crackles in things like the navigation voice and stuff.

On the bright side you don’t totally need CarPlay, since you’ve got full blown android and can run pretty much anything off the head unit directly... but yeah, the CarPlay part is not currently a strong selling point on the t9.

 

This is a Kenwood unit... Why'd you post the pics in this thread?

 

Pretty neat huh!? Cheaper and easier, does a lo . Pretty cool huh!?

 

Not really. I don't feel like the photos of the unrelated device add to this thread.

 

You got it,.. chief

 

So pulled the trigger on the T9 unit. I just was over the stock Entune and didn’t want to fork out $1500 for the Sony unit. Might have been a mistake but what the hell, we will see. I’ll post when I get it and give a review.

 

Thanks for all the great info. Is it easy to customize the background screen? Are there lots of options?

 

Yes it is. This is really just an android tablet in a vehicle. Anything you can do on your phone, you can do to this.

 

Okay so got the T9 head unit today. Ordered it on August 22nd so 7 days to SoCal. Install was reasonably okay, had a bit of trouble figuring out the back up camera but re-watched the wiring YouTube video a couple times and figured it out.
Can’t get the steering wheel controls to work, double checked my connections but still nothing.
The Apple CarPlay wireless connection just plan sucks. It continues to unpair itself with my phone then takes 10 minutes or more to reconnect. I may try the dongle route but shouldn’t have too if it worked as advertised.
It shows every fingerprint you touch the screen with.
It looks cool and a better screen than Entune for sure.
I will try playing with it some more but as far as a recommendation goes, save you money! I’ll post back if I figure out the bugs.

 

I had the same issues with the wireless CarPlay and bought the USB adapter on Amazon. It has worked flawlessly since then and have since been very happy with the purchase after being disappointed with the wireless CarPlay.

 

Which adapter did you purchase? Link?

 

Okay feeling better about the purchase. Got the CarPlay to sync and stay synced but still some skips. Got the apps to work without disconnecting every time.

 

What did you do to get the sync to be more stable?

 

This is the adapter I picked up on Amazon. Frustrating to spend another 60 bucks but did not experience the music skipping that I always did on wireless (when I could get it to work at all).


Carlinkit USB Car Play Dongle Electronics Cable Connector (HW01-01), White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HCKWDJ1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_cZiADbC6WFT7Z

 

Okay cool thanks. And do you plug it into the OEM USB under the A/C or did you plug it into the AUX USB on the T9 unit? Did you have to download any app or software?

 

Just an update from one day of use. I found out Verizon wireless is not compatible with the T9. So if you have Verizon and want to add a line for the 4G sim you can’t. You will have to sign up with another service provider or turn your phone into a hotspot. The CarPlay just won’t connect in Bluetooth. Guess I’ll have to get the dongle. I researched it and it said you have to connect to the unit and to Topway, my phone finds Topway but it can’t connect to it.