Remember OBD2AA? The app that did what Google could not — allowed Android Auto users the ability to view OBD2 data. The innovative developer who created OBD2AA is at it again, doing something that Google have not done — creating a wireless Android Auto connection on a standard Android Auto head unit.
Wireless Android Auto finally arrived this year but it seems that those who want to partake will have to either buy a new headunit, a new car or wait for their head unit (with Wi-Fi already inside) to be updated to support wireless Android Auto. Instead, developer Emil Borconi-Szedressy has come up with a solution that will make any Android Auto unit wireless.
Using an old Android TV stick as a proxy or gateway for your Android Auto headunit it can “fulfill the role as a Wi-Fi antenna” and connect to your Android phone. Speaking to Ausdroid, Emil has said that he has found that the older and more simpler the OS on the device the better it works as a Wi-Fi antenna, the more stable it is. In his proof of concept video he used a MK808B Android TV stick powered directly from the Sony head unit which answers the question of whether you need another power source for your device (you won’t).
Instead of the phone connecting to the Android Auto unit via USB, it is connected to the Android device you choose to use via a WiFi connection and that device is connected to the Android Auto unit via USB.
Emil told us that whether you use a simple Android TV stick or an old phone, the device presents itself like a phone running Android Auto. Thus, your head unit is happy, and talks Android Auto. However, the connected phone isn’t where the Android Auto experience comes from – it acts as a wireless bridge to your chosen phone.
It essentially does nothing more than “translate USB packets into TCP ones and vice versa” (though the actual mechanics are a little more complex).
Emil says that there is currently an issue where the new wireless app breaks the hack/solution he provided for OBD2 with his OBD2AA, app so he is working to make the two compatible with each other. Another issue is that you won’t be able to plug in a HDMI screen when you plug your device into the Android Auto head unit.
He also wants to find a way to set the defaults for the app without having to plug in the device to your car, so you can configure inside with your computer, unplug it, and fit it to your car ready to go.
The good news is that Emil hopes to have it ready before he leaves for his holiday on July 17, but he is not sure that will be possible as he is also currently rewriting his Headunit Reloaded app. We have offered to help him out in any way we can to help this app come to fruition.
Stay tuned to Ausdroid or subscribe to his XDA thread for all the latest on this app and when it will be ready. If you want to check out any of his other apps you can find links at his profile page on XDA.
