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Hands-On With Alpine's iLX-007 In-Dash CarPlay Entertainment System

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Is there an ACTIVE LIST of all currently for sale or coming up cars that will include CAR PLAY? I only know of the Hyundai Sonata, the higher ends I'm not worried about.... but the main stream cars. Anyone know? I've been trying to research it, but not much out there. Would be nice to culminate a list here.
 
mattopotamus said:
Is this the one that lacks bluetooth? If so, that is just crazy to me. It supports carplay but is lacking bluetooth...
Click to expand...

Why does it need BT if it requires lightning connector? This dash has no display without an iphone connected via cable.

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tliede20 said:
Is there an ACTIVE LIST of all currently for sale or coming up cars that will include CAR PLAY? I only know of the Hyundai Sonata, the higher ends I'm not worried about.... but the main stream cars. Anyone know? I've been trying to research it, but not much out there. Would be nice to culminate a list here.
Click to expand...

create a wiki page for it and post it up here for everyone to update :D
 
unplugme71 said:
Why does it need BT if it requires lightning connector? This dash has no display without an iphone connected via cable.
...
Click to expand...


Because often people jump into their cars for a short trip, toss their bag or jacket in the back and start driving, not exactly thinking of music playlists or navigation, or taking their phone out.

Then the phone rings.... :eek:

Without Bluetooth, you'd be fumbling about, or just miss the call. With BT, you simply punch the pop up phone button on screen and take the call, without worrying where your phone is in the back.

I am aware that BT is not meant to function as a pipeline for a full blown visual and audio experience, but for its purpose, it does rathe well.

Wireless will come, I am a bit surprised that Air Play or Chromecast were not adapted to this by now.
 
Runespeaker said:
Well, that's a lot of questions! I can answer at least some of them.
1) The phone and CarPlay stay in sync. If you have maps on CarPlay, you have maps on the phone. If you use the phone to switch to Music, CarPlay switches to Music. Of course, any audio you are listening to will keep playing if switch to maps. And your GPS keeps updating in the background.
2) Yes, any app that plays audio on your phone will play through the car speakers. If the app doesn't support CarPlay, your screen will be blank or at most a play button on a black background. (But of course you can switch to maps and the audio keeps playing.)
3) There is only bass and treble on the unit. You can use the Alpine TuneIt app on your phone to get access to a 9 band equalizer, and you can create, save,and apply presets with the app.
4) Yes.
5) I presume you mean a bluetooth headset? Seems like it'd be very hard to switch to earbuds while driving. I don't have a headset, so can't try this.

Hope that helps!
Click to expand...


Thanks a ton, was very helpful.

Re: #5, No I actually meant the iPhone earbuds. I prefer them over any speakerphone option for business calls. I'm just wondering how difficult it is to swap between them and if CarPlay has an interface for "audio source" - otherwise I assume from your answer to #4, that I can use the traditional Phone app on the phone to just press the "audio" button on the in-call screen and select them.

Thanks!!
 
normanfox said:
Once you have Bluetooth connect, you don't want anything less than that. Don't event have to take your phone out of your pocket or bag. Or another cable to clutter your car.

That is why wifi, Bluetooth and NFC tech are so popular. It connects and work without your worrying about it. Try to connect your iPad or laptop using Ethernet cable very time you use. Or swiping your credit card instead of taping our iPhones. Yeah it takes a second but NFC beats it with convenience. So is Bluetooth in car.

How about wireless charging? Take no second to plug in
Click to expand...

You have to be connected through the lightning cable to get Carplay on the screen so at that point, what's the point of Bluetooth? Bluetooth doesn't have the bandwidth to push video on the screen like that. Remember, Carplay is built into your phone. The receiver is just a screen plus physical buttons. There is no point in Bluetooth unless you don't plan on using Carplay.
 
newagemac said:
You have to be connected through the lightning cable to get Carplay on the screen so at that point, what's the point of Bluetooth? Bluetooth doesn't have the bandwidth to push video on the screen like that. Remember, Carplay is built into your phone. The receiver is just a screen plus physical buttons. There is no point in Bluetooth unless you don't plan on using Carplay.
Click to expand...

you misunderstood my point from my previous posts. I understood that Bluetooth does not have bandwidth for carplay. that is not my point. Carplay would be much more convenient and got used more when it is wireless, Bluetooth is just one of the example.

you used to sync iphone/ipad using usb cable connected to the pc. last few years, you can just sync using wifi. Apple will eventually make iphone connect to car through some kind of wifi, like Wii U. it could be a battery issue that prevents them from implementing it now.
 
I've had this unit for nearly two months in my car. While it's probably the best overall experience for Apple-only drivers, the experience still leaves much to be desired. Here are some issues I've had:

1) 9 times out of 10, when I turn the car on, the system defaults to the radio, even if the phone has been docked the whole time. I usually listen to podcasts, so starting the car requires me to wait for the system to turn on, flip it over to carplay, unlock my phone (more on that in a moment), open the podcast app, select stations, then select what I want to listen to. With my old stereo, it would often decide to play random music from my phone instead of what I was listening to last, but now I have to select my podcasts every time I get in the car.

2) If your phone is locked, you have to unlock it before CarPlay will work. With TouchID, this is a fairly minor issue, as I just keep my finger on the home button while I plug it in. Since CarPlay gives you access to phone and messages, you can see why Apple wanted to keep it secure, but some more options would be nice, like have it remember the device. I mean, they have to have my car keys and my car just to get my text messages, so I'm comfortable with a little less security in this case.

3) There are lots of iOS level issues that become far more frustrating to deal with when you're driving. Often, I have the podcast app decide to not respond to the play button until I force quit the app and restart it. This happens on the phone, regardless of whether it's plugged into the car, but if the app won't work on the phone, it won't work on the car, either. I've also had Siri just stop listening, where I can activate it, but it won't pick up any audio until I reboot the phone. Sometimes, I look up an address in Maps on my phone, but when I then get into my car and bring it up on the unit, it'll decide to route me somewhere else, like my house, thinking it's being helpful.

Most of these aren't issues with the unit. It's actually a strikingly good looking screen with a very minimal bezel and the photos in the article don't do it justice. The screen is as responsive as I'd like, and even without smooth scrolling, it doesn't feel like the UI gets in your way. If you don't compulsively hook up your phone when you get in your car, then CarPlay won't be for you, at least until someone develops a CarPlay over WiFi, since Bluetooth can't deliver the video that the system's UI relies on. It's unfortunate that iOS 8 has so many problems that reflect badly when I'm using it with this, but I hope that Apple is working on its CarPlay stack, too, and that we'll see continued updates prior to iOS 9.
 
This unit actually has a Wifi module according to FCC documents. Possibly waiting until Apple enables wireless CarPlay. Most Wifi modules also include Bluetooth so that's a possibility as well.
 
macUser2007 said:
Because often people jump into their cars for a short trip, toss their bag or jacket in the back and start driving, not exactly thinking of music playlists or navigation, or taking their phone out.

Then the phone rings.... :eek:

Without Bluetooth, you'd be fumbling about, or just miss the call. With BT, you simply punch the pop up phone button on screen and take the call, without worrying where your phone is in the back.

I am aware that BT is not meant to function as a pipeline for a full blown visual and audio experience, but for its purpose, it does rathe well.

Wireless will come, I am a bit surprised that Air Play or Chromecast were not adapted to this by now.
Click to expand...

it takes 5 second to plug your phone in.
 
There are a couple of advantages of the cable connection: a.) using an iPhone wirelessly with CarPlay might run down a battery pretty quickly; b.) since the software is located in the iPhone rather than the head unit, upgrading software and adding new CarPlay-friendly apps is a breeze.
 
I know this thread is old however let me post some information about Alpines ilx 007.

I've been using it my Jeep for months now. It work great. However it does have some draw backs.


My top 7...
1. No bluetooth which is fine.
2. Screen scrolling on the Alpine is not fluid like on the iPhone.
3. When you are using maps on the screen and press the home button on your phone the Alpine will go back to the home screen in other words you can't keep the maps up and use your phone for call.
4. Only iPhones will work, not iPad, etc. (So if your phone breaks you can't plug in a iPod to play music)
5. I have notice improvements with Car Play since iOS 9.1 smoother and my phone does not heat up like in iOS 8
6. You still have to dig in music on your phone to play Apple Music and under now playing on the Alpine (which is my biggest complaint).
7. Siri works very well.


In conclusion the Alpine ilx 007 is a good buy if you never want to use android device or don't mind plugging in your phone in the car. I use it daily helps with drive times, calling, texting, music, etc.

P.S. we really shouldn't be playing with our phones when driving anyway! ;-)
 
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