Any and all advice, guides, and reviews are unbiased and based on my personal experience. If you buy through affiliate links, I may earn commissions, which helps support my website. This does not have an impact on posts or my opinion of any reviewed products. If you find this post helpful and want to say thanks, please buy me a coffee or take a look at my book on Amazon. It keeps this page ad-free. Thank you!
A 2025 ask – I’m trying to build something using old Kindles, the 3rd Generation Kindle is ideal or older Kindle touch devices. If you have one, are in the US, and could send it to me, I’d really appreciate it. Preference is for the 3rd Generation Kindle Keyboard but right now, any old Kindle would be great. Just contact me. Thanks.
If your car has Apple Carplay but only as a wired solution, you may wish you had wireless Apple Carplay. The good news is this is possible using any of the half-a-dozen wireless Carplay adapters you can find on Amazon. For what it’s worth, I bought this AutoSky one on Amazon which is the best value Wireless Carplay device I have found, and using them is a great lifehack.
The first thing you need to know is Wireless Carplay devices are not magical, if your car doesn’t have Apple Carplay these will not suddenly give you Carplay. BUT! If you have Carplay already and want wireless, they work. In my tests, they all seem to come from the same factory in China just have a different brand name or package design. The core software they run is something called CarPlayBox, but more on that later.
How to Use Wireless CarPlay Adapters
Using Wireless Carplay devices is straightforward, all you need to do is plug them into the USB port on your car, and your screen car entertainment unit will show instructions asking you to pair your device to a device called “CarPlayBox”. Follow the prompts and you’re all set. Your phone should automatically pair and wireless CarPlay will just work. The only watch out is if your car has an always-on USB port, which means the CarPlay adapter won’t switch off and you will find yourself always paired to it (solution, unplug between uses).
Best Wireless CarPlay USB Adapter
If you’re looking for the Best Wireless Apple CarPlay USB adapter, get this AutoSky one on Amazon. It’s under $50 when not on sale but there’s usually a coupon for 10% off or discount during Prime Day. It works, it’s fast and it comes with both USB A and C adapters, meaning it should work on any car.
Updating the Software on Wireless CarPlay USB Adapters
In my tests, every Wireless CarPlay Adapter runs CarPlayBox software. This can be upgraded, but the process is a little more complicated. I’m writing these steps up to help others.
- Important! You must plug the USB Wireless CarPlay adapter into a normal USB charger.
Tip: I use the ones that used to come with your phone. This step is important, as the USB adapter needs steady power.
- On your phone, go into WiFi settings and connect to the USB adapter, it will typically be called something like “carplay_f472” or “playbox_f472”. The f472 will be unique and pseudo-random to you.
- If prompted for a WiFi password, it’s 88888888 (that’s 8, 8 times).
Tip: If you’re using iOS, turn off the private WiFi address setting, as it can cause some issues with the connection. You might need to re-pair the USB CarPlay adapter when you do this.
- Open the browser on your phone and go to http://192.168.2.1/
- Scroll to the bottom of the screen, it will either show you “Already the latest version” or prompt you to upgrade. Follow the prompts!
- When it’s done, put your CarPlay USB Wireless Adapter back in your car. You may need to re-pair your CarPlay connection as I have found that the upgrade can reset the name of the device.
FYI. As of August 2023, the latest version (for me) was V3.9.4_0625. The software versions are hardware-dependent, so don’t panic if your version is lower or higher than this.
Hope this helps someone else!
Any and all advice, guides, and reviews are unbiased and based on my personal experience. If you buy through affiliate links, I may earn commissions, which helps support my website. This does not have an impact on posts or my opinion of any reviewed products. If you find this post helpful and want to say thanks, please buy me a coffee or take a look at my book on Amazon. It keeps this page ad-free. Thank you!
A 2025 ask – I’m trying to build something using old Kindles, the 3rd Generation Kindle is ideal or older Kindle touch devices. If you have one, are in the US, and could send it to me, I’d really appreciate it. Preference is for the 3rd Generation Kindle Keyboard but right now, any old Kindle would be great. Just contact me. Thanks.