It is? That seems odd. I don't have a 4th gen Sienna, nor have I used wireless Android Auto. However, I have used both wired Android Auto and Apple Carplay in my prior 2020 Silverado. In both cases, phone audio was not sent over bluetooth when Android Auto/Apple Carplay were in use, but routed over the Auto/Carplay audio link. It was immediately obvious, because the sound quality of the call was so much better when using Auto/Carplay than it was if my phone was connected by Bluetooth, since bi-directional Bluetooth audio is such low bandwidth.
Media audio plays on bluetooth or AAWirless?
Below is my understanding of how AAwireless works-
The Phone will pair to the dongle, after being paired, the dongle will start up the Android Auto system. It then will pair the phone to car’s Bluetooth to handle phone calls and then disconnects Bluetooth from the dongle. Then the phone will connect to the dongle over Wi-Fi, and this will allow the phone to interact with the dongle wirelessly to use Android Auto.
Android Auto sends the music audio over USB. AA Wireless sends the music audio over Wi-fi.
In both cases, phone call audio is sent over Bluetooth.
AAWireless system uses Wi-Fi Direct for music and data. Phone calls are the only thing going over Bluetooth when the system is in use.
The difference between the bluetooth and usb/wifi transfer is made by the audio quality. The music that Android Auto sends to the head unit features a higher quality, typically CD quality, so it will need more bandwidth to work properly. Does this have any impact on the battery for AAWireless?
Questions I have -
I notice Media audio button enabled under car's bluetooth, does this mean that the phone is passing all media (HD) audio to bluetooth rather than AA wireless?
Does audio always automatically connect to car's bluetooth?
What would happen if I turn off media audio in the bluetooth settings in the car's bluetooth name?
Will it not play media audio at all or does it play on Android Auto headset for data handed over wi-fi connection to dongle?
2023 Toyota Sienna | Lumina Audio X | Pixel 6a | Android 13
Thank you for your help!
The Phone will pair to the dongle, after being paired, the dongle will start up the Android Auto system. It then will pair the phone to car’s Bluetooth to handle phone calls and then disconnects Bluetooth from the dongle. Then the phone will connect to the dongle over Wi-Fi, and this will allow the phone to interact with the dongle wirelessly to use Android Auto.
Android Auto sends the music audio over USB. AA Wireless sends the music audio over Wi-fi.
In both cases, phone call audio is sent over Bluetooth.
AAWireless system uses Wi-Fi Direct for music and data. Phone calls are the only thing going over Bluetooth when the system is in use.
The difference between the bluetooth and usb/wifi transfer is made by the audio quality. The music that Android Auto sends to the head unit features a higher quality, typically CD quality, so it will need more bandwidth to work properly. Does this have any impact on the battery for AAWireless?
Questions I have -
I notice Media audio button enabled under car's bluetooth, does this mean that the phone is passing all media (HD) audio to bluetooth rather than AA wireless?
Does audio always automatically connect to car's bluetooth?
What would happen if I turn off media audio in the bluetooth settings in the car's bluetooth name?
Will it not play media audio at all or does it play on Android Auto headset for data handed over wi-fi connection to dongle?
2023 Toyota Sienna | Lumina Audio X | Pixel 6a | Android 13
Thank you for your help!
1 - 2 of 8 Posts
I also could be wrong. However, when I ran Android Auto/Apple Carplay, the audio quality on phone calls was way better than if I did not and just use the bluetooth connection. This was undeniable and after I experience auto quality on the Auto/Carplay, I hated it on the few occasions I was only connected by Bluetooth (usually when the truck software malfunctioned and refused to launch the software, a highly annoying bug the truck had occasionally). Also the volume prompts on my truck display were different I believe when Android Auto/Apple Carplay was used vs bluetooth if I remember.I could be wrong, that was just my understanding on how it works after some reading on AA. I believe it does bluetooth for phone calls via the Hands Free Protocol, also known as HFP. Was bluetooth turned off on the phone when you are wire connected to Android Auto/Apple Carplay?
I don't recall ever actively testing no bluetooth and wired phone connection. Unfortunately I don't have the truck anymore, so I can't test that really that fast either. Have you ever tried it without bluetooth enabled on your phone?
1 - 2 of 8 Posts
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