2021 Equinox LT radio upgrade?

[darthbubba615]

Over the weekend, I replaced my 2011 Equinox with a 2021 LT. (Had to, after State Farm totaled the 2011 for a $5k repair bill from a fender bender.)
Anyway, I drive a 2024 LT AWD for work, and got this one because it's very similar. One huge difference however, is the radio in the '24 will connect wirelessly to my phone for Android Auto. In my new '21, AA only works over a wired connection.
Is there a way to upgrade the radio in the '21 so it will also work wirelessly with my phone? It would be awesome if that could be accomplished with a firmware upgrade...

 

[Hey Vern!]

My 2018 connects to android auto wirelessly. I would assume that 2021 would as well. Maybe it is something in the settings.

 

[PoManNox]

I thought connecting your device (phone) to your vehicle's android auto always required a cord unless you are using a wireless adapter of some sort. That's the way its always been for any of my vehicles that came equipped from the factory with android auto.

 

[Hey Vern!]

I thought connecting your device (phone) to your vehicle's android auto always required a cord unless you are using a wireless adapter of some sort. That's the way its always been for any of my vehicles that came equipped from the factory with android auto.

Yes, I was wrong 18-21 the cable is required for android auto. 22-24 can connect wirelessly to it.

 

[darthbubba615]

After looking around and doing some research, it looks like a dongle will be needed to accomplish what I want. So I just got done ordering this from Amazon: AA Wireless adapter

Should be here Friday, so I'll play around with it and report back results after this weekend.

 

[AmmoJoe]

I have seen a bunch of those dongles online. Never know which ones are good or not. I have 2 issues with the wireless CarPlay. First off is when changing a song there is about a 2-3 second delay from when you press the button and it actually changes the song. Secondly, when my wife first got her 2022 LT, the screen would lag really bad and start getting all pixelated where it was unusable.

I drive a 2023 (I believe) bolt euv for work and it has wireless and it also has the lag when changing songs. I was thinking it might be my phone (iPhone 13 pro max) but others have told me the same with newer phones.

I also found a video about a month ago of a dongle that tricks the car into thinking it’s connected to a CarPlay device and then it actually mirrors your phone onto the screen so you can watch YouTube Netflix etc. obviously not something to be used when driving of course.