Hey folks. I just took delivery of a 2025 GT4 RS, and I've read some vague things about being able to re-flash some on board memory in order to enable the "hidden" Android Auto feature on our cars... I'm finding slightly disjointed information about this with some [admittedly kinda half-assed] searching. Does anyone know if there exists a tutorial on how to do this? I'm pretty technically inclined, but also don't want too high of a risk of bricking my brand new toy.

 

My understanding is that the '25 models all have a new version of PCM that does not have a CD player. I believe that no one has yet found a way to enable Android auto on this version. I'd love to hear differently as I'm in this same boat. Your best bet is probably a carlink 4.0 adapter. It uses carplay to connect to the car, but runs android auto. I *think* carplay must have some mirroring mode that the adapter takes advantage of. You have to use the 4.0 version of carlink as the 5.0 doesn't support using AA over carplay. Carlink4 is kinda slow and sometimes glitches by not booting, but the physical controls for skipping tracks on the PCM work (i don't have steering wheel buttons, so not sure about those).

Other adapters also work, such as the ottocast play2video, but that one takes a very long time to boot, and when it does, it boots into a custom android OS, from which you can manually start Android auto. The play2video responds to button presses faster than the carlink 4 (which take about .5 seconds to respond to touches, so annoying). However, I couldn't get the buttons on the PCM to work with the play2video. I guess the plus to play2video is that in the custom OS, it natively supports YouTube and Netflix. Fwiw.

More details at: https://rennlist.com/forums/718-gts-...id-auto-9.html

 

I have both the Carlinkit 4.0 and Ottocast play2video. I use the Ottocast. It takes longer to boot, but when it does it has been 100% reliable for me. The Carlinkit 4.0 skips during audio and freezes, crash, reconnect, endlessly. Can't have that happening during GPS. I too would like to enable AA natively in my 2023, but the big DIY thread on 718 is confusing with broken links.

 

Interesting, thanks for the info yall. The CD player thing is news to me, I thought you just had to connect your laptop via USB to run some application to enable AA. Did not think there was a CD involved... this has been sounding increasingly confusing, heh.

FWIW, I think this is the tool I had heard about using to enable AA:
https://github.com/Mr-MIBonk/M.I.B._...ncredible-Bash

 

I'm gonna try ottocast too I think. My carlinkit started off great but I'm now having the exact same issues your describing

 

I did the MiB approach linked above on my 2020 Spyder. It's very easy following the instructions here on Rennlist. All you need is to download the files onto a MicroSD card.

You do not need a CD.

Once you've unlocked android auto, or car play, you just need a regular old USB cable or one of the many Android Auto wireless adaptors. I use the Motorola adapter since they're also owned by Google (although it's a license product).

Edit:

A link to the Motorola unit.
https://a.co/d/0rywnl1


I also use this one in my '20 Macan (cracked ECU to enable AA) and Alfa Romeo. It's slightly faster to connect than the Motorola and a little more reliable
https://a.co/d/3heF5jH

 

Thank you, this is encouraging info. Hopefully not too much has changed since 2020... Would be nice to get confirmation from someone who's done it to a car from the last year or two.

Can you tell me which instructions here on Rennlist you're referring to, though, @TheBeav ? I'm guessing there is a thread that outlines some instructions that I failed to find...

Also, I used the same Motorola wireless adapter in another car of mine with Android Auto, and it worked well for about half a year, and then ate it. I might need to try a factory reset.

 

I'm pretty sure it's been confirmed that the MiB method does not work on PCMs that don't have the CD, and it has nothing to do with needing the CD drive for the hack.

 

Yes, you don't need the CD player for the hack, but the lack of the CD player indicates you have a newer PCM that has not yet been hacked.

I think the change occurred in 2024 or so

 

Just hacked my PCM for Android Auto with the SD card method. Took Maybe 15 minutes? Much rather just plug my phone into 1 cable and have it charge and run AA at the same time.

 

Damn, ok, I suspected that might have been what you were getting at in your first post, flydiom, but wasn't sure...

Well I guess I'll continue to rely on bluetooth for now until someone smarter and more dedicated than me figures out the solution for the 24+ MYs.

Gopherboy, if you have a 23, it sounds like you beat the cutoff by one year.

 

Yes I have a 2023. Stupid that we have to do this on a car of this caliber. CarPlay and Android Auto should be standard on every car.

 

I'm going to have Sima try to do my MY24 SRS this Saturday. Will report back with details.

 

Agreed. It's even more bizarre since the software and hardware to support this feature is on the car, but they just chose to disable it, presumably because Porsche was trying to save a few bucks on licensing or Apple paid them for temporary exclusivity? Just ridiculous for a car of this price, but that's the compromise we make by buying Porsches... The amount of features they make you pay for (or don't even have available) that have been standard on effing Camry's for years always amazes.

 

Unless you are really hell bent on having wired android auto I wouldn't bother with anything but a Carlinkit 4. It kills two birds with one stone; changes Apple CarPlay to Android Auto and Wired to Wireless. FWIW I do not have connection issues once Carlinkit 4 connects, which sometimes takes a minute or needs to be forced by taking the phone out and forcing BT connection. Not a big deal for me, and also FWIW, it connects more seamlessly than the Carlinkit mini SE Pro that I have for my Audi which simply changes wired AA to wireless.