[Android Head-Units] swyner:
Hey all. So have sent Thomas a "first impressions" feedback email with some specific questions that need to get addressed. I will post them here and if they are solved I will edit this post. I don't want to "bash" the unit as it's still early in the game but wanted others to see what I am having issues with and a) be warned and b) hopefully help provide solutions....

I have had very limited time to play around with it but would like share some feedback….maybe my expectations are set too high but so far, there are a lot of things that need work. Maybe some of them are user error, maybe some are just early development of software and maybe some are limitations of hardware but all need attention.

Install / Fit & Finish:

The unit looks good….front fascia is well made and matches the car interior exactly.

I am having issues pushing in the bottom of the unit so the 2 clips lock. I either have something in the way at the back or there is a fit problem. Will let you know. EDIT: fits fine now but is much tighter than OEM. A little brute force got it all clicked in nicely!!

Front right speaker is not working. I have all the sound from the RCA front and back (ie all aftermarket amp, not using the Bose RCA out of InDash unit). This may be a disconnected RCA or something else. Will let you know. All fixed, RCA came disconnected.

Red lights of the buttons are a good match….they are a little “dim” compared to the OEM lights so perhaps this could be looked at. I will do more tests at night. Edit: Definitely not a bright as the OEM but close

Boot Time:

As you know this was a huge thing for me…..yes, the unit boots from cold start to the home screen in about 15-18 seconds. HOWEVER, it takes another 15 seconds for the last media app (ie radio) to show up and actually play the music. Also, it takes this same amount of time to load the correct time (ie it does not hold the time each shut down). Edit: Thomas replied and will work on faster (few seconds after boot) for media to play

So, I hate to call this out but creating a faster boot time does not mean it shows something on the screen which still makes the CAR STEREO useless until it loads an audio source. Other Android Headunits do take approx. 25 seconds to boot but at that point, WIFI, time, audio is all loaded.

I did see there was max 60 minutes delay shutdown…..this is ok but for most us working folks, it would be so much better if we could set 8 or 12 hours like some other units. This would make the cold boot time issue go away. Edit: Thomas said he can make this option up to 24 hours but may cause issues on some older batteries.

System Update:

So the first thing I tried to do was update to the image with Play Store. It was this one that someone had said you posted https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8...0V5LU1OSW5FQ2s

I cannot get the update to start. I get the progress bar outline in red but after 30 minutes, I get no progress (see attached pic)…..other users have had success so wondering if it’s because mine is not generic unit but Audi specific? Can you advise ASAP as I want to get this updated. Edit: Thomas replied and the SD card update option can be "tricky". USB is the best and I will try that today. Update 2: worked flawlessly doing it the USB (Uboot) way.

Radio:

Another huge thing for me was radio reception. I hate to say that it’s horrific. No different than any other Android Head Unit I have had and nowhere near the reception I got with Pioneer and Alpine units in my Audi TT. I tried 3 different dual FAKRA antenna adapters and all 3 were the same. I made sure I had the 12V ANT wired hooked up. I tried wrapping the antenna in electrical tape, tried moving the plug in and out but I cannot get any of the stations I used to get only 20 miles out of the main city. Also, when I change from preset to preset, it often takes 5 seconds or more to “tune” and play that station. It’s odd, like it’s almost searching for reception or something. When you hit a preset, I expect it to play that station immediately like less than a second. I do not know if all this is the hardware (NXP chip) or if it’s the software applied to it but something to look at ASAP. Edit: Still investigating. Maybe ANT blue wire is not constant 12V so will do some tweaking.

The Radio app itself is OK. I wish the RDS part was MUCH bigger so you can actually see what the text says. (see pic) Also, I wish you implemented RDS+ or the ability to have many more characters display on the line instead of the standard RDS 9 character limit. All aftermarket radios (Kenwood, Alpine, Pioneer) and some Android headunits implement this flawlessly and have large wide scrolling text of the radio station. Edit: Thomas said this RDS+ option is available and will work on it with Radio App

Canbus/Car Specific:

I have not been able to get the Steering Wheel controls to work. I have gone into the VIS, System, set vol to 7 then to the Vehicle Parameters. Set the Canbox to VW and reset the unit. Nothing. I have no SWC, no radio display in DIS and the illumination (dimming when lights are on) only work when I MANUALLY turn lights on and off. I have Auto light setting and this does NOT trigger the illumination “switch” in the canbus. I have experienced that same issue before with some Android Head units….need to work on the canbus module to get that to work. Oddly enough the reverse trigger works fine so it’s obviously reading the canbus at some level. Please let me know what is going on. Why no SWC?

Boot Logo does not change or “stick”. I have set to the Audi one and it doesn’t work. I still get the Octacore and Lollipop boot images.

Edit: Thomas will have to work on this.....I need this addressed ASAP as this is part of the OEM look and feel. With no SWC (at a minimum) it's a bit of a pain.

Audio:

Once I get to a decent radio station, the audio is not bad. Will need to get the Play Store and other music sources to truly test it. I do, however, get the odd sub thump on shut down and startup. I never got this on other Android units and name brand ones. I know it’s partially due to the timing things are turning on and off (ie when the ACC or Remote wire is triggering the amps to turn on) but like I said, never had this problem with the exact same setup for my processor and amps on other aftermarket head units. I also get some feedback noise when no audio is selected (ie when trying to do the update). I get the odd crackle and pop noise which is generally related to the quality of DAC and RCA voltage. It might be shielding and connection of the RCAs at the back so will look into that.

When I go into Reverse, the audio stops for a split second as it switches to reverse camera screen. It’s annoying to hear…..

Other:

I have ZTE MF636 3G Dongle….it was one on your “approved” list of dongles. I cannot get it to work. I go to Tethering setting and the USB tethering option remains greyed out. I tried USB tethering with an android phone and same result. Other users are reporting the USB 3G dongles are not working.