AudioSources CP23 Car Ai Box Instruction Manual
- June 16, 2024
- AudioSources
Table of Contents
AudioSources CP23 Car Ai Box
Product Information
Specifications:
- Supported Device: iPhone 6 and later iPhone models
- iPhone System Version: iOS 10 and above
- Compatibility: Only for cars with wired Apple CarPlay
Product Usage Instructions
Setup Step 1:
- Start the car and wait for the car head unit system to be loaded.
- Connect the wireless CarPlay dongle to your vehicle’s USB or USB C port. If your car has several ports, make sure to plug the dongle into the port that is for wired Apple CarPlay.
- Turn on your iPhone’s WiFi. The adapter Smartbox-box will appear in the list but do not connect to it or any other WiFi network at this time. Keep Wi-Fi on and not occupied.
- Turn on Bluetooth and search for the adapter smartBox-xxxx. Click on it to pair. After a few seconds, your phone will prompt “Use Carplay.” Click on the prompt and wait for 5-15 seconds to establish a successful connection.
- After the first pairing, the wireless CarPlay dongle will automatically reconnect to your iPhone when you use it again. Make sure the phone’s WiFi and Bluetooth are turned on. In some cars, you may need to choose the option of “Start automatically” in the CarPlay settings to activate this function.
Note:
- The dongle can be paired with multiple iPhones, but it can’t connect with them simultaneously.
- The indicator light of the dongle may remain on after the car is turned off. This is because the car does not immediately cut off all power when turned off. Rest assured that the dongle’s power consumption is minimal and will not drain the car battery.
- If you can’t find the Bluetooth or WiFi of the dongle, you can test it with another iPhone. If only a specific iPhone cannot find the Bluetooth or WiFi of the dongle, try resetting the network and Bluetooth settings of that iPhone and then restart the phone. If the same problem occurs on other iPhones, the unit may be defective. In this case, please contact us for a refund or replacement.
- If you experience audio input or output issues such as calls being rejected or forwarded to voicemail, no sound during playback, microphone not working, music playback interrupted or paused, or voice functioning abnormally, follow these steps:
- Check your phone’s Bluetooth connections and make sure it is not connected to another device. Ignore other auto-connected Bluetooth devices or turn off Bluetooth directly.
- Clear the programs running in the background of your phone when using the dongle.
- During a call, check that your Audio output option is set to CarPlay.
FAQ
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Q: How do I check if my car has Apple CarPlay?
A: You can check in one of the following ways:- Method 1: Plug your iPhone into the main USB port of the car. If the car has Apple CarPlay, the app will pop up on the screen requesting permission on your phone.
- Method 2: If there is a CarPlay icon in the car stereo menu, your car has built-in Apple CarPlay.
- Method 3: Contact your car dealer for assistance.
Please read the manual carefully before use and we recommend keeping this manual for future reference.
COMPATIBILITY
Supported Device
- Supports iPhone 6 and later iPhone models.
- The iPhone system version needs to be iOS 10 and above.
- [MPORTANT] Only for cars with wired Apple CarPlay.
How to find out if a car has Apple CarPlay?
- Method 1: Plug your iPhone into the main USB port of the car. If the car has an Apple CarPlay function, the app will pop up on the screen requesting permission on your phone.
- Method 2: If there is a CarPlay icon in the car stereo menu, that your car has built-in Apple CarPlay.
- Method 3: Contact your car dealer for help.
Check out this website for supported car models: https://www.apple.com/ios/carplay/available-models/.
HOW TO USE
Setup Step
- Start the car and wait for the car head unit system to be loaded.
- Connect the wireless CarPlay dongle to your vehicle’s USB or USB C port. Note if your car has several ports, please be sure to plug the dongle into the port that is for wired Apple CarPlay.
- Turn on your iPhone’s WiFi, and then the adapter “smartBox-xxxx” will appear in the list. Please do not connect to it or to any other WiFi list at this time, just keep the Wi-Fi on and not be occupied.
- Turn on the Bluetooth, search for the adapter “smartBox-xxxx”, then click it to pair. After a few seconds, the phone will prompt “Use Carplay”, click the prompt and wait for 5-15 seconds to connect successfully.
- After the first pairing, the wireless CarPlay dongle will automatically reconnect to your iPhone when you use it again (please make sure the phone’s WiFi and Bluetooth are turned on). In some cars, you may need to choose the option of’ ‘Start automatically” in the CarPlay settings to activate this function.
Note
- The dongle can be paired with multiple iPhones, but it can’t connect with them at the same time. Before pairing to a new iPhone, please disconnect the WiFi and Bluetooth of the currently connected phone.
- By default, the system will connect back to the last used iPhone. If the iPhone to be used this time is not the last used iPhone, you need to manually set up the connection.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Working Principle
- The wireless CarPlay adapter uses Bluetooth to establish a pairing between the phone and the vehicle, then switches to using WiFi to maintain the wireless connection.
- After the Bluetooth pairing is successful, the phone WiFi will automatically connect to the dongle’s WiFi, and then disconnect the Bluetooth connection by default.
Based on the working principle of the dongle, please pay attention to the following:
- When enjoying the wireless CarPlay function, the phone’s WiFi will be occupied by the dongle, other WiFi cannot be used during this period. If there is a conflict between other WiFi and the dongle’s WiFi, you may need to manually disconnect the connection of other WiFi to keep the wireless CarPlay use.
- The auto-connection function of the dongle requires you to keep the WiFi and Bluetooth of the mobile phone available. In addition, please set the WiFi network of the dongle to “Auto-Join”:
- A. Settings > WL AN > Ask to Join Networks: select “Notify”;
- B. Settings > WLAN > Click the “i” symbol on the far right of “SmartBox _**** > Turn on “Auto-Join”.
- The dongle will disconnect the Bluetooth connection with your phone after pairing. If the phone’s Bluetooth connects to other devices at this time, it may cause CarPlay mic input or sound playing to be unavailable. You may need to manually disconnect your phone from the other Bluetooth or switch off the Bluetooth directly to fix it.
Bluetooth plays a pairing role in the work of the dongle. When the pairing is completed, it only needs WiFi to keep working, so it doesn’t matter to turn off Bluetooth. But when you use it next time, you still need to turn on the phone’s Bluetooth, so that the dongle can be automatically paired and connected.)
PACKAGE INCLUDED
- 1 x Wireless CarPlay Adapter
- 1x Type C to USB Cable
- 1x USB to USB C Adapter
- 1 x User Manual
ONLINE FIRMWARE UPGRADE
Premise
- If the dongle works properly, it means the current version is suitable for your car. It is not recommended to update the firmware in this case to avoid any problems.
- Only try this solution when the problem you encountered cannot be resolved by the solutions in the “FQA” list,
- lf problems occur after the upgrade, please “Restore factory settings”.
Upgrade Steps 1 Enter the Settings Interface
- Power up the adapter, it is recommended to use the charging-only port.
- Connect the carplay adapter’s Wi-Fi by your mobile phone, the password is “88888888”.
- Open Safari and enter “192.168.1.101” to open the updater page (make sure your phone has 4G/5G internet when operating this).
- On the same page, you could also fill in the car make, model years, and issue details, next tap “Submit to report the issue. Our engineers will document your problem and research possible solutions.
- After the: upgrade is complete, please restart the phone once before using the dongle.
If the update fails, please try the following:
- Turn off your phone’s Bluetooth;
- Enter the phone’s WLAN settings and forget the network of the dongle;
- Research and re-connect the “smartBox-****” in the phone’s wifi list.
- Try to update again on “192.168.1.101”.
If your problem is not finally resolved, please contact us for a refund (no return required).
FQAS & TROUBLESHOOTING
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What is the password to connect to WiFi?
What we need to connect is Bluetooth, not WiFi. No password is required for connecting to Bluetooth. Make sure your WiFi is turned on and unoccupied when pairing. -
The indicator light of the dongle is still on after the car is turned off.
Because the car will not cut off all the power immediately when it is turned off, the light of the dongle will not go out immediately, but it will take a while. Please rest assured that its power consumption is minimal and will not drain the car battery. -
Can’t find the Bluetooth or WiFi of the dongle?
If convenient, you can test it with another iPhone. If only a specific iPhone cannot find the Bluetooth or WiFi of the dongle, please try to reset the network and Bluetooth settings of this iPhone and then restart the phone once; if the same problem happens on other iPhones, the unit may be defective. In this case, please let us know and we will refund you or send you a replacement. -
Audio input or output issues: calls rejected or forwarded to voicemail/no play sound/microphone not working/music playback interrupted or paused/voice functioning abnormally…
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Please check your phone’s Bluetooth to see if it is connected to another device. If so, please ignore other auto-connected Bluetooth devices or turn off the Bluetooth directly.
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Clear the programs running in the background of your phone when using the dongle.
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When on a call, check that your “Audio” output option is CarPlay.
Note:
Bluetooth plays a pairing role in the work of the dongle. When the pairing is completed, it only needs wifi to keep working, so it doesn’t matter to turn off Bluetooth. But when you use it next time, you still need to turn on Bluetooth, so that the dongle can be automatically paired and connected. -
Persistent disconnection?
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The dongle relies on a WiFi connection to your phone to work. Dropped connections are usually caused by WiFi interference. Do you have other WiFi devices in your car, such as a car camera with a WiFi function? If so, you may need to ignore other WiFi networks when using the dongle.
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You can also improve this problem by resetting your mobile WL AN network. Also, updating the firmware of your dongle is worth trying. Reset network settings (this will cause you to re-enter your password when using a network you have previously connected to) Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings.
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Can the adapter be paired with multiple phones?
The dongle can be paired with multiple iPhones, but only one device can be connected at a time. If you would like to pair it with a new iPhone, please cancel the current connection first.
Please note, by Bluetooth function default, the dongle’s system will only auto-connect back to the last used iPhone. -
Unable to automatically reconnect?
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In some cars, we need to select “automatic connection” in the CarPlay settings so that the automatic connection function of the dongle can be used.
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Check phone settings:
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Settings > WLAN> Ask to Join Networks: select “Notify”;
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Settings> WLAN> Click the “i” symbol on the far right of “Smartbox- **** > Turn on”Auto-Join”.
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Other cases:
* Please make sure that the Bluetooth and WiFi functions of your mobile phone are turned on and the Bluetooth is not occupied when you get in the car;
* Clear the pairing record, restart the phone and re-pair the dongle.
* Try to upgrade the firmware.-
When the phone plays videos, the audio is not synchronized with the video.
- Even the original wireless CarPlay that comes with the car also has an audio delay when watching the video.
- Because video tascsoding is more complex than normal audio file rascoding and takes longer to process. This is a normal problem of wireless CarPlay, not the adapter’s problem.
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Car screen goes black after pairing?
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When we pair it for the first time, we need to keep the wifi turned on (no need to manually connect to the dongle’ s wifi at this time), and then perform Bluetooth pairing. When the Bluetooth pairing is successful, the wifi will automatically become connected to the dongle. You can observe whether your wifi has automatically changed to the state of connecting the dongle when this page appears. If not, please unplug the dongle – ignore the “smartBox-****” on your Bluetooth list – restart your phone once – plug the dongle and repair it again.
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If it still doesn’t work, please try to upgrade thefirmware.
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Audio lag or sound quality problem (excluding audio delay during video playback)?
Modify the “Audio streaming mode”: -
Enter the dongle ‘s firmware update interface;
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Find “Audio streaming mode” – there are 4 modes optional:
Default — A fixed setting suitable for most car models;
* **Mode 1** — A fixed setting suitable for some car models;
* **Mode 2** — Adaptive settings based on car parameters
* **Mode 3** — Unmodified car audio output settings Usually, we recommend using the default mode and mode 2. You can also try other modes to get the best results.
3. Please restart your phone before using the dongle again.
4. If this method does not work, please return the “Audio streaming mode” to the “Default”, and then try to upgrade the dongle.-
When pairing, CarPlay does not start or the car prompts that the device is not compatible/- does not recognize the USB.
Modify the “Delayed start” mode: -
Enter the dongle’s firmware update interface;
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Find “Delayed start” – Change the mode from “Default” to “Mode 1”;
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Please restart your phone before using the dongle again.
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If this method does not work, please return the “Delayed start” mode to the “Default”, and then try to upgrade the dongle.
NOTE:
The “Video streaming mode” does not need to be changed.
FCC STATEMENT
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, under part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful Interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used by the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.
However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:
- Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
- Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver.
- Connect the equipment to an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.
- Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help
Warning:
To assure continued compliance, any changes or modifications not expressly
approved by the party. Responsible for compliance could void the user’s
authority to operate this equipment. (Example- use only shielded interface
cables when connecting to computer or peripheral devices).
This equipment complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions:
- This device may not cause harmful interference, and
- This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.
FCC Radiation Exposure Statement:
The equipment complies with FCC Radiation exposure limits set forth for
uncontrolled environment. This equipment should be installed and operated with
a minimum distance of 20cm between the radiator and your body.