Aftermarket Head Unit Options

askibum02 · October 15, 2019

The factory Bose navigation head unit with the factory sub on my '17 Silverado 1500 LTZ is a POS. It connects to my phone pretty much when it wants to. Sometimes when I plug my phone in CarPlay connects automatically, sometimes I have to hit the projection button repeatedly, sometimes i get the Unsupported USB message. Sometimes blue tooth connects automatically, sometimes I have to connect it manually. Sometimes if my phone is connected to blue tooth and playing music when I plug my phone in the music starts playing out of my phone. Sometimes CarPlay connects as soon as I plug it in, sometimes I have to screw with it for 10 or 15 minutes to get it connect. It's all totally random. My phone is an iPhone 11Pro. It did it with my iPhone X too. Just in the way of troubleshooting, I spoke with Apple at length trying to troubleshoot this. I have the most current version of iOS, I backed my phone up to iTunes and restored the phone through iTunes. I reset the factory stereo to factory defaults, deleted any trace of the phone from the factory stereo, tried reconnecting, all with the same result. I talked to the service department at the dealer and they basically said that they will troubleshoot it, but as I'm out of warranty, the parts could be anywhere between $150 and $1000 not including labor.

What are my aftermarket options, specifically the OnStar, factory amp, reverse camera, steering wheel controls, etc. The two options I've found are the Maestro iDatalink, which doesn't support the factory amp, and the Axxess GMOS-MOST-01 which allows you to keep the factory amp but has but a few reviews on Crutchfield and Amazon and most of them are 1 star. I'm not dumping a ton of money onto the stereo, I just want to plug my phone in, connect to CarPlay and go. Options?

Manilla Gorilla · October 15, 2019

Sounds like your in my truck except I don’t have the nose system.

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tmo · October 15, 2019

Make sure you have a good cord. Sounds dumb.. but when I have a cheap Walmart cord the connection is bad and won’t connect sometimes or if it does just tapping the tip will make it disconnect, but if I use an apple cord I don’t have issues with it.

The Bluetooth is just responding to the CarPlay being plugged in. When you plug in it disconnects Bluetooth, so I would assume a small amount of data is being transferred to tell the truck that it’s plugged in, disconnecting the Bluetooth, but not showing up as CarPlay.. and if it’s constantly plugging in/out it’s just in limbo trying to connect.

NCPGMC · October 17, 2019

This just popped up in my news feed this morning, maybe it will help...

https://www.reviewgeek.com/25369/the-4-best-apple-carplay-android-auto-car-stereos-in-2019/

L86 All Terrain · October 17, 2019

Alpine makes a nice factory OEM replacement, you can even have touch screen switches for things like auxiliary lights. I haven't looked into it but I think it was a few thousand $. A little excessive I think, unless your an audophile/tech guy.

Nitrousbird · October 21, 2019

Only time I have issues with Android Auto is when there is dirt in my USB-C port on my phone.

I'd recommend upgrading to an Android phone before tossing in an aftermarket radio. That Apple stuff isn't as reliable as it used to be.

askibum02 · October 21, 2019

Calling an Android an upgrade is debatable. I’ve been an Apple user for 15 years, an iPhone user for 11 years, and an enterprise Apple user for 5 years. If I’m going to shit can something worth $1100 it’s going to be the OEM radio. The CarPlay not working is THE ONLY short coming with the phone. And again, I’ve done extensive troubleshooting with the truck and phone, the issue is with more than just CarPlay. The Bluetooth and iPod functionality connects at random too.

Nitrousbird · October 21, 2019

59 minutes ago, askibum02 said:

Calling an Android an upgrade is debatable. I’ve been an Apple user for 15 years, an iPhone user for 11 years, and an enterprise Apple user for 5 years

Not really debatable. Apple is typically 1-2 years behind in tech and has been that way for a while. I was also an iOS user for years and dumped them after the iPhone 6+ due to lacking features and reliability decreasing. Even dumped my iPad for a Surface Pro and am so happy to be away from iOS and its limitations. I also had the displeasure of an iPhone 8 for my work phone until my job (thankfully) allowed upgrades to Android, where I moved to an S9 - for directly competing phones it is amazing how much better the S9 is.

iOS is great for old people and people afraid of tech as the OS never really changes and everything is in the same place, so IT folks find it easier to support. There is the "advantage."

askibum02 · October 22, 2019

Well, as the question was related to aftermarket head unit options and not phone options let's refocus there. Mmmmmkay?

TJay74 · October 22, 2019

4 hours ago, askibum02 said:

Calling an Android an upgrade is debatable. I’ve been an Apple user for 15 years, an iPhone user for 11 years, and an enterprise Apple user for 5 years. If I’m going to shit can something worth $1100 it’s going to be the OEM radio. The CarPlay not working is THE ONLY short coming with the phone. And again, I’ve done extensive troubleshooting with the truck and phone, the issue is with more than just CarPlay. The Bluetooth and iPod functionality connects at random too.

Hate to tell you this, he is right. The issue is with Apple and the most recent iOS that came out. People on the 6th gen Camaro forum are having the same issues with their Apple phones working the Apple CP and AA.

I have the AA in both my 16 Sierra SLT and my 17 Camaro SS. Both work flawlessly with zero issues and have on any Android phone I've had from the S7, S8, Note 9 and now the S10. The only and I mean the only time I had issues is in my truck and its is due to how the cable is routed out from under the console lid, eventually it breaks the wires in the cable at the connector and I have connectivity issues. AS soon as i replace the cable with a new one it is fine, I finally replaced the cable with a heavy duty cable to get away from the issue.

The users on the Camaro 6 forum all have said the same thing, the new iOS is causing the issues but that Apple has been worthless to address the issue.

Also AA and ACP do not work over BT on the 16 or 17 trucks, I think the 18's will do it and I know some of the 19's can do it as the 19 Camaro SS I rented allowed me to use AA without plugging in the cable. I would find someone with a Android phone 1st and test it out fully before I went thru trying to swap out the OEM system at the costs that some of the aftermarket options are going to run you.

L86 All Terrain · October 22, 2019

Modern technology just sucks and doesn't work properly. I have updated my K2's various software more than my damn phone. Im sick of this garbage, just make good hardware and stop with the shit updates. They throw out half-assed hardware and expect updates to fix everything. Same as computers and video games. How do we get our software updated when these trucks are 15 years old? Just give me a nice leather 400hp truck that goes down the road and plays music through the stereo. Take all the driver aids and features and shove them.

typ0 · October 22, 2019

On 10/14/2019 at 11:42 PM, tmo said:

Make sure you have a good cord. Sounds dumb.. but when I have a cheap Walmart cord the connection is bad and won’t connect sometimes or if it does just tapping the tip will make it disconnect, but if I use an apple cord I don’t have issues with it.

Sounds dumb but I believe it's true. I have AA and a Samsung phone, I also had issues connecting using any other USB cord besides the one that came with the phone.