Magic Brand wireless CarPlay adapter

[BritNowInOhio]

Three months spent without my car and the one redeeming feature about the rental was wireless CarPlay, especially as the port on my phone (iPhone 14 Pro) tends to get gunked up and not connect properly.
I kept getting ads for the Magic Brand CP/AA wireless adapter and decided to try one when I got my car back.
It arrived and I finally had a little time to set it up.

It’s small and fits perfectly in the space in front of the two USB ports.

It took a few moments to setup but once it is, it connects quickly. You have to press an “Accept” button and press the CarPlay button on this screen but it’s connected and playing music by the time I leave the driveway.
I should imagine that if you get the version without YouTube/Netflix, then it would just connect automatically.

Now we reach the one area where the adapter falls short. I bought the version that has the YouTube/Netflix and the YT app didn’t work straight out of the box. Apparently the fix involves deleting app & store cache/data but I haven’t got around to trying that yet.

Aside from this one initial letdown, I’m happy with the performance so far.
**EDIT** new APK downloaded and YouTube is now working.

Pros:
Compact
Connects quickly and easily

Cons:
Took a little while to be delivered
A little pricey
YouTube app not working out of the box

 

[Dude]

…Magic Brand CP/AA wireless

None of the similar sounding names of Magic Box Lite on Amazon look like yours
Do you have a working Amazon link?

but I did find it on the products website for $149

 

[BritNowInOhio]

None of the similar sounding names of Magic Box Lite on Amazon look like yours
Do you have a working Amazon link?

but I did find it on the products website for $149

I bought direct from their website:
https://trymagicbox.com/

But yes, I have the middle of the range model at $149.
The bottom model just does the wireless stuff and is $99.
The top model has its own App Store (pointless?) and is $299.

 

[Dude]

I bought direct from their website:
https://trymagicbox.com/

But yes, I have the middle of the range model at $149.
The bottom model just does the wireless stuff and is $99.
The top model has its own App Store (pointless?) and is $299.

Thanks!!

 

[wireman]

I bought direct from their website:
https://trymagicbox.com/

But yes, I have the middle of the range model at $149.
The bottom model just does the wireless stuff and is $99.
The top model has its own App Store (pointless?) and is $299.

Not an electronics guru, but since this plugs into the port where I have my USB stick with music now,

I would have to lose the USB stick function for the wireless carplay?

 

[cprcubed]

I have my phone's cord plugged into the USB-C port and my USB Stick with MP3s plugged into the USB-A port and both will work at the same time. Cheers!

 

[Dude]

Not an electronics guru, but since this plugs into the port where I have my USB stick with music now,

I would have to lose the USB stick function for the wireless carplay?

The wireless CarPlay device is shown coming with both the USB-A and USB-C cables so you would use the USB Port that is not where you plug in your music stick

 

[wireman]

I thought that the usb port was for charging only.

 

[Dude]

I thought that the usb port was for charging only.

The two USB ports (USB-A and USB-C) under the 8” display are both data and charging ports. One of those ports is where you plug in your phone for CarPlay, your USB stick for music, the USB device for Sync (and NAV Map upgrades if applicable), the wireless CarPlay/Android Auto devices like MagicBox.

maybe I didn’t understand your comment?

 

[wireman]

I know enough about this crap to be dangerous. I do use the USB-A for my USB stick with music and the C for Carplay, which I hardly ever use.

So this device would plug into the C port and I could keep the stick in the A and both would work as needed?

Maybe it's the center console ports I thought were for charging only.

 

[Dude]

I know enough about this crap to be dangerous. I do use the USB-A for my USB stick with music and the C for Carplay, which I hardly ever use.

So this device would plug into the C port and I could keep the stick in the A and both would work as needed?

Maybe it's the center console ports I thought were for charging only.

Yes you can do as your said

And you are correct on the USB Ports in the center console and all other USB Ports as equipped in your vehicle- those are charging only ports

 

[wireman]

Yes you can do as your said

And you are correct on the USB Ports in the center console and all other USB Ports as equipped in your vehicle- those are charging only ports

Thanks, maybe I'm not quite as dangerous as I thought I was. I learn something new here almost every day.

 

[Dude]

@wireman and since you didn’t ask, often USB-C ports provide higher power and charge devices quicker than USB-A ports

and often USB-C ports have higher data transfer speeds so when matched with correct USB cables or for devices plugged directly into the Port can transfer data quickly - the Bronco Sport data transfer speed is fairly slow but plenty good enough in most cases for audio transfers.

Often the devices plugged in negotiate the amount of power they can accept, some of the USB cables have built in chips so are “smart cables”

I sometimes use a device like shown in the pic when needed to see how much power is delivered and to see other useful parameters

 

[BritNowInOhio]

To confirm, one of each kind of cable is included with the box and I have it plugged into the C, in case I ever want to put a stick in the regular USB port.

 

[wireman]

To confirm, one of each kind of cable is included with the box and I have it plugged into the C, in case I ever want to put a stick in the regular USB port.

With this device plugged in, upon startup, I think Carplay is automatically displayed, correct?

To get back to Sync you would have to touch the 6 square icon in the lower left corner and to use the USB stick hit sources and touch USB at each startup?

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