How does Ottocast CarPlay work and how much does it cost?

Sometimes you just want to jump in the car and have Apple CarPlay load automatically.

Apple CarPlay can offer a seamless experience when your iPhone connects wirelessly. If all goes well, it can link automatically when get in your car and put multiple apps at your fingertips. Wireless CarPlay isn't supported by every car, however, with plenty of compatible vehicles still needing you to connect your iPhone using a USB cable.

Ottocast CarPlay is one solution to this problem, as long as your infotainment system supports wired CarPlay connections to begin with. Ottocast adapters plug into your vehicle's USB port, acting as a bridge between your car and your iPhone to turn your wired CarPlay connection into a wireless one. Ottocast has several adapters on sale that ship with a range of features and compatibility.

The Ottocast adapter is the middleman between your iPhone and the car's infotainment system. You'll plug it into the same USB port that you'd use for wired CarPlay and leave it in place. The car effectively sees that it's a CarPlay-compatible device, but it's more than just that: It's handling all of the communications with your iPhone wirelessly.

Ottocast requires an initial setup process, though. You'll need to pair it with your iPhone using Bluetooth the first time you hook it up to your car's USB port, then approve the connection once you're prompted to. Bluetooth handles the connection before it shifts to Wi-Fi, ensuring there's a secure and stable connection between the Ottocast adapter and your iPhone.

After that first pairing, the process should be pretty seamless. The Ottocast adapter will remember your iPhone and attempt to reconnect to it whenever you start your vehicle. It might take a few seconds for this to complete, but you won't need to re-pair every time.

As far as CarPlay is concerned, it's business as usual. You won't see a different Ottocast CarPlay interface. It's the same Apple interface that you'll see with standard wired or wireless CarPlay. How you control it won't change, either: The car's touchscreen, dashboard controls or steering wheel buttons will all act as they should. If you're on a call, the microphone will be supported, and it'll still channel audio through the vehicle's speakers. These are the features that make buying an Apple CarPlay wireless adapter worth it .

Ottocast isn't the only third-party CarPlay adapter to deliver this functionality, with AAWireless and CarlinKit offering other solid alternatives. None of them are Apple-approved, meaning you won't get support from Apple when using a third-party adapter like this for CarPlay. They should just work, but compatibility may vary.