Bluetooth Data Port & iPhone App

l008com

Original poster
Member
Feb 19, 2016
886
Massachusetts
I'm looking for a system where I can use my phone as a transmission temp gauge while towing. The information for systems like this is kind of unclear. It seems that there are companies that make the hardware, then there are other companies that make the apps? Are there any complete seamless solutions? This would be a very handy and very cool thing to have in my truck. I'd like to think that once apple opens up the carplay api's to developers, I'd eventually be able to get a split screen on my radio showing music on one side and transmission temp gauge on the other, how cool would that be! (no I don't have a carplay radio yet but I can dream).

I've been told you can get these type of systems in wifi or bluetooth. But wifi would be terrible, you'd have to mess around with making and connecting to wifi every time you connect. Bluetooth should work great. Sync once, and it should connect automatically every time!
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
I believe the wifi adapter is your only option for Apple right now, BT only works for Android last I checked. These are your best threads for info.

Code Scanners ?
iPhone compatible scanners

I haven't seen anything about a company making both the hardware adapter and software, that can be used with phones. Usually they are handheld scanners, or devices like the Scangauge, Aeroforce, etc.

Then again, since I have an SGII and Torque on my phone, I haven't been actively researching either. :rolleyes:

 

l008com

Original poster
Member
Feb 19, 2016
886
Massachusetts
Why would bluetooth not work with iPhones? iPhones have had bluetooth since day one, and bluetooth communications are all standard, its not like the old days of serial ports where every connection is a custom reinvention of the wheel. After posting this, I did find the OBDFusion app which looks nice, but it's still not clear if it can give me a transmission temp gauge.
 

djthumper

Administrator
Nov 20, 2011
14,950
North Las Vegas
Actually you cannot use a bluetooth with the apple because they did not pay for the coding to connect to the iOS devices.
 

l008com

Original poster
Member
Feb 19, 2016
886
Massachusetts
Actually you cannot use a bluetooth with the apple because they did not pay for the coding to connect to the iOS devices.

Thats what I mean, that doesn't make sense. Bluetooth is a standard thing, you don't need anything special to connect to an iPhone. It would be one thing if we were talking about an obd interface that used a lightening connector to plug in to the phone. But for a bluetooth connection, you don't need to "pay" for anything. It's just a standard bluetooth link.
 

djthumper

Administrator
Nov 20, 2011
14,950
North Las Vegas
Thats what I mean, that doesn't make sense. Bluetooth is a standard thing, you don't need anything special to connect to an iPhone. It would be one thing if we were talking about an obd interface that used a lightening connector to plug in to the phone. But for a bluetooth connection, you don't need to "pay" for anything. It's just a standard bluetooth link.
No it isn't, Apple has a special code in their programming that it looks for to connect. They have some added stuff in their bluetooth connectivity.
 

Trkdrvremt

Member
Oct 22, 2014
351
NJ
Why would bluetooth not work with iPhones? iPhones have had bluetooth since day one, and bluetooth communications are all standard, its not like the old days of serial ports where every connection is a custom reinvention of the wheel. After posting this, I did find the OBDFusion app which looks nice, but it's still not clear if it can give me a transmission temp gauge.


Yes and no... It gives you the option for a trans temp gauge but I have not found the right pid to get it to work yet...
 

l008com

Original poster
Member
Feb 19, 2016
886
Massachusetts
Also, when it comes to a wifi obd... how does that work? The obd device broadcasts it's own wifi network and your phone connects to it? If so, does this mean you have no internet while you are connected to this thing? Because once you have a successful wifi connection, your iphone will use that over cellular.
 

seanpooh

Member
Jan 24, 2012
461
The action scanner I have which is CP9580 does't give the temp of oil or tranny fluid. It does give intake temp though, doesn't help much.
 

dkvasnicka

Member
Jul 24, 2015
366
Czech republic, Europe
Also, when it comes to a wifi obd... how does that work? The obd device broadcasts it's own wifi network and your phone connects to it? If so, does this mean you have no internet while you are connected to this thing? Because once you have a successful wifi connection, your iphone will use that over cellular.

Yes, your phone will use cellular data while you're connected to a wifi OBD dongle. Which is OK, isn't it? When you're on the road you don't need wifi for anything else anyway :smile:

The OBD dongle creates an ad-hoc wifi network that you connect to and set a manual IP address. The app will then use the port and IP you give it to connect to the dongle. My iPhone now connects to the network automatically and even remembers the static IP. No fiddling, I just plug the dongle into the vehicle and the phone finds it.

I bought a wifi dongle because it has the least amount of connectivity requirements. It's just a network communication with a IP and a port and that's it. That makes it very friendly for app developers and people who want to try and write their own programs that leverage the data from the car, no USB drivers, no serial port simulation over BT, no bullshit.

DashCommand works well with a wifi dongle, including the GM-specific stuff you can get as an in-app purchase (i.e. it was 20 EUR in total, which is a lot for a phone app but I believe it's worth it in the long run).

EDIT: DashCmd with GM-specific plugin says it can measure tranny fluid temp. I can try and check it for you if you want.
Wow, it also says it can get the current tranny gear, which is something I've been trying to get to for some time... I'll have to setup a proxy and sniff the network traffic :biggrin: (another thing that's trivial when you're on wifi)
 
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Realism

Member
Nov 25, 2015
179
Idaho
I believe the wifi adapter is your only option for Apple right now, BT only works for Android last I checked. These are your best threads for info.

Code Scanners ?
iPhone compatible scanners

I haven't seen anything about a company making both the hardware adapter and software, that can be used with phones. Usually they are handheld scanners, or devices like the Scangauge, Aeroforce, etc.

Then again, since I have an SGII and Torque on my phone, I haven't been actively researching either. :rolleyes:

There are both wifi and Bluetooth for the iOS. While trying to decide what kind of scanner to spring for, I read a good amount of information on the wireless type. I ended up settling for Bluedriver (Lemur monitors), which is BlueTooth compatible for iOS. So far I have really enjoyed it and it has many different monitoring and functional capacities, and seems to get updates regularly.
Check with them before on if it can do what you need it to do. Some of the monitoring and sensor checking functions are not available (as of yet) for my 04 Envoy. They are updating and integrating as they can, so more gets added as time goes on. Probably give priority to the newer model vehicles. I believe Eric the Car Guy did a review of the Bluedriver, if you wanted to see how it functions.
 

hayes

Member
Oct 6, 2013
101
I would like to offer up some information that I have. I bought Dash Command for the iPhone and a cheap WiFi adapter. It works great. I cleared several codes that I have. I paid an additional $9.95 for the Chevy specific PIDs and it reads trans temp too. This one gets my vote.
 
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