Victron on CarPlay: your SmartShunt and MPPT while you drive

What you see on CarPlay

Deeck on CarPlay is not a mirror of the phone screen. It uses the glanceable layouts Apple designed for driving and splits your system into four tabs.

On top of the tabs, a battery alarm pops up on the car display the way navigation alerts do, so a low state of charge reaches you without you looking for it. The numbers are the same as on the phone, refreshed at the cadence Apple sets for driving.

How it works

Victron Smart devices with Instant Readout broadcast their key readings over Bluetooth, encrypted, to any phone nearby. It is a one-way broadcast: nothing has to connect to the device to receive it, which is why Victron lists “better range than a regular Bluetooth connection” among its advantages (VictronConnect manual).

Deeck needs the device’s key to decrypt that broadcast. You don’t copy it by hand: you type the device’s Bluetooth PIN once, the same PIN you use in VictronConnect, and Deeck reads the key by itself, then closes the connection. The key is stored in your iPhone’s Keychain and is never sent to us.

From then on the iPhone just listens. The CarPlay app draws what the phone receives, so the car’s screen, the phone and the Apple Watch show the same numbers at the same moment. Deeck never keeps a connection open to your devices, so VictronConnect and a GX device, if you have one, keep working as before.

What you need

• An iPhone with iOS 15 or later.
• A car with CarPlay. Any compatible head unit works, and there is nothing to install on the car.
• Victron devices that broadcast Bluetooth Instant Readout: SmartShunt, BMV-712, SmartSolar MPPT, Orion XS and Orion-Tr Smart, Phoenix Smart inverters, Smart Lithium, Lynx Smart BMS and the others on the compatibility list.
• Instant Readout switched on for each device. It is off by default; you enable it once in VictronConnect (see the steps below).
• Deeck Pro. CarPlay is part of Pro, a one-time purchase of €39.99 with no subscription. The free version covers the live deck on iPhone, widgets and Siri.

Setting it up

1. 1

   In VictronConnect, connect to each device, tap the three dots at the top right, open Product info and switch on Instant readout. VictronConnect often offers it the first time you connect.

2. 2

   Open Deeck near your system. Every Victron Smart device in range shows up on the radar.

3. 3

   Tap a device and type its Bluetooth PIN once. Deeck reads the key and closes the connection. Repeat for each device.

4. 4

   Connect the iPhone to the car, by cable or wirelessly if your car supports it. Deeck appears on the CarPlay screen with your deck already on it.

That is the whole setup. There is no CarPlay-specific configuration: the dash follows what you already see on the phone.

Honest limits

• Bluetooth range. Over Bluetooth, the phone has to be within range of your Victron devices. In a van or a motorhome, where the batteries sit a few metres behind the driver’s seat, it usually is. If the devices are far from the cab, or behind metal walls and battery boxes, the signal may not reach the front. The only way to know is to try it in your own vehicle.
• Refresh rate. On CarPlay, Apple decides how often the screen may change while you drive, so the dash is not necessarily as quick as the phone in your hand. For a battery that hardly matters: state of charge moves over minutes, not seconds.
• Watching, not configuring. CarPlay is for reading the system. Device settings and firmware updates stay in VictronConnect, which is where they belong while you drive anyway.
• iPhone only. Deeck is built for iPhone first and an Android version is planned, so there is no Android Auto app yet.

Siri and Apple Watch, in step

The Siri tab on CarPlay lists the questions you can ask, ready to tap: battery charge, autonomy, solar production, engine charge, mains charger, loads, total charging input, a full summary, and the climate status if you have an EZA air conditioner. Deeck answers out loud, so your eyes stay on the road. Siri phrases are available in English and Italian today; more languages are on the way.

The Apple Watch app shows the same data: a Deck page, an Energy page and a Devices page, plus a complication with the state-of-charge ring that turns grey when the data is older than 30 minutes. Battery alarms reach the wrist like any iPhone notification. Like CarPlay, the Watch app is part of Deeck Pro; it needs watchOS 10.

Away from the vehicle, Deeck Bridge or a VRM account keeps the same deck available from any distance. How that works without a GX: monitor your Victron system remotely without a Cerbo GX.

Questions people ask