LIVI – Linux In-Vehicle Infotainment

LIVI is an open-source Apple CarPlay and Android Auto head unit.

It is a standalone cross-platform Electron head unit with a native, zero-copy GStreamer video pipeline and hardware-accelerated decoding on Linux (including the Raspberry Pi 4 and 5), macOS and Windows, low-latency audio, multitouch + D-Pad navigation, and support for very small embedded/OEM displays.

Native Connectivity

• Android Auto (wired) on all platforms
• Android Auto (wireless) on Linux

Dongle-based Connectivity

• Android Auto (wired & wireless) on all platforms
• Apple CarPlay (wired & wireless) on all platforms

Supported USB adapters (for CarPlay): Carlinkit CPC200-CCPA (wireless/wired) and CPC200-CCPW (wired)

Project Status

Installation

Important

LIVI requires OpenGL ES 3.x.

Raspberry Pi OS

Note

The Pi 3 and earlier use the VideoCore IV GPU, which only supports OpenGL ES 2.0 and is therefore unsupported.

curl -fL -o install.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/f-io/LIVI/main/scripts/install/pi/install.sh
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

Raspberry Pi OS Trixie or newer is required.

The install.sh script performs the following tasks:

1. checks for required tools: curl, xdg-user-dir and pkexec
2. downloads the latest LIVI AppImage
3. creates an autostart entry so the application launches automatically on boot
4. creates a desktop shortcut for easy access
5. applies the Raspberry Pi HEVC decoder patch if the system GStreamer is affected (see note below)

On first launch, LIVI will detect if the udev rule for USB access is missing and prompt you to install it automatically.

Note

Raspberry Pi HEVC (1080p) hardware decode uses the system GStreamer v4l2codecs plugin. GStreamer 1.26.x before 1.26.11 (currently shipped by Raspberry Pi OS) has a SAND-crop bug that breaks zero-copy at 1080p and leaves the main video layer black. The installer detects an affected version and rebuilds the patched plugin from the distribution source automatically. If you do not use the installer, apply it manually from a LIVI checkout on the Pi:

bash scripts/gstreamer/patch-pi-v4l2codecs.sh

This step is skipped automatically once Raspberry Pi OS ships GStreamer 1.26.11 / 1.28 or newer.

This install script is not actively tested on other Linux distributions.

Linux (x86_64)

This AppImage has been tested on Debian Trixie (13) with Wayland, Ubuntu/Kubuntu 25 and Fedora 44. No additional software is required, just download the -x86_64.AppImage and make it executable:

chmod +x LIVI-*-x86_64.AppImage

On first launch, LIVI will detect if the udev rule for the USB dongle is missing and prompt you to install it automatically.

Ubuntu / Kubuntu users: Due to AppArmor restrictions, use the .deb package instead of the AppImage. The .deb automatically configures all required permissions. Alternatively, the AppImage can be started with --no-sandbox as a workaround.

Mac (arm64)

Download the -arm64.dmg, open it, and drag LIVI.app into Applications.

When launching the app for the first time, macOS may block it. In that case:

1. Try to open the app once (it will be blocked)
2. Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security
3. Scroll down and click “Open Anyway”
4. Confirm the dialog

After this, the app will launch normally and future updates will work without additional steps.

Windows (x64)

Note

The Windows build is provided on a best-effort basis. Windows is not a primary target platform of this project and receives limited testing.

It is mainly intended for development, experimentation, and desktop testing.

USB Driver Requirement

The Carlinkit dongle requires a compatible WinUSB (winusb.sys) driver on Windows. You can install it using a tool such as Zadig (libwdi): https://github.com/pbatard/libwdi/releases

Steps:

1. Plug in the Carlinkit dongle
2. Start Zadig
3. Select the dongle from the device list
4. Install the WinUSB (winusb.sys) driver

Build Environment

System Requirements (build)

Make sure the following packages and tools are installed on your system before building:

• Node.js 24.x (with corepack for pnpm)
• Python 3.x (for native module builds via node-gyp)
• build-essential (Linux: includes gcc, g++, make, etc.)
• libusb-1.0-0-dev (required for node-usb)
• libudev-dev (optional but recommended for USB detection on Linux)
• libgstreamer1.0-dev + libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev (required to build the gst-video addon)
• meson (≥ 1.4), ninja, pkg-config, bison and libegl-dev / libgles-dev / libgbm-dev / libffi-dev / libexpat1-dev (Linux only: to build the embedded wlroots compositor)
• fuse (required to run AppImages)

On Debian/Ubuntu/Raspberry Pi OS, install everything with:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y git build-essential python3 python3-dev python3-pip \
  pkg-config bison ninja-build \
  libusb-1.0-0-dev libudev-dev \
  libgstreamer1.0-dev libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev \
  libegl-dev libgles-dev libgbm-dev libffi-dev libexpat1-dev
pip3 install --user --break-system-packages 'meson>=1.4'
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_24.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
sudo corepack enable

On Fedora, install everything with:

sudo dnf install -y git gcc gcc-c++ make python3 python3-devel \
  pkgconf-pkg-config libusb1-devel systemd-devel \
  gstreamer1-devel gstreamer1-plugins-base-devel \
  fuse fuse-libs
curl -fsSL https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_24.x | sudo bash -
sudo dnf install -y nodejs
sudo corepack enable

On macOS, the gst-video addon links against the GStreamer.framework. Install both the runtime and development packages (matching versions) from gstreamer.freedesktop.org before building. node-gyp discovers it via pkg-config under /Library/Frameworks/GStreamer.framework.

Clone & Build

# Git clone
git clone --branch main --single-branch https://github.com/f-io/LIVI.git \
  && cd LIVI

# Install dependencies from lockfile
pnpm run install:ci

# --- Build targets ---

# Linux x86_64 (AppImage + deb)
pnpm run build:linux

# Linux ARM64 (AppImage + deb)
pnpm run build:armLinux

# Single-format variants
pnpm run build:linux:appimage      # x86_64 AppImage
pnpm run build:linux:deb           # x86_64 deb
pnpm run build:armLinux:appimage   # ARM64 AppImage
pnpm run build:armLinux:deb        # ARM64 deb

# macOS (arm64 dmg)
pnpm run build:mac

Dashboard

The Dashboard is currently in an early stage. While the IPC/socket telemetry payload already supports many signals, the UI exposes only a small subset. Widgets and layouts will be extended over time.

Telemetry CLI (local)

To push test data into a running LIVI, use the CLI in scripts/tools. The full field list and routing (Dash / AA / Dongle) lives in src/main/shared/types/Telemetry.ts.

pnpm -C scripts/tools install

# Realistic all-fields demo push
pnpm -C scripts/tools run telemetry:demo

# Send single fields or blocks ad-hoc
pnpm -C scripts/tools run telemetry:set fuelPct=4 rangeKm=38
pnpm -C scripts/tools run telemetry:set gps.lat=53.5912 gps.lng=10.015
pnpm -C scripts/tools run telemetry:set _repeatMs=1000 speedKph=90 rpm=2500

Multi-Display

LIVI can run as multiple windows at once, each placeable on its own physical display. The Dash and Aux windows are freely assignable and can show the Dashes, the reverse camera or the media player. Assignment is not exclusive: any feature can be shown on one, several, or all windows at the same time.

Configure each window under Settings → Window Settings (Main Screen / Dash Screen / Aux Screen), and assign features under Settings → General → Tab Settings.

Images

 

 

 

Credits

See CREDITS for acknowledgements and prior art.

Disclaimer

Apple and CarPlay are trademarks of Apple Inc. Android and Android Auto are trademarks of Google LLC. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple or Google. All product names, logos, and brands are the property of their respective owners.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.