I have done hours of research on the topic of simply mirroring my iPhone via an HDMI cable to my 2012 TL's screen (WAZE in particular). Here are my conclusions:

1. Purchase a NAVTOOL interface. Very hesitant to do so after hearing a mixed bag of feedback. If there were no issues I would purchase 100% (Use promo code XZDBC20055 for extra discount in cart if you are actually considering purchasing, it has been in my cart for days while I debate) I cannot justify the price without certainty of how NAVTOOL will perform. I've heard some of the reviews are fake.
2. Purchase a NAVTOOL competitor (Naviks) . Really does not save that much money and there are serious questions about QC.
3. Purchase a tablet or monitor similar to the size of the Navigation screen and mount in front of Nav screen. Not the cleanest look and I lose the backup camera but substantially cheaper and reusable. I have yet to find an exact match for the screen size but I am thinking a monitor over a tablet would be the best idea since touching a screen at that location is very awkward. I could purchase a mount that attaches to the bottom of the tablet so taking it out would be a breeze. Using the factory Navi is useless compared to Waze.
4. Purchase a small monitor and mount in the corner of the left windshield with an HDMI connection to iPhone. Similar concerns from option 3. Not ideal visibility
5. Suck it up and deal with a dumb phone mount between the navigation unit and the HVAC/Radio Controls.

I am in love with the styling and all other aspects of this car but having no clear solution to my problem is seriously hurting my love affair with my TL.
Any input or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

I've gone with Option 5 myself since I have two phones (personal/work).
Check out the app CarWebGuru for option #3.
Don't bother with #4 since what you really need is a touchscreen.

David

 

Nothing but bad things involving Customer Service with Navtool on this board.. They've been banned from the site for a reason as well. rather than try to retrofit in a poor solution, I'd just suck it up and get a mount.

 

My current revised solution I am considering:

Purchasing a 7" raspberry PI touchscreen monitor to mount in front of the NAV screen.
This screen will always be on and is USB powered.
Hooking up an automatic HDMI switcher to this monitor.
Hook up my iPhone to one of the HDMI ports and a backup camera to the HDMI port on the Automatic Switcher.
The intent here is the HDMI switcher will detect when a video output is coming from the aftermarket Backup Camera I have installed and interrupt the feed when in reverse (provided the Backup camera is correctly connected to the reverse light wiring)

This would achieve the goal of not technically losing the Backup Camera and still having all the functionality of iPhone mirroring.
Additionally for any Android Auto Users there is a Rasberry PI Android Auto program you can run (none for iOS at the moment besides a dongle that hooks up to an Android tablet but is not officially supported)

 

Sounds good. Go forth my child

 

Ordered all the parts and will attempt the install this weekend. Will report and draft up a schematic if anyone is curious to see how this will turn out.

 

UPDATED- Ended up going the tablet route
https://acurazine.com/forums/4g-tl-a.../#post16487474