Android and car stereos

[boomhower]

Well I have to send in my iPhone for repair and would like to use this as an opportunity for a chance to use current Android. I have a 2012 Charger at work with a USB input. When I plug in my iPhone it will draw the data from the phone and display it in the car. Whether it's from MP3's, Pandora, or a podcast app. It also has volume/track rockers on the steering wheel. I've asked in the past and was said it was a no go but that was a couple Android updates ago so I'm hoping it's changed. This is an deal breaker as I spend the majority of my 12 hour shift in the car. The phone I'll likely get is the Galaxy Nexus on Verizon.(relatively recent, vanilla Android, sub $200 used.)

 

[SAWYER]

if usb connectivity is a big deal then an iphone is a no brainer

 

[s44]

Check this site for exactly which phones will do what

 

[lopri]

I drive a Passat which has a cable for iPod/iPhone that can transfer stuff to the car's built-in 20 GB HDD. Now that I gave my iPhone away, I've been using Nexus 7 via Bluetooth, and everything works as I hoped, even VOIP calls data network. But it can't be saved into the car's HDD.

Edit: Oh, what you are talking about is somewhat different from my usage, it seems. I've always used Bluetooth (including iPhones) in my car so I don't know how the USB worked in practice. Volume control or song title display, etc,. (basic stuff) are done via Bluetooth.

 

[QueBert]

I've found 1 after market head unit that supports Android directly, but it sucked balls. If the stuff you're after's stuff you 100% need, iOS is your only option. There aren't even any head units on the horizon I've read about that will have full Android support.

 

[RedRooster]

That is the one thing I enjoyed about iPhone, the way they always seemed to integrate so well with cars. Heck, the newer Nissans I drove even had an "iPhone" or "iPod" button right on the stereo.

 

[vshah]

if you use bluetooth most of the same stuff will work. the only caveat is that sending track metadata over bluetooth is a function of the music app you happen to be using, not of the phone. some apps send it, others don't.

 

[QueBert]

if you use bluetooth most of the same stuff will work. the only caveat is that sending track metadata over bluetooth is a function of the music app you happen to be using, not of the phone. some apps send it, others don't.

OP has steering wheel controls, which never work with Android.

 

[lopri]

I think that's app specific? Android's native music player works fine with my car's steering wheel.

 

[vshah]

^yes, this. if the car can send avrcp data over bluetooth, then apps that support avrcp will work.

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

I drive an '09 honda fit with USB stereo integration. It worked great with my previous phone, iphone 4s. Doesn't work at all with my new phone, galaxy S3. Not stock, not rooted, not rom'd. I get the same message about an unsupported device every time. I tried running it in "usb mass storage" mode and that didnt work either.

I now play music through a headphone jack to aux connection. Its far from ideal, and is the primary reason I miss my iphone. But I dont spend much time in my car. If I did, I would have returned my s3 long ago.

 

[s44]

I think UMS now only exposes the actual SD card -- is that where your music is? The internal storage is all MTP only.

 

[Midwayman]

A2DP with AVCP over bluetooth is a little more reliable. Most any stereo that supports iphone with steering wheel controls over bluetooth will do the same for most android devices. USB control is a bit more spotty and both the car manufacturers and the phone makers share the blame on that one. It can be buggy and incomplete implementation on both sides.

 

[JohnAn2112]

OP has steering wheel controls, which never work with Android.

It might depend on the car. My Sonata is able to control the audio over Bluetooth with my Galaxy Nexus just fine. My wife's Focus can also do the same with her Galaxy S3.

 

[boomhower]

I'm going to try it. Found one on fleabay for $150. If it works well and I like it I'll keep it as a second phone. If not I can sell it for what I have in it and got the chance to use 4.0+ Android can make more informed opinions of the OS. The Dodge link was worthless, it said the iPhone doesn't do metadata which I know full well the stereo does. I'll just have to see when it gets here next week.

 

[vshah]

i wouldn't expect anything over USB except browsing and playing files via the headunit controls. the music apps on the phone won't be able to push audio out over usb.

bluetooth should work fine though.

 

[boomhower]

Well I got the Galaxy Nexus and something isn't right. I plug it in and immediately it says USB error. There has to be something wrong somewhere. Are there any settings I need to have enabled or disabled?

 

[Anubis]

woops wrong thread

 

[Uppsala9496]

Well I got the Galaxy Nexus and something isn't right. I plug it in and immediately it says USB error. There has to be something wrong somewhere. Are there any settings I need to have enabled or disabled?

Try a new cable maybe?
My Gnex works just fine with my car (2012 Focus). Plays music off my phone in both BT and USB mode. I didn't have to adjust any settings on it to get it to work.

 

[boomhower]

Try a new cable maybe?
My Gnex works just fine with my car (2012 Focus). Plays music off my phone in both BT and USB mode. I didn't have to adjust any settings on it to get it to work.

I'll try another one when I get off work tonight. The one I am using is a brand new amazon basics cable and appears to work fine with my laptop.

 

[upsdriver]

Galaxy nexus using Bluetooth on a 2012 Mazda 3. Steering wheel controls work fine.

 

[papaschtroumpf]

The Galaxy Nexus use MTP rather than act as a USB drive, see http://www.androidcentral.com/ics-feature-mtp-what-it-why-use-it-and-how-set-it for example.

It's quite likely your car's USB will only handle what it thinks is a USB drive.

you really shouldn't have too many problems getting audio working over Bluetooth.
Other functions like phone book integration or wheel controls really depends on the car and stereo manufacturer.

In my car (2011 Kia Sorento) phone integration to the car mic and speakers works, but I can't skip/select tracks from the wheel control. since I mostly listen to audiobooks during my commute, I usually don't have to fiddle around and it works for me.

 

[papaschtroumpf]

Is there a manufacturer of after market stereos that has a good reputation for bluetooth integration, and most importantly, providing updated firmware with their stereo to keep up with technology over time (such as supporting MTP once it was introduced in ICS?)

 

[modestninja]

Is there a manufacturer of after market stereos that has a good reputation for bluetooth integration, and most importantly, providing updated firmware with their stereo to keep up with technology over time (such as supporting MTP once it was introduced in ICS?)

Crutchfield has good search tools for things like that. From the looks of it Kenwood and JVC both offer it, but as far as I know, none of them update the firmware of older models to support new features, mainly to correct errors in the current firmware.

 

[jhansman]

Is there a manufacturer of after market stereos that has a good reputation for bluetooth integration, and most importantly, providing updated firmware with their stereo to keep up with technology over time (such as supporting MTP once it was introduced in ICS?)

Both Pioneer and JVC led the way in bringing Bluetooth to car stereos that would both handle calls and stream audio from any BT enabled phone. I ended up with the Pioneer DEH-6400BT that has no less than three inputs (AUX, USB, & BT). When I updated my Atrix 2 to ICS, BT streaming became much easier to use. All I have to do now is turn it on on the phone when I get in the car and in a few seconds, whatever I was streaming before resumes. However, I have yet to find a way to get the metadata for a track, podcast, etc. to show on the display. Unfortunately, Pioneer does not even list my head unit in their current lineup, but they now makes several units that are BT enabled. You might want to give them a call and see what the latest feature set is. BTW, I started using my phone with it via USB, which was an enormous hassle in getting the display to show metadata. It worked and sounded good, but the button pushing to get the relevant info made me switch to BT and live without the track/podcast info on the display.