Android phones and cars with "iPhone" inputs

[boomhower]

My work car is a 2012 Charger. It has a USB port I plug my iPhone into and it works great. I can play from any app which is really nice as I use a podcasting app most of the time. The steering wheel control function with these apps as well. I'm thinking of picking up an Android phone to mess around with and see how they have come along since it's been a while since I've used one. I'm looking at a Galaxy Nexus or a Razr but I've read conflicting reports on how they function with the car stereo's. I use my phone in mode more than any other by far so it's an important feature for me.

 

[rcpratt]

I guess I'm interested in talking about this subject but don't know what the OP is wanting this thread to be.

Yay technology?

 

[boomhower]

I'm wanting to know if Android phones will play nice with the USB port in my car like the IPhone does. As in will the steering controls still work, will audio work from within podcast apps or will it just play files from music directory?

 

[rcpratt]

Gotcha.

When I had my Thunderbolt, I found that the most effective way was to use bluetooth for audio playback in my 2011 Fusion with Sync (but not MFT). I liked that much better than USB, although it was possible...I forget what my exact complaints were with that. With bluetooth, steering wheel controls worked as far as forward/back/pause, but bluetooth would not interface with the Sync voice-controlled system.

Have not set up '11 Fusion with the SGS3 yet. Also will test drive a '13 Fusion within the month, so I'm interested to see if the MFT will meet my needs on this front.

 

[Raduque]

Car head units with USB and iPhone/iPod input only work with iPhones/iPods. Android phones won't understand anything that the HU will try to send it over the USB port - at best, it'll be able to mount to it like to a PC and present the radio with a drive (like if you plugged in a USB stick), at worst nothing will happen. The most I would ever expect from it would be charging.

 

[Yuriman]

I saw the thread title and remembered reading this a few weeks ago:

http://www.talkandroid.com/119937-jelly-bean-brings-usb-audio-support-to-android-devices/

Jelly Bean brings USB Audio support to Android devices

Digging into the new features and capabilities present in Jelly Bean, one item we have discovered is the addition of USB Audio. Support for USB Audio means audio from a Jelly Bean based device can be accessed via the USB port. This presents an alternative to streaming audio through the external speaker jack or a Bluetooth connection.
Using USB Audio, hardware makers will be able to build audio dock devices to interface with Android powered phones and tablets. A good example of this was an Android.Connect dock on display from Gear4 during Google I/O. Check out the video after the break showing how this will work.
As the Gear4 video demonstrates, the ability to carry audio over USB opens some possibilities for the design of hardware that minimizes complexity. Plugging in multiple cables (e.g. audio cable for sound and USB cable for charging) or pairing up Bluetooth will no longer be necessary. According to Gear4, an app is in development that will enable backwards compatibility with Gingerbread and ICS devices so they too can carry audio via the USB cable. Unfortunately, the app was not available at Google I/O.

So far as I can tell, USB audio was not supported natively in Android before 4.1, though manufacturers may have implemented it in their devices (Sense, Motoblur, etc.). I really have no idea if any Android devices out there already support USB audio.

Car head units with USB and iPhone/iPod input only work with iPhones/iPods. Android phones won't understand anything that the HU will try to send it over the USB port - at best, it'll be able to mount to it like to a PC and present the radio with a drive (like if you plugged in a USB stick), at worst nothing will happen. The most I would ever expect from it would be charging.

As far as I can tell, this will no longer be true soon. With native support for USB audio now part of Android, Android devices that support it should be backwards compatible with anything that could interface with an iPod/iPhone through a USB port.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

ok but it will take time for those head units in cars to be Android friendly.

I may be an Android user but my iPod Touch stays hooked up to my car. It's just easier to deal with.

 

[Gibson486]

I would imagine that there is some soul out there that would take the time to create an interface with the iphone on the Android. If it is not done yet, it will be done soon. After all, if it id just the USb interface, it is just going to be software that differentiates it....

 

[boomhower]

Looks like no Android then. I use it way to much in the car and I'm not carrying a dedicated audio device.

 

[Dulanic]

ok but it will take time for those head units in cars to be Android friendly.

I may be an Android user but my iPod Touch stays hooked up to my car. It's just easier to deal with.

Looks like no Android then. I use it way to much in the car and I'm not carrying a dedicated audio device.

That's why I just use BT audio... works with all of my head units commands like pause play ff rewind etc... As long as your car supports A2DP then it works great. TBH I much prefer to do it wireless over having a USB cable.

 

[Cobalt]

That's why I just use BT audio... works with all of my head units commands like pause play ff rewind etc... As long as your car supports A2DP then it works great. TBH I much prefer to do it wireless over having a USB cable.

My car has Bluetooth but no A2DP so I bought the HTC Car StereoClip to plug into my aux and it works perfect. When I had an iPhone one of the main reasons I jailbroke was for the No Accessory Splash tweak because I hated using my car interface to change tracks unless it was a simple skip or fast forward. I prefer controlling it through the phone anyway so it all works out.

 

[thamim]

Hi there.

Slightly off topic but around the same point. I have recently bought a Chinese pure android head unit and most of it works great. The only issue is reading the iPod. It reads most of the files as videos and the music player doesn't play it if it reads the iPod at all!

Does anyone have any apps or any help in this issue?

Any help is appreciated =]