Any Car Stereo Support?

[CapnPauly]

Hi all,
I'm curious to see if anyone knows of any car stereos/head-units that will read my WP8 device (Lumia 920, specifically) via USB.
I don't like using the AUX port (doesn't sound as good to me) and while I can use Bluetooth, I prefer to use the USB connection, as a would like to be able to play/pause/rewind/etc from the head-unit/remote controls (along with the added benefit of charging the device).

I stopped by Best Buy last week and tried the stereos they had on display, but none of them recognized my phone, which is odd, as I thought it was supposed to work like a standard "USB Mass-Storage Device", but I was wrong.

Anyone have any success with using their WP8 with a car stereo's USB connection?

Thanks in advance!

 

[aubreyq]

I don't think it's possible, yet. Hopefully in the future.

 

[zombiegrrl86]

I'll have to keep an eye on this thread. I'm getting ready to upgrade my stereo.

 

[vedichymn]

Nope, this doesn't seem to work currently, I'm also hoping for this as an "upside" to the new sync setup.

 

[hopmedic]

I'd be interested in either a bluetooth or USB setup that would work... The problem with using the aux input is that when using the aux input to play music (or podcasts, as in my case), if you're linked by bluetooth for hands free (as my car stereo has BT hands free capability but not streaming capability), you have to unplug from the phone in order to talk to the phone. Otherwise the phone looks to the headset jack for audio input, and doesn't hear anything, since the audio cable that's plugged in has no mic.

Also related, has anyone found a solution that works to keep electrical interference noise out of the stereo if charging while playing from phone? I usually don't charge while playing, but sometimes if I wasn't paying attention to my battery and was using heavily, I may have to.

 

[Sinabu]

I'll have to try the USB on mine but I'm assuming your talking about aftermarket stereos.

Currently in mine I can play via Bluetooth and control the audio through my dash and steering wheel. I am not sure if it works with the USB plugged in but I will give it a try.

 

[CapnPauly]

Yes, I'm talking about aftermarket stereos/head-units. Again, I tried it with everything at Best Buy (JVC, Sony, Pioneer, Kenwood, etc), but none worked. That's not to say that there are some out there that will work, but none of these worked, nor did my Hyundai OEM stereo.
Bluetooth works and sounds pretty good on my OEM stereo, but I cannot control it via the steering wheel's controls. If I could, I would be happy, I suppose, but USB would be the best option.

Yeah, try it on yours and see if you get lucky.

 

[Sinabu]

Tried it on mine on the way home and the radio just says "media failed" it charges my phone but that's it. The Bluetooth works fine for controlling the music though for me.

 

[CapnPauly]

Hmmm...but your steering wheel remote can control your phone via BT? What sort of stereo do you have? Is it aftermarket or OEM?

 

[CoZmicShReddeR]

So you plugged it into a Stereo meant for iOS and Android recognition? I would think it would be much like with a computer the Stereo would have to support the device with something like a built in driver or the device you plugged in would require some kind of device code to mimic a standard plug in play type of device like a stereo??

 

[CapnPauly]

So you plugged it into a Stereo meant for iOS and Android recognition? I would think it would be much like with a computer the Stereo would have to support the device with something like a built in driver or the device you plugged in would require some kind of device code to mimic a standard plug in play type of device like a stereo??

Not quite. The stereos I looked at "Recognized" Android devices merely as USB mass-storage devices, which is what I was expecting the WP8 devices to be recognized as, since it works that way when I connect it to my PC. These stereos can also read USB flash drives.

 

[MechanizedSunrise]

I'm guessing the headunits just don't have the driver support. Random question though, did you have your phone unlocked when you were testing it? I have found that storage on my phone does not show up when connected to a computer, unless I have the phone unlocked.

I'm hoping that we'll see WP8 support for headunits at CES2013 in a month, and product on shelves in 3.

 

[CapnPauly]

Yeah, I tried it with the phone unlocked. I even tried looking around in the settings and music app to see if it recognized that it was connected via USB, but couldn't find anything helpful.

 

[kwajr]

I'd be interested in either a bluetooth or USB setup that would work... The problem with using the aux input is that when using the aux input to play music (or podcasts, as in my case), if you're linked by bluetooth for hands free (as my car stereo has BT hands free capability but not streaming capability), you have to unplug from the phone in order to talk to the phone. Otherwise the phone looks to the headset jack for audio input, and doesn't hear anything, since the audio cable that's plugged in has no mic.

Also related, has anyone found a solution that works to keep electrical interference noise out of the stereo if charging while playing from phone? I usually don't charge while playing, but sometimes if I wasn't paying attention to my battery and was using heavily, I may have to.

haven't tried that with Bluetooth but if I have it plugged in to aux I can take a call use voice and everything works fine no mix on cable it uses the phone mic doesn't it know that a bt headset has a mic

 

[duz]

So you plugged it into a Stereo meant for iOS and Android recognition? I would think it would be much like with a computer the Stereo would have to support the device with something like a built in driver or the device you plugged in would require some kind of device code to mimic a standard plug in play type of device like a stereo??

Much like computers, I would have assumed that they work on a standardized media protocol to communicate...

For example, if I plug my 920 into my computer, winamp will recognize and play media from my phone without any special updates.

I have to say, plugging my phone into the car via USB is a pretty vital thing for me, to the point where I am considering just buying an iPod to do my music stuff and have the phone not do any media at all, which is a bit of a shame really.
That being said, haven't tried Bluetooth media playing yet, that sounds like it could solve the problems....

 

[Sinabu]

Hmmm...but your steering wheel remote can control your phone via BT? What sort of stereo do you have? Is it aftermarket or OEM?

Its my oem radio . I can use the wheel controls and on screen control on the radio

 

[baseballbert]

I synced my 2009 ford focus withy 920 today. Really nice to have!

 

[vedichymn]

It looks like with the latest Sync update I applied to my car, I can get USB sort of working, assuming I plug the phone in when it's unlocked.

Indexing is quite a bit slower than iOS devices, (it didn't finish indexing roughly 1500 songs in a 30 minute drive), and overall it's pretty flaky, but it's actually better than the bluetooth options.

 

[Joshua Jackson]

Not quite. The stereos I looked at "Recognized" Android devices merely as USB mass-storage devices, which is what I was expecting the WP8 devices to be recognized as, since it works that way when I connect it to my PC. These stereos can also read USB flash drives.

Technically, Windows Phone doesn't mount the internal memory as a mass-storage device (notice that a drive letter isn't assigned while connected - but it shows Windows Phone\Phone\Music, etc...).

MTP (Media Transfer Protocol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) is a different technology that car stereos simply don't support.

By design, MTP devices (like PTP devices) are not treated as a traditional removable drive. The actual file system is implemented by the device, not by the computer's operating system.

Maybe they will, in the future.
Right now, though, it's a very Apple-centric world.
JJ

 

[anon(5346288)]

This is something I have been looking at as well. I may just go with an aftermarket unit with Bluetooth built in and allow me to have hand free and cable free I guess...