Pioneer has made it easier to create new Pandora stations while the app is in use with the Pandora Station Creation feature. Both iPhone and select Android users can simply press and hold a button on the receiver to create a new Pandora station dynamically from the currently playing song or artist.

All this is possible with Apple’s CarPlay. CarPlay is a standard developed by Apple for car head units which allows a car’s radio to become a controller for your iOS device. It lets you connect your iPhone to the car’s head unit through either a USB port, or wirelessly, and becomes a receiver for CarPlay functions. Whether you connect your phone via a USB connector or not, this head unit does have some basic Bluetooth support for actions like hands-free calling, wireless song search and audio streaming, and audio control. This is built-in to ensure driver safety in accordance with local driving laws. Works with your iPod When you power up the device (without turning on CarPlay), you are taken to the Pioneer Home screen, that features quite a lot of menus and navigation options and might feel like a complex maze, especially for users accustomed to iPhone’s sophisticated, simple interfaces.The AppRadio 4 features Apple CarPlay, the smarter, safer and more fun way to use your iPhone® in the car. Apple CarPlay gives iPhone users an incredibly intuitive way to make calls, use Maps, listen to music, and access messages with just a word or a touch. But the only problem is – even though most car manufacturers are all licensing CarPlay in their latest models, many older models do not have CarPlay support. A push notification will appear on the iPhone asking to launch AppRadio. Select 'Yes' and AppRadio will now launch. Ensure the device is set to 'iPhone' and connection is set to 'USB', ensure that 'CarPlay' is turned on You mainly want to be able to perform voice-controlled commands with Siri, like making/receiving calls, composing/listening to text messages, playing music from your phone, and searching for places on Maps.

With the Pioneer SPH-DA120, you can control either your iPod or your iPhone through your car’s dashboard. Rear Camera If you simply want to connect your Android phone to listen to music, you can do that without an app too.There are usually two types of touchscreen technologies sold in automobile head units: resistive and capacitive. A capacitive touchscreen requires less force to register a touch and also allows for multi-touch gestures like scrolling, swiping, and pinching to zoom in and out. If you are looking for a smartphone-like experience, the DA120’s 6.2-inch capacitive touchscreen will feel good to your fingertips. FLAC support CarPlay on the Pioneer AppRadio 4 is as it is on most enabled receivers. The capacitive screen helps with scrolling and interaction with the CarPlay interface is fairly responsive and on par with the Alpine, and like the Alpine, changing the location of the CarPlay side bar is done via the settings menu. One major criticism I have, is when connecting the iPhone you always get a disclaimer screen that you have to interact with to start using CarPlay. You don’t get this with the Alpine and it is unknown why Pioneer has to put you through this jarring process, every time you fire up Apple’s in-car platform. My instant reaction, when turning on the Pioneer, was that the screen felt lower in quality. The pixels on CarPlay icons looked more pixelated than on the Alpine, even though both displays share the same resolution of 800×480, and the Alpine’s display is bigger. Powering up the Pioneer you’re taken to its main home screen. In today’s age of digital displays and tough-screens, I think it is now time for Pioneer to heavily invest some time in this area. For me, their current menu screens feel somewhat archaic. It’s practically ancient now, in its design, and it oozes that ‘boy racer’ style and doesn’t carry the sophistication that Apple has ushered into our lives and will be something iOS owners will be accustomed to. Navigating through the menus can feel you’re physically running through a mental mind maze, regularly finding yourself taking the wrong turn and ending up at a dead end. Interface & Apple CarPlay

AppRadio Mode HDMI Interface Cable Kit for iPhone® 5. Compatible with AppRadio 3, AppRadio 2, AVIC-Z150BH/X950BH, and AVH-X8500BHS. There are a limited number of apps available on CarPlay presently: Phone, Messages, Maps, Music, and Podcasts. Among third-party apps there is support for Spotify, Rdio, and Stitcher (if these are installed and active on your iPhone, they will show up on CarPlay too). A: Please see the How To Connect section and follow the three steps one by one. You will not be able to adjust the app connection without first disconnecting all the sources.

Car

This head unit comes with a rear camera input option too – to make it easier when reversing, parking, and maneuvering through tight spaces. It makes driving easier and safer. Apple/Android compatibility A push notification will appear on the device asking to launch AppRadio. Select 'Yes' and AppRadio will now launch.