How do I listen to music over USB to car stereo?

[ztmike]

Found this while typing this up just now
Samsung Galaxy S - Hooking up galaxy S to car radio via usb.

Since there's no SD card on this phone..surely there's a way to play music to my car stereos USB plugin? My iPhone 4S did it and even the 3GS does it. How can something so simple be such a job for a top of the end phone?:-!

 

[asd216]

Get a double headed 3.5mm cord and plug it in your aux.

 

[anon(20593)]

Why do you want to plug it into the USB port in any case?

It is child's play to just plug the phone using a 3.5 mm cord into your car audio system's aux input.

 

[TabGuy]

Why do you want to plug it into the USB port in any case?

So that the song titles and artists show on the car's LCD display. And, in the case of Ford Sync, which I have, you can choose songs, artists and playlists via voice. Using simple audio jack connector dumbs down the connection and doesn't permit full usage of the interface.

 

[jharo]

So that the song titles and artists show on the car's LCD display. And, in the case of Ford Sync, which I have, you can choose songs, artists and playlists via voice. Using simple audio jack connector dumbs down the connection and doesn't permit full usage of the interface.

If you have the Ford Sync, why not use bluetooth? It does all of that.

 

[seanubis]

Since there's no SD card on this phone..surely there's a way to play music to my car stereos USB plugin?

Unlikely - most car stereo USB ports can only read mass storage devices. The GN doesn't use mass storage mode over USB, so unless your stereo speaks MTP over USB, I don't think you'll be able connect to your stereo.

 

[TabGuy]

If you have the Ford Sync, why not use bluetooth? It does all of that.

On my 2009 Ford Sync Bluetooth behaves the same way as a 3.5 mm line-in cable does. Newer versions of Sync may be smarter with Bluetooth.

 

[TabGuy]

Unlikely - most car stereo USB ports can only read mass storage devices. The GN doesn't use mass storage mode over USB, so unless your stereo speaks MTP over USB, I don't think you'll be able connect to your stereo.

All Fords with Sync circa 2008 and newer will do it just fine.

 

[jharo]

On my 2009 Ford Sync Bluetooth behaves the same way as a 3.5 mm line-in cable does. Newer versions of Sync may be smarter with Bluetooth.

Have you checked to see if there is an update for your Sync? That may fix your bluetooth problem.

 

[TabGuy]

Have you checked to see if there is an update for your Sync? That may fix your bluetooth problem.

Yes, I'm at the latest version of Sync.

 

[dubge]

I had to resort to a 3.5mm as well, it works OK but you lose the on screen and the ability to use the stereo remote to shuffle through songs. I was having issues with the nexus and my Kenwood so I bought a new Kenwood only to find out they no longer do ad2p, says it streams Pandora but can only control it through the stereo over USB or Bluetooth.

Not sure why all these after market stereo manufacturers are doing away with ad2p????

 

[rengek]

I connect in 1 of 2 ways. My car has multiple usb ports specifically for music players. So its a no brainer to simply connect one end to my GN and the other end to my car. Works fine. Likewise I can plug in any usb player with audio files and my car will recognize playable files.

My preferred method is to use bluetooth audio since I don't have to do anything. BT is always active on my phone. As soon as I get into the car and turn on the ignition its synced together. I only had to do initial pairing and configuration for the car to recognize my phone and how to handle it as an audio player vs cell phone. This is a 2011 model. I also had the 2008 model of the car which did not have bluetooth audio. It just had bluetooth for cell phone use. In that model my only option was through the usb port. The other advantage of BT audio is that I can also stream Pandora through the car the same way as a music player or any other cell phone app for that matter.

 

[dflores]

My iPhone 4S did it and even the 3GS does it. How can something so simple be such a job for a top of the end phone?:-!

The problem is more so that older ideas of connectivity are still being held onto. You car's receiver is what is not keeping up. I can't imagine actually plugging my phone into my car every time I set foot in it, and haven't for several years. I realize that coming from an iPhone, you feel the need to plug into something everyday, but you need to move on. A reciever supporting A2DP is really the way to go. It'll cost half as much as your phone and serve you for several years longer.

 

[tony bag o donuts]

I am just using the moto t505 in my car with no issues.
want the parrot 9100 though.

 

[whydidnt]

The problem is more so that older ideas of connectivity are still being held onto. You car's receiver is what is not keeping up. I can't imagine actually plugging my phone into my car every time I set foot in it, and haven't for several years.

I disagree with this sentiment. We are talking about cars that are less than 2 years old and at the time they were sold offered the newest technology available at the time. People are not going to swap out the head unit's in their car annually like they do a phone. Google's decision to limit USB connections to MTP limits the functionality of what is supposed to be a high end phone.

I have a 2010 vehicle with the first generation Sync with Navigation screen installed. Via USB it will index media allowing voice control..play playlist xxx, play artist xxx. It's very useful, but the Nexus won't do this. The Nexus connects just fine via Bluetooth AD2P, and streams everything wonderfully, but other than skipping to the next or previous track (also works with many third party apps, not just stock music player), you must control everything with the phone. So I'm stuck using an old iPod connected to the USB port to get the voice control I want. This sucks because I have to pull the device and sync it to my computer to update anything. It's not seamless, but it is safer to use the voice command than it is to try and tap on the Nexus screen at 70 MPH.

I understand new phones can't maintain backwards compatibility forever, but Mass Storage Mode is still widely used and is not obsolete technology. It would be great if the first version Sync could be updated to support Media Indexing via Bluetooth, but replacing the head unit every year because Google decides they want a new standard is just crazy.

 

[Whoknowes]

you dont have one installed ? the Galaxy has 16 Gb on board and room for up to 32 Gb in an external card... why dont you just get a usb memory card reader or another flash drive to use.... the SG can act as a media storage device, but not sure your radio would recognize the phone or not.

 

[ztmike]

you dont have one installed ? the Galaxy has 16 Gb on board and room for up to 32 Gb in an external card... why dont you just get a usb memory card reader or another flash drive to use.... the SG can act as a media storage device, but not sure your radio would recognize the phone or not.

You do realize you are in the Verizon forum right? The Verizon version of the Galaxy Nexus only has 32GB onboard, no SD card.

 

[dflores]

It would be great if the first version Sync could be updated to support Media Indexing via Bluetooth, but replacing the head unit every year because Google decides they want a new standard is just crazy.

My 4 year old headunit supports A2DP on everything from my old iPhone 3G to my current day Nexus. That doesn't require buying a new receiver every year, and A2DP is a standard, indexing media over Bluetooth is not. I never use voice commands to control audio, since I mostly drive loud cars and motorcycles, so the ability the skip through my playlist has always been adequate, but in my one car that has better iPod support, I still find that Bluetooth streaming is the way to go, even though I can't use the fancy rotary dial and voice prompts. I guess it just comes down to a matter of preference... until they release a new spec.

 

[dflores]

A2DP is a standard, indexing media over Bluetooth is not.

Actually, I take that back. AVRCP 1.4 would allow for this, but your headunit would also have to support it. Android appears to only support AVRCP 1.0, which makes sense since I never see song information on the remote display. Everything appears to support 1.0 though, even my bike helmet.

 

[black11cruzelt]

hello is there any way I can connect my samsung exhibit to my 2011 chevy cruze via bluetooth? Ive tried the usb cable & had no luck. also the aux connection didnt seem as clear.