Stickboy46

I know its not a "solution" to your problem, but you can try my "workaround". I got tired of having to change cables and reset everything up everytime i switched phones or switched roms on Android so I picked up a broken screen ipod touch off ebay for cheap. I leave that plugged in at all times and just have the ipod touch connect via bluetooth tethering to my phone to share my internet connection. This way i get the benefit of the extended support that iOS gets on the app radio and still have Android as my main phone. I dont have to plug anything in when i get into my car, its all automatic. To me its the best of both worlds and you dont have to rely on Pioneer for an update everytime your Android receives an update.

Is there any reason that this wouldnt work on an iPod touch running 5.1.1? I've tried installing it and it shows in Cydia as installed but i dont get any settings in the settings menu and none of the benefits show up either.

In case anyone was wondering, as of right now the app radio 2 does not work with android 4.1 Jelly bean. Doesn't respond to any input in the apps menu and I haven't been able to successfully connect Pandora.

Is it possible to control Pandora from the headunit on the 8400 if you have an android phone? (over bluetooth). The website isnt real clear.

Thanks

You might try an A/V Dock instead. I purchased a Desktop Dock for my Razr Maxx and just mounted it to my car. Since the Razr has both micro HDMI and USB i didnt want to have to plug both in everytime.

Is there anyone out there that would be willing to work up a background app that allows full control of your Android from the appRadio Interface. I'm sure its possible, since the iPhone can do it now. I dont have time to look into all the APIs and all that. I'd be willing to donate to anyone that could.

Google Maps works on the headunit but it is not the "navigation" part, just the maps directions that update as you go. The Navigation part can be done but you have to set it up on the phone. Then it will display on the screen and play the prompts through the stereo.

Ok, so i picked up an AppRadio 2 last week to replace my AppRadio 1. Then Saturday I picked up a Droid Razr Maxx to replace my iPhone 4s. Here are my first thoughts.

Hardware: I just used a cheap HDMI to micro HDMI cable from Best Buy and plugged it into the back of the Headunit (into the HDMI port). Thats all it took, no special cable required. I actually ended up picking up an HD Dock for the Razr and i am mounting that on the corner of my dash so it will be a quick and easy plug and play for both HDMI and Micro USB (to charge). Other than that it took about 5 minutes to get the cables hooked up, and you can leave both the iphone cable and the android cable plugged in and it works fine.

Also the 2 way switch that i had for the parking brake wire works perfectly on the AppRadio 2, no change needed

Software: The initial setup was kind of a pain and it takes some getting used to. The AppRadio and the Android pair via bluetooth, and that can take 30 seconds to a minute to fully connect once you have plugged in the hdmi. Pandora causes the phone to disconnect via bluetooth but then works fine. You have to tell your phone to mirror your image via HDMI for it to work when you plug it in. I set it to "remember that setting" so once i get it my car, i toss it in the dock and i can leave the phone alone. There are no pop ups on the phone for you to press or open like on the iphone. You press pandora it opens, you press Apps and it opens the AppRadio app (which stays running at all times on the phone). Then from there you can select your apps. Downside so far is that only CarMediaPlayer and Auepeo work for Android (along with the contacts, calendar, maps). Hopefully eventually more apps will work (Rdio im looking at you). The plus side is that if you back out of the appradio app (using the back button on the headunit), you can mirror the phone screen on the headunit. So you will see your full home screen. Now you cant control it from the headunit but you can still use other apps and display everything up there. I have my phone mounted where i can touch it without being too much distraction. This allows you to use google maps navigation up on the headunit screen and bringing the sound through the radio, which is nice because that means a free navigation system. Also keep in mind since it mirrors the home screen any texts or anything will show on the headunit (you can actually see the status bar including battery and signal and all that). So if you are talking to someone you dont want your passenger to see, stick to Pandora because all other apps show it.

Overall it works well and for the price of the unit, it isnt too bad. I'm hoping that there will be more android apps made to be made functional, or maybe a 3rd party app to allow it to read ALL inputs from the head unit, even from the home screen, which would make it amazing. I have a feeling it is possible.

Yeah thats why there are no more head units for me. I am doing just find with all the features I want and no limitations with an in dash iPad.

Do you have some information on how you set that up? Pictures, diagrams or whatever?

So I just had a conversation with Best Buy and the guy told me I need a $150 wiring harness because my vehicle is a post 2003 GM? He said it had to do with OnStar and system notifications?

 

I couldn't give a shit about OnStar, is this thing really necessary?

I believe that module is to allow any "vehicle" noise to work. So you without that you wont have onstar or your dinger (like with lights on and doors open and stuff) and anything else that the vehicle might play out through the stereo.

Does anyone know of a replacement for backgrounder for iOS 5. I dont think its going to be updated for it and it makes life so much better on the APPradio. You can back out of the app on your phone but your headunit will still updated and remain control of the app. So if i need to respond to a text or something i can. Anyone know of anything or willing to look into develop something?

This has never worked on any other Pioneer unit likely wont work here. Pioneer's have always required a two wire bypass.

Thanks for the input but i have it working in my car right now. So yes it WILL and DOES work as already stated.

Where can I find my parking brake wire? I have one of the 'foot activated' ones.

 

Anybody know what color it typically is?

For the override you dont have to find the parking brake wire on the car. Just connect the parking brake wire on the back of the head unit to a switch then to a ground.

Mine doesnt. When i got my iPhone originally i had one with horrible battery life and would heat up really bad. Swapped it out and it runs fine now.

Thanks, guess I'm stuck in wait mode until the new one arrives.

Did you try pressing the reset under the microsd door ?

I will agree with you on many subject. The ipod app is crap. It really is. The biggest flaw is you cant just click ON the name. Even if it is on the screen you have to use the arrow buttons to toggle to it then press ok. Making a one press item possible a 5 press item.

With that said i have been using the RDIO app and i really like that. After setting up to sync my iTunes with their library i now have my entire library on there and can find other albums by that artist quickly or even set up a pandora like station for them. But with this you can skip songs, start over songs, and jump to other ones. Pretty cool idea though the 9.99 a month will turn some off.

The Pandora app looks pretty good in comparison to the iPod app.

I tried netflix through it and it worked great also.

I agree there are a few glaring WTF issues but overall im excited to see if anyone else comes up with some innovative apps for this.

I decided to go ahead and connect it to the parking break. I thought I would see how inconvient it was. I don't need to view video while driving. However, the PITA apply, remove, apply every time is stupid. Looking for a bypass. I don't understand why Pioneer makes it so difficult.

All it takes is hooking the parking brake wire to a switch then to a ground. Flip it up and down when it asks for the brake and you are good to go.

So you are using Backgrounder to address issues with how the unit works the phone? Interesting.

I'm using it to overcome the issues that Apple has with multitasking. Unfortunately, it takes away alot of power from the App developers to create great apps

Likely off topic but out of curiosity why would you use Backgrounder?

Because while the iOS has mulittasking built in, it still isnt true multi tasking. For instance, say i start a song on pandora and then i get a text, i switch to the text and the pandora information on the screen freezes. The music will still play but the information and controls are back on the iphone now not the HU. I had a few times where it wouldnt return control to the head unit when you brought it back up.

More serious is with the navigation. I start navigating and then go to respond to a text or something and when i minimize the navigation program the maps disappear from the screen. With backgrounder it continues to act as if its in the foreground

That is the workaround but only for people that want to jailbreak.

Very true, but unfortunately to get the most use out of this headunit you need to jailbreak. Backgrounder does wonders for this headunit. You can start Pandora, then back out of it to reply to a text message and the head unit will maintain control and keep updating.

Has anyone figured out a way to override the parking brake protection on the App radio. I havent even hooked up the parking brake wire yet and was wondering if hooking it up to a low voltage hot source with a switch would work.

Edit 1: Scratch that. All it takes is simply grounding the parking brake wire. Now when my whole group goes on a float trip this weekend we can stream netflix on the way there.

Edit 2: Ok after a few reboots the device started asking again for me to 1. Apply the parking brake 2. Remove it, 3. Reapply it. So i wired it up to a simply 2 position switch with the other side to a ground and if it asks me on boot up for that i flip the switch back and forth a few times and it lets me play video again and stays that way until another reboot.

Larger nav text on left.

 

How do we enable the larger text on the left. I have a 700bt if that makes any difference. Also i am not getting the mute and cancel nav buttons on the navigation screen like shown.

 

 

Great mods by the way.

 

I think you need to delete your save files. Either that or you are in full screen cockpit mode.

 

Larger text is enabled by default. This is the old:

[attachment=1]IMG_0343.JPG[/attachment]

 

And this is the new:

Ok .. i had full screen cockpit enabled haha. So i got that figured out. My next question is more of a functionality question than a question about your mod but how to do you lock it down to the low level view like show in the pictures. I found that clicking on the compass switches the view around but it never stays there. Also whenever i have it locked on the car it goes to a top down view. (ive only had this a few days so if this is a dumb question im sorry) Thanks

Larger nav text on left.

How do we enable the larger text on the left. I have a 700bt if that makes any difference. Also i am not getting the mute and cancel nav buttons on the navigation screen like shown.

Great mods by the way.

Ok, i Just picked up a F700BT from my Best Buy that used to be on display. This one is most likely on the first firmware released. Do i need to update to 2.0 before updating to 3.0? Or can i just go straight to 3.0? Thanks

How hard would it be to swap the screen from a bricked F700BT to one with a broken screen?