What phone works best?

[Nillaz]

Mods, this last post by Nillaz needs to be a sticky.  There are answers in there that I've been searching for quite some time now.  I know others have as well.

 

Thank you Nillaz for taking the time to help with this.  I can't tell you how much it's appreciated.

 

Thanks for the thoughts, and I'm glad I could help a bit.

[King lo]

Great questions! Unfortunately rooting will not allow you to use an MHL connection on a non MHL enabled device. For our purposes here rooting only removes some artificial restrictions that stop you from running ARU Reloaded. The Razr Maxx HD also doesn't support MHL (no Motorola devices do), but I believe it is confirmed to work with ARU Reloaded via a straight HDMI to HDMI connection.

 

You are not limited to just the MAXX HD...many devices can be connected to the 8000 and use ARUR in a variety of ways...some through straight HDMI, some through MHL or Slimport, and some via Chromecast (this last is a little more complicated to set up and I don't necessarily recommend it except as a last resort). There are a few considerations, but the primary thing you have to look out for is that you can achieve root on your phone. For example, based on your current phone I am assuming you are on Verizon, and thus would not recommend the Note 4 (the phone I use on Sprint), as unless something has changed very recently root access has not been achieved on the Verizon variant. However, something like a Samsung S5 should be OK using MHL, or an LG G3 via slimport.

 

The answer to your last question is a qualified...kind of. It doesn't mean you can run ARUR on any and every device willy nilly, but people are running ARUR on all kinds of devices...including some android devices that aren't even phones. For example, here is a video of someone demonstrating ARUR running via an LG G3. Granted, it's on a european HU, though the principle is the same. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcDvsW0Q3_0

 

The point is that despite the fact that the G3 isn't officially on the Pioneer sanctioned phone list everything still works as intended. Generally speaking, where there's a will there's a way.

 

I hope your son doesn't get to bent out of shape over this, though I respect his position. Root access allows you to do things with your phone that the carriers sometimes frown upon, though in this case your need for root access is totally benign. If you've never rooted an android device before I suspect you are going to find your research a little overwhelming at first, but for most devices it's actually fairly simple to do. Many devices have a once click root method availalbe that will do all the heavy lifting for you.

 

Sorry for the long post, but I hope you find at least some of this info helpful!

 

Just want to clarify something. Older Motorola phones support MHL, however they dropped out of the alliance so whenever they updated those phones (if they received an update) one of the things that they disabled was mhl support. This is why some older Motorola phones works on the Ice Cream Sandwhich version, but don't work when upgraded to Jelly Bean/Kit Kat.

[03Aviator]

That is good to know.  But I don't know how you would keep your phone from updating.  Anymore, it's pushed to you and you either allow the update or put up with their annoying warnings forever it seems.

[Nillaz]

Just want to clarify something. Older Motorola phones support MHL, however they dropped out of the alliance so whenever they updated those phones (if they received an update) one of the things that they disabled was mhl support. This is why some older Motorola phones works on the Ice Cream Sandwhich version, but don't work when upgraded to Jelly Bean/Kit Kat.

 

I am aware of this and was speaking in general terms. The reason I didn't make mention of this specifically is because I suspect the number of people who have Motorola devices that remain on ICS yet are currently unrooted is rather small, particularly in regards to anyone who might be reading this forum.

 

One could of course root and rollback to an ICS based ROM, yet significantly altering the OS of any phone is beyond the scope of what I was trying to address here. However, for anyone interested in going down this road I suggest perusing the XDA developer forums. There is a wealth of information available there concerning just about any phone likely to be used by the members of this forum.

 

Actually, come to think of it anyone who is considering rooting there phone should probably be looking at XDA as a primary resource anyway. I probably should have mentioned that in my earlier post, so thanks for bringing this up!

[03Aviator]

I got my hands on an old Droid Maxx with HDMI and was able to finally get it rooted.  That was a chore all it's own.  If we hadn't been able to view the .bat file used, we never would have.  It kept looking for files that weren't where they were supposed to be, issued commands my pc wasn't able to execute, etc etc.  I was able to add the software to my pc that was needed for the commands, and we were able to build a path the program required.  Finally, we had to go into the file structure of the phone and add a file it kept looking for.  It finally rooted successfully.  I installed AR Unchained Reloaded and hooked it up to my 8000.  It does work...but I feel it's kind of slow and clunky.  The resolution on the Nex isn't the best as well.  Touch screen commands aren't always executed.  Little things like that.  All in all, it was a disappointment after all the work I went through to get it to work.  Maybe it's the old phone I'm using or something.  It does, however, allow you to use everything on your phone as advertised. 

 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm about to pull the trigger on an iPhone 6 so I can use Carplay instead.  One huge reason is I like voice activated commands for phone calls, etc.  I LOVED that on my Z2.  Biggest friggin' screw up in the world for Pioneer to drop that.  What were they thinking??  Anyway, every picture I see of Carplay being used shows a nice, clear screen that isn't stretched out, etc.  I guess you can use Waze on the iPhone if you use AppRadio Live, but looking at the Maps on the iPhone, they appear to be pretty good.  Again, the ones on my Nex 8000 are pathetic and it's the worst mapping software I have ever laid eyes on in my life. 

[03Aviator]

Let me ask you guys this.  I currently have APR Unchained Reloaded on an older Droid Maxx connected with HDMI and USB.  I get a screen  that is greatly compressed on the top and bottom.  (about a half to 3/4 inch of unused screen top and bottom)  I would love to include a picture, but I'm not allowed to insert any photos.  Hopefully you understand what I'm talking about. Is this what I should expect out of all Android phones using AR Unchained?  Or is it my phone?  Or a setting I can't find?  I am about to swallow a bitter pill and go with an iPhone because every single demo I see with them shows Carplay and Appradio using the entire screen.  It just looks a whole lot better.  With what I have, it's so small and stretched it's hard to read.  Any ideas?

[RRSpikes]

While your Maxx HD is connected, press the home button on the radio, press on the gears in the upper right corner,  press on the button for system (wrench/screwdriver), press input/output settings and then press appradio video adjustment.  Make your up/down/left/right adjustments, press preview and if your satisfied, press done.  

 

Adding pics is as easy as copying a link from an outside website.  I use PhotoBucket but there are many others to choose from. 

[03Aviator]

I've done that.  It doesn't do what you think it does.  It does not change the aspect ratio at all.  All it does is cut off or open up how much of it you can see.  I've got it wide open...and it still doesn't change the height of the image.  I'm like you...I thought that was the answer.  But it didn't fix a thing.  Makes me wonder if it's the phone or not.