Pioneer Working on Aftermarket CarPlay Compatibility

[DblHelix]

I am hoping Alpine will as well. I do not like how Pioneer uses pico fuses and if you aren't super delicate connecting/disconnecting things they blow and you have a loud whine in your system

 

[bacaramac]

Finally, will to buy a new AppRadio to replace AppRadio 2, if I must, as soon as it's available.

 

[koruki]

thank you Pioneer

 

[Richdmoore]

I like the idea, but I bet that the upgrade (with installing a screen in my current vehicle) will be too pricy for me.

I wonder if the ios on the car concept can be reworked into something like the iCub, or a pilot kneeboard. With a heat resistant matte touch screen this would negate almost all of the advantages of stand alone garmin aviation gps (mostly glare.)

http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/aircraft/pilot-reports/sportairusa/icub-love.html

 

[robertcoogan]

I won't buy anything made by Pioneer after dealing with the AppRadio2. Their customer support was dismal, and the AppRadio2 was problematic.

At first, my iPhone 5 would only play music, Pandora radio, and link to my phone for calls. Apps and video did not work, even with the lightning adapter. But I thought no big deal, Pioneer said that it was coming out with an adapter cable soon (and they did, it was $60). So I bought it but it still wouldn't display apps. I called Pioneer and they said to make sure I had all software updates installed and to call back.

The problem is, I tried downloading the updates and burning them onto FAT32 thumb drives and then installing them according to the directions on Pioneer's website. The AppRadio would not recognize any of the thumb drives (I tried four). I formatted the thumb drives on my Mac at first, then on Windows 7. I always got the same error. I called Pioneer, they tried to help me, but admitted that they themselves could not tell what the problem was. I asked if they wanted me to send it back for an exchange, they said that I could not, since I bought it at a third party car stereo store (the AppRadio was new when I bought it, not used). The store said that I had to go through Pioneer to get a replacement. Pioneer suggested that I try to install the updates via a preinstalled thumb drive that they could send me...for a $35 dollar fee (shipping was extra). That didn't work either. So now I am out an additional $95+ and still cannot do more than play music, Pandora radio, and link to my phone for calls.

Gets better - when I first plug in the iPhone, Pandora opens up and starts playing. Every time. There was no stopping it (I eventually uninstalled Pandora from my iPhone 5). There was also the pop-up window prompting me to allow the AppRadio app to launch. It popped up every time, right after Pandora launched. That also would not go away. When I try to play music, about 50% of the time the music would play, but the song title, album artwork, anything displayed on the AppRadio screen would freeze. Music would still play - the pause/play, back/forward buttons would still work, but nothing else would change on the screen. And less often (but still irritating), the video controls would appear when the AppRadio first started up and then would not go away unless I unplugged the iPhone and then plugged it back in. Remember I could not play video. So I then couldn't do anything except use my iPhone to change songs, etc.

This was such a waste of my money I cannot in good conscience recommend Pioneer products to anyone. Pioneer really make a turkey of a car stereo, I for sure will never buy their products again.

 

[somethingelsefl]

The link to this MR post is "https://www.macrumors.com/2014/03/12/pioneer-airplay-compatibility/"

Just sayin...

 

[kepardue]

So, knowing nothing about car accessories or cars themselves beyond that they go from point A to point B, how would these work? Do they make installable dash-mount navigation screens that would sit on top of the dash of a car that wasn't designed to have one (aka, my old 2006 Honda Civic with a plain old radio-and-CD-player dash)? That'd be great if I could buy something like this and have it installed, I just can't visualize how oogly that would look.

 

[QuarterSwede]

So, knowing nothing about car accessories or cars themselves beyond that they go from point A to point B, how would these work? Do they make installable dash-mount navigation screens that would sit on top of the dash of a car that wasn't designed to have one (aka, my old 2006 Honda Civic with a plain old radio-and-CD-player dash)? That'd be great if I could buy something like this and have it installed, I just can't visualize how oogly that would look.

Usually you pull out the old head unit and replace it with a Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood, etc head unit. A car specific mount is almost always required, especially these days.

 

[Nunyabinez]

I have a 11 year old car with 90k miles on it. Probably another year or so to get to 100k and then I will buy a new car and CarPlay will be a requirement. Until then, I don't know if I will do any mods to my current heap of a car. Still for those that have a more recent car that is worth investing in, this sounds like a good thing.

My aftermarket stereo is the most valuable part of my car.

The nice thing about an aftermarket head is that you can move it from car to car. So, you could always buy it now, use it till you get rid of your car and then move it to the new car. It would also make your buying decision less contained if you didn't have to buy a brand that offered CarPlay.

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So, knowing nothing about car accessories or cars themselves beyond that they go from point A to point B, how would these work? Do they make installable dash-mount navigation screens that would sit on top of the dash of a car that wasn't designed to have one (aka, my old 2006 Honda Civic with a plain old radio-and-CD-player dash)? That'd be great if I could buy something like this and have it installed, I just can't visualize how oogly that would look.

Usually you pull out the old head unit and replace it with a Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood, etc head unit. A car specific mount is almost always required, especially these days.

And also a wiring harness. You often also lose things like door chimes unless you buy a wiring harness that replaces that.

This might also be a little more complicated if you want to try to integrate it with steering wheel controls. That would be the only plus in my mind with getting it installed at the factory.

 

[QuarterSwede]

My aftermarket stereo is the most valuable part of my car.



The nice thing about an aftermarket head is that you can move it from car to car. So, you could always buy it now, use it till you get rid of your car and then move it to the new car. It would also make your buying decision less contained if you didn't have to buy a brand that offered CarPlay.

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And also a wiring harness. You often also lose things like door chimes unless you buy a wiring harness that replaces that.



This might also be a little more complicated if you want to try to integrate it with steering wheel controls. That would be the only plus in my mind with getting it installed at the factory.

That's why I buy from Crutchfield. It usually costs more than what I could get from Amazon for just the head unit but they include car specific instructions, mounts, antenna adapters, and harnesses for free. Totally worth it to reduce the hassle.

 

[doelcm82]

So, a touchscreen device to connect your touchscreen device to.

Great.

It's like a wireless headset for your wireless phone.

No one would buy one. They would just use rubber bands to strap the phone to their skull. Much cheaper.

Similarly, people will still dig their phones out of their pockets to do all the touchscreen interaction. This car integration will be as much of a failure as bluetooth was.

 

[panther quest]

Will something like this integrate with steering wheel and dashboard controls? Ideally I hope there's an adapter that allows for Carplay thats a hidden unit.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Pioneer Working on Aftermarket CarPlay Compatibility

Will something like this integrate with steering wheel and dashboard controls? Ideally I hope there's an adapter that allows for Carplay thats a hidden unit.

I'd imagine, yes as the first integrated solutions all use the steering wheel buttons to invoke CarPlay. You can get car specific harnesses that will allow you to use your car's media buttons already with aftermarket head units.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

This is a report coming from some low level phone rep. The chances that they know anything is VERY slim. They'll say anything to make people happy and get them off the phone.

I want it to be true but I don't have a ton of hope until we have a much more legit source.

 

[PracticalMac]

Pioneer made Mac clones back in 90's, so there is a long history between Apple and them.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

That's why I buy from Crutchfield. It usually costs more than what I could get from Amazon for just the head unit but they include car specific instructions, mounts, antenna adapters, and harnesses for free. Totally worth it to reduce the hassle.

I paid $12 for my mount and $4 for my wiring harness. Crutchfield wanted over $150 more than Amazon was charging for the exact same AppRadio 3 and would not price match. Crutchfield is stupidly overpriced and always has been. The harness and mounting kits are super cheap.

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Pioneer made Mac clones back in 90's, so there is a long history between Apple and them.

They made them for 2 years ('95-'97) and they didn't sell for crud and they were only available in Japan. That's hardly a long history. If you dated a girl for a couple years and broke up with her 17 years ago, you wouldn't say "We have a long history together."

 

[QuarterSwede]

Pioneer Working on Aftermarket CarPlay Compatibility

I paid $12 for my mount and $4 for my wiring harness. Crutchfield wanted over $150 more than Amazon was charging for the exact same AppRadio 3 and would not price match. Crutchfield is stupidly overpriced and always has been. The harness and mounting kits are super cheap.

The unit I just bought was $25 more on Crutchfield. To get the harness, adapter and mount would've been $40 so I saved $15 by going with them instead. I stayed away from AppRadio though and went with a BT unit so maybe the lower end is better matched by Critchfield.

 

[lordofthereef]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand car theives will have a reason to steal stereos again!

 

[TwoBytes]

My credit card is down!

The best ios in the car integration was the iphone itself as the controller. O car made it but then lost out by being lazy and not updating their buggy units which could have made lots of money.

This ios in the car & pioneer relationship could be the answer to my thread https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1687436/

 

[mdelvecchio]

for anybody interested in Pioneer's email, i had asked them about CarPlay and whether they would support it w/ say a new AppRadio model. this is what they said:

Thank you for contacting Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.

At the Geneva Motor Show, Apple announced CarPlay and has finalized and shared the CarPlay specification.

Currently, Pioneer is studying the possibility to implement CarPlay compatibility with both existing and future products.


Sincerely,

[redacted]
Customer Service Representative​

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Pioneer already has the AppRadio 3. Theyv'e been iterating on it and it works pretty well. I think CarPlay would give it a boost. I've been considering it for my old trusty GTI.

they do, and the AR3 is okay...but not great. my main two beefs:

- no good iOS mapping app. Waze simply doesnt cut it, i want Apple Maps, Garmin USA, or Google Maps on AppRadio and it isnt there.

- scrolling in music app is janky. really janky.

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Carplay is built upon blackberry os.

no. CarPlay is based on iOS. it's an outbound video signal that responds to inbound touch events relayed to it by a head unit.

So looks like pioneer is looking at updating firmware/os on some head units to add carplay.

i dont think you know that. CarPlay as demonstrated worked w/ head units that run the OS youre referring to, but you dont know if Apple's "spec" referenced by Pioneer supports other platforms. if it's a set of APIs, then there is nothing stopping AppRadio (which is Windows CE-based) from supporting CarPlay signals.

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They don't have a AppRadio 4 planned for this year. The AppRadio 3 is the newest, at least for 2014.

regardless of year released, the hope is CarPlay compatibility will reside in AR4.

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Cruisin' along enjoying a song *pothole* new playlist.

funny you mention this -- that's exactly what happens w/ my AppRadio3 today...i hit a big bump and the song skips to the next track.

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It's an application from QNX that Blackberry owned or bought out. They just re-worked it on top of iOS.

nope. iOS runs atop the head unit's OS, not the other way. think of the iOS device w/ CarPlay as a server and it interacts w/ the client head unit, sending video and receiving touch input. these are two different OSes interacting w/ each other via a published API (application programming interface).

 

[Menel]

This is going to grow big...but sadly it will add more to your car payment.

Payments are for idiots who like funding the banking industry.

The entire point of the article is about your pending ability to retrofit CarPlay (via Pioneer and others) into your current car, or a preowned car you can actually afford.

 

[mdelvecchio]

Uh yes, it always cost more to have in-dash packages installed. Have you purchased a new car in a while?

but this article is about third-party, aftermarket head units -- which have absolutely no bearing on your car payment.

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This could be big but Apple will mess it up somehow. Like FireWire or thunderbolt or AirPrint or Lightning. If they require 3th party investments, they always screw up.

all of which are things that arent screwed up. FireWire was the standard IO for camcorders for many years, and FW drives outperformed USB, i use one today still. TB is even better. i use AirPrint on a non-AirPrint printer every day. and Lightning is great. not sure what youre doing wrong?

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I like the idea, but I bet that the upgrade (with installing a screen in my current vehicle) will be too pricy for me.

if you cant afford a $300 Pioneer AppRadio double-din head unit, then you arent in the game. sorry.

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So, knowing nothing about car accessories or cars themselves beyond that they go from point A to point B, how would these work? Do they make installable dash-mount navigation screens that would sit on top of the dash of a car that wasn't designed to have one (aka, my old 2006 Honda Civic with a plain old radio-and-CD-player dash)?

no -- aftermarket head units like these sit *in* your dash, not on it. most cars use standard, swappable stereos that take up either a single DIN or a double-DIN spot. you car's dash is molded to hide this, but aftermarket installs are very common.

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Will something like this integrate with steering wheel and dashboard controls? Ideally I hope there's an adapter that allows for Carplay thats a hidden unit.

yes, Pioneer's current AppRadio models support steering wheel control adapters...these kits line up the pins from the wheel to the head unit to execute the commands sent to it.

 

[Menel]

Pioneer already has the AppRadio 3. Theyv'e been iterating on it and it works pretty well. I think CarPlay would give it a boost. I've been considering it for my old trusty GTI.

All reports Ive heard its janky at best.

The deck in your link is archaic, doesn't even spec HD Radio, which kills 4 stations I listen to.

 

[mdelvecchio]

This is a report coming from some low level phone rep. The chances that they know anything is VERY slim. They'll say anything to make people happy and get them off the phone.

I want it to be true but I don't have a ton of hope until we have a much more legit source.

we werent on the phone. and if you read the email (posted above), youll see it looks like a canned reponse -- something written by management, not the fellow who sent the email.

there is no reason to doubt what it said -- that they are reviewing the possibility of implementing it. you know, like they do for all the apple APIs -- iPod Control, Siri Eyes-Free, etc... this is their business as an aftermarket head unit manufacturer. whether they will or not is another story, but clearly theyre interested, because we the consumers are interested.

 

[Menel]

So, knowing nothing about car accessories or cars themselves beyond that they go from point A to point B, how would these work? Do they make installable dash-mount navigation screens that would sit on top of the dash of a car that wasn't designed to have one (aka, my old 2006 Honda Civic with a plain old radio-and-CD-player dash)? That'd be great if I could buy something like this and have it installed, I just can't visualize how oogly that would look.

Even my 2005 Acura can take a double/single DIN. You're gonna have a hard time convincing me a Civic of similar vintage can't.