[Android General] bradleyem:
Here is my experience so far with my AppRadio.

First off, this is exactly what I've been looking for, for a VERY long time...(well ALMOST). For years I've thought that I already have EVERYTHING on my phone that I'd like to see in a mobile head unit. Music, navigation, video, internet access, etc...Its all already there, I just needed a touch screen and an amplifier. I've experimented with car computers, tablets and just about any other way to try to achieve what the AppRadio and ARUnchained does.

When I purchased my AppRadio, I was looking at the AR3, but at the time neither ARLiberator or ARUnchained had AR3 support. So, I found a used AR2 that I was able to buy for $165. I also purchased an android connection kit. I was using it with a Motorola Razr Maxx HD. I had some trouble getting it set up to work. The phone has a micro HDMI connector on it, and was running CM11, but since KittKatt did not have HDMI support, I had to go back to stock firmware on the phone. Then I had issues with ARUnchained, so I tried ARLiberator. I don't really think now that the issue was ARUnchained. I was able to get it to work but it was still really buggy. Getting it to connect was always a crap shoot. I used it like this for several months, occasionally messing with it to try to get it to connect better.

So, last week I upgraded my phone to a Samsung Galaxy Note 3. I also bought a Netgear PTV3000 Push2TV adapter with the hope of being able to have everything connect wirelessly when I get in the car. I was able to get it to connect, but the lag was HORRID. I knew there would be a delay, and I figured that it would be a second or so. It was almost 3 seconds though. But the worse part was that it caused a HUGE lag on my phone. I couldn't even play music on Spotify (stored locally, not streaming) without it skipping and stuttering. Forget about trying to use GPS, video, etc. So, I returned the PTV3000 and looked for a Samsung MHL to HDMI adapter, but of course I couldn't find one anywhere. So I bought a generic Auvio MHL to HDMI adapter. This came with a 5 pin to 11 pin MHL plug as well. It worked, but it would not charge the phone in fast charge mode, so the phone would discharge faster than it could charge. Plus, the 5 pin to 11 pin adapter is cheap, and huge, so it would end up breaking the charging port on the phone eventually. The good thing is that it connects every time now. I've been working through little things like screen orientation, etc. and it is very close to being what I want.

Right now I have the cables ran to my center console. so I plug the phone in and put it in the console. Ideally I'd like to have a dock attached to the windshield, with the MHL cable ran through the headliner/trim out of sight so there are no dangling cables. I found a 6 foot 11 pin MHL extension cable that I'll run from the dock to the radio. Then I'll use a 5 pin to 11 pin MHL plug going to the Pioneer MHL adapter, all tucked inside the dash. I would like to use a dock that has an integrated plug so that I don't have to plug in/unplug the cord every time that I dock/undock the phone. Hopefully I can find one that will support the full 11 pin MHL connection, as most car docks are wired for charging only.

My only other real pet peeve is that I wish that we could do away with the phone functions being handled by the AppRadio, and just have a strictly mirroring application with the phone itself handling everything. One reason is that when in landscape mode, the phone buttons go off of the screen. I cannot use the keypad or other buttons on the pioneer phone application when talking on the phone. The other reason is that the phone's native phone app is just better anyway.

I also have a question for anyone else that may be using a Galaxy Note 3 with an AppRadio 2. When in landscape mode, the PIN Unlock keypad also goes off the screen, so I have to unlock the phone from the phone screen itself. I have to use PIN lock because of corporate policy on my exchange server. I believe that KitKat ROMs have a "trusted connection" setting for Bluetooth devices that will bypass the screen lock when you connect to those devices. AFAIK, the stock firmware does not have this. Does anyone know of a way to move/resize the lock screen so that the PIN keypad can be used in landscape mode?

And THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU Area51 for your hard work on this!!!! I will be donating soon, and will definitely support further development.