Android, bluetooth, Music, and the FR-S stock pioneer stereo

[JayNutter]

This thread if for information regarding how well certain Android apps work through bluetooth with the stock FR-S Pioneer head unit. Please feel free to give input and I will edit this accordingly. The information is based on a Motorola Droid Razr.

STREAMING MUSIC APPS

Pandora
Good: Can skip songs forward.
Bad: Can't pause, can't adjust volume on stereo, and does not display song information. Display will flash "PAUSED" during use.
Info: Basic create stations by choosing a song/artist and it will play similar music. Can select music by genre. No live radio stations. Ads are annoying, but infrequent. Adjust artist/song match with simple like and unlike buttons for songs.


Slacker Radio
Good: Same as Pandora
Bad: Same as Pandora
Info: Same as Pandora. Don't remember hearing ads, but only tested for a limited amount of time.


iHeartRadio
Good: Can skip songs forward. Can adjust stations to narrow or broaden artist/song matching.
Bad: Can't adjust volume on stereo, and does not produce artist information. Same functionality as Pandora except it does not flash "PAUSED." Songs appear to cycle more frequently than Pandora.
Info: Live stations (music, news, talk, and sports), and create your own (similar to Pandora). Can select music by genre. No ads experienced yet. Adjust artist/song match with simple like and unlike buttons for songs.


TunedIn Radio - will be reviewing soon
Good:
Bad:
Info: Live radio broadcasts only that includes music, news, talk, and sports.


Last.fm - will be reviewing soon
Good:
Bad:
Info:


MUSIC ON THE PHONE APPS

My Music (Motorola App)
Good: Fully functioning app through stereo. Can pause, skip, backtrack, and adjust volume on stereo. Full display of music and artist information.
Bad: Slow to start at times.
Info: Plays music stored on the phone, and can purchase music through the store. Internet stations also available.


Play Music (Google App)
Good: Allows skipping tracks forward.
Bad: Does not display song and artist information. Does not offer same functionality as My Music Motorola app.
Info: Plays music stored on the phone, and can purchase music through the Play store.


GoneMad - will be reviewing soon
Good:
Bad:
Info:


MUSIC ON THE CLOUD APPS

??????

[TofuDelivery]

nice thread. im not sure if anyone can answer this but is there a setting for audio controls for bluetooth android syncing?? i had a galaxy S3 for my FRS, and with bluetooth i was able to play music, show song titles and artists, control skipping next and back tracks, control volume on car controls, etc. BUT i just got a HTC Droid DNA recently and bluetooth works but i CANNOT do any of those things anymore with my car. i cant control volume from my car which is the most frustrating.

im wondering if its just a HTC vs Samsung thing which just behaves differently because of the two diff manufacturers, or is it a setting that i accidentally hit on the stock pioneer audio system. any info would be great!! thanks

oh also, im using the stock "Play Music" google app that comes with all android phones.

[mezdup]

Originally Posted by TofuDelivery

nice thread. im not sure if anyone can answer this but is there a setting for audio controls for bluetooth android syncing?? i had a galaxy S3 for my FRS, and with bluetooth i was able to play music, show song titles and artists, control skipping next and back tracks, control volume on car controls, etc. BUT i just got a HTC Droid DNA recently and bluetooth works but i CANNOT do any of those things anymore with my car. i cant control volume from my car which is the most frustrating.

im wondering if its just a HTC vs Samsung thing which just behaves differently because of the two diff manufacturers, or is it a setting that i accidentally hit on the stock pioneer audio system. any info would be great!! thanks

oh also, im using the stock "Play Music" google app that comes with all android phones.

i have an HTC Rezound and although i can't see song artist/track details, everything else works fine

[RMStringer]

I use GoneMad player on Droid and i get streaming and i can pause.stop but that is it.

[JayNutter]

Originally Posted by RMStringer

I use GoneMad player on Droid and i get streaming and i can pause.stop but that is it.

I will add this player to the review soon. Can you tell me what type of music player this is? (i.e. streaming music stations, playing saved music on the phone, streaming saved music from the cloud).

[SubieNate]

Apollo (Music player included in CyanogenMod) has identical functionality to Google Play, can skip forward but no pause, no artist information, and occasional flashing "pause" even while playing.

This is on an otherwise stock Droid Razr.

If we could figure out how to make volume work with any music player I would be SO happy. I get really irritated having to fumble with my phone to adjust volume. Interestingly, if you turn the radio off and back on and quickly adjust the volume, it will allow a one time volume adjustment before locking it out again. Why would the volume adjustment even be related to the bluetooth? I see no reason for the radio to even involve the phone in that for music playing.

Nathan

[JayNutter]

Originally Posted by SubieNate

Apollo (Music player included in CyanogenMod) has identical functionality to Google Play, can skip forward but no pause, no artist information, and occasional flashing "pause" even while playing.

This is on an otherwise stock Droid Razr.

If we could figure out how to make volume work with any music player I would be SO happy. I get really irritated having to fumble with my phone to adjust volume. Interestingly, if you turn the radio off and back on and quickly adjust the volume, it will allow a one time volume adjustment before locking it out again. Why would the volume adjustment even be related to the bluetooth? I see no reason for the radio to even involve the phone in that for music playing.

Nathan

What type of music player is the Apollo? (i.e. streaming, stored on phone, internet radio, cloud based)

I am really hoping an update with the phone will fix the volume problems. Not a fan of having one second to adjust the volume.

[SubieNate]

Originally Posted by JayNutter

What type of music player is the Apollo? (i.e. streaming, stored on phone, internet radio, cloud based)

I am really hoping an update with the phone will fix the volume problems. Not a fan of having one second to adjust the volume.

Apollo plays music you have on your phone. It just has a very nice interface with a very fast album art fetching system that seems to be tied into last.fm's system (Stuff that it can't find has a red last.fm logo displayed).

It displays nice big icons for each artist so scrolling through things is easier in the car than using the ipod classic like interface on the My Music or Google apps. Unfortunately it's bluetooth functionality, like the google program is impaired.

My Music works perfect with bluetooth for me as well.

I've done a bit of reading and it seems that it is most likely a bluetooth stack communication error within the OS on the phone and not Pioneer's fault for the most part. I still don't understand why Pioneer made volume for bluetooth dedicated to bluetooth when that's running though. When you turn the dial it does not adjust the volume on the phone itself, so why does it lock up?

Nathan

[RMStringer]

My Samsung Galaxy SIII stock media player shows up track, song, title on the FR-S HU using Bluetooth.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

[privfaith]

For local music on the phone I use Poweramp. It will push the id3 tags onto the stereo display. Forward/Backward and pause work.

Only problem is that when the phone connects to the car via bluetooth it likes opening.

[RMStringer]

When I use Pandora one, it does not awaken the Pandora app on the HU.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

[SubieNate]

Yes, I wish there was some way for the bluetooth to remember which app was playing music before the car was shut off. I can be listening to pandora, go into a store, come back out, and when I turn the car on whatever was playing on Apollo or the built in music app just starts going. Highly irritating as the levels from Pandora can be a little low so when the stock app starts up it tends to be super loud.

Nathan

[RMStringer]

Ful ID3 tag support for Bluetooth on stock player.Samsung Galaxy SIII

Sent from my Galaxy SIII using Taptalk

[gunmetal5]

it appears as though most android versions does not have AVRCP technology built into the ROM. Cyanogen ROM should have it built into version 10. Ever since switching to an android phone(Nexus 4) from an iPhone I've been pretty unhappy with my BT streaming experience. Lol supposedly 4.2.2 is going have this technology built-in to it.

BTW avrcp version 1.3 allows the head unit to display artist info, controlling playback controls and volume levels.