^you can simultaneously hook into an ipod (as i demonstrated in the video) so there is that. but you're right, it's basically an FM radio with ipod capabilities.

Is it possible to have an ipod and android phone hooked up at the same time? Looks it from a connections point of view.

Yup. That's what i did. I bought a second phone on eBay for use specifically for the appradio

I wonder what the cheapest phone with hdmi/mhl is?

I looked at it seriosuly a few months back.. if it had the ability to play mp3 off of a usb drive without having the phone connected I would have gone for one.

I've moved to the Parrot Asteroid Smart & am loving it. I dropped that App Radio 2 like it was hot. It was annoying . . . even with ARLiberator (which I thankfully got a full refund on too). I considered the Ca-Fi knockoff, even ordered it, then canceled it. The PAS works great so far. I don't really miss physical knobs. It is easy enough to pause the audio for any type of input: bluetooth/usb and even yes, line in. It's not a real pause, more of a mute, but BT/USB is an actual pause.

Swiping up/down for volume, left/right for prev/next track work fine.

I"ve got it rooted, gmail/voice/etc installed. BT tethering works great. It has a 'dual mode' for BT in which you can connect more than 1 phone. It works well, but you lose ability to BT tether. On my Evo, BT doesn't show track info, but on my Nexus, I can see Artist/Album/Track info on the screen via BT! That was a pleasant surprise.

I might write up a fuller review to post up & share it since this community has given a lot.

grabbed the appradio2 at best buy today for $230 open box, perfect condition. it was missing the pioneer power harness (and doesn't use the same harness as the 2013 AVH line, unfortunately), so i'll have to wait for the new harness to show up unless the local audio shop has a universal in stock tomorrow.

I got tired of waiting on Pioneer to release their iPhone 5 firmware for the AVH line so figured this could work and tide me over until then, plus give me a good chance at evaluating the differences in their capacitive and resistive screens so I can decide if I want to look into the AppRadio 3 more when it's released.

Hey, I'm interested in more info on the Parrot unit. It looks pretty impressive to me except for the fact that it has 2v pre-outs.

What did rooting it allow you to do? If I can get the unit to use my phone's internet connection to stream SiriusXM via their android app, run music off google music, and use google maps/nav I'll be buying one yesterday.

@2forme Any ideas on the capabilities of the new Appradio3? Can your Ca-fi unit do the above?

I keep looking at the pioneer double din nav units but I feel like I'd be losing so much by moving away from google for nav and most my my media would still be streaming off my phone via BT since I get most everything from google music all access and SiriusXM on my phone.

For nav, your android OS can make use of the AppRadio 2's GPS antenna. Go into your system settings >> Developer Options and turn on "use mock locations", to allow Gmaps to use the HU's MUCH better GPS reciever.

Yes, speed is limited by the phone's processor, as the App Radio 2 basically acts as a mirroring display/audio receiver/touch screen input device hosted by the android device.

The AR3, though, now adds in aux input, bt audio, and the ability to play discs. However, ARLiberator is not yet working for AR3 (last I checked, which has been a while), but the developer is making best effort to get it working.

Essentially what ARLiberator does is mimic the pioneer umbrella app to the HU, so as far as the HU knows, the android device it is connected to has the pioneer umbrella app (this is why you should NOT have the pioneer umbrella app installed if you want to use AR Liberator and vice versa), and that is what it is talking to.

I ran the AR2 in my STI and WRX and it was great, but had some issues:

sometimes BT did NOT want to sync up and it required the HU to be totally shut down (requiring the car to be cycled on and off as the HU doesn't have a power button) and restarted, and the phone to be disconnected/connected again for the connection to sync.

Also, do NOT use any cheap knockoff MHL adapters if you're using a Samsung unit. You will get the dreaded snow often. Also, a loose HDMI connection will have the same result. When this device works, it's great. Just set the HU's equalizer to flat and do EQ adjustment on the android device (power amp is FAR more powerful and adjustable in the EQ department than the 5 band that comes on pioneer's HU) for best audio.

With those caveats, it's a great device. Also, contrast, brightness, etc. for backup camera image is excellent, as the HU has adjustments for both day and night modes as controlled by the dimmer wire. In some instances, I could see better with my backup camera than I could with my bare eyes, as the license plate lamp was providing the necessary light input for the camera to see other objects behind me, whereas I could not looking out the back window.

I'm not sure if the AR3's hardware improved as regards to bt connectivity reliability, though. I sure hope so.

Also, video output through the HU via ARLiberator doesn't get blocked by the video override, since it's playing via the android device and the HU doesn't know any better. YT controls through are as if you were connected to a TV, and you need to use the phone to control YT (or make a guess as to where the buttons are, as the screen will still send touch commands to the phone as if it were a mirrored display and not a secondary display device).

I HIGHLY recommend running your audio out through the pre-outs to an amp, and not through the speaker level outs. This unit's audio out is nothing to gloat about. It's decent for factory speakers, but not for anything aftermarket. You owe it to yourself to put the good audio through the pre-outs into amps.

I just purchased the Pioneer AVH-X8500BHS... hope this radio does what I'm hoping it will do.

Are you hoping to run ar liberator on it?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

If need be, yes. I'm not sure what all it will do without AR Liberator. I'll probably eventually use AR Liberator.

How exactly does the GPS connect? I see the GPS has a dongle separate from the HDMI and Bluetooth hookup and my concern is that I cannot use my phone for a hot spot, but if it is just mirroring the image i would think I am OK. I just don't want ATT coming after me and my unlimited data plan...

Appradio 3 can be used at the same time the Galaxy Note 3 acts as wifi hotspot.
 

Appradio 3 can be used at the same time the Galaxy Note 3 acts as wifi hotspot but it does not need to have wifi on nor does it need to act as a hotspot.
This HU is brilliant with the Note 3.
I use the AR Unchained app to get full access to the Android functionality like AR Liberator. It is available through XDA Developers. It is a little complicated to get it on your phone but it is so nice to have it in my car. And it will just get better and better as Android OS evolves.