So my cd player does not work, I just noticed, and I also just purchased my X-type a week ago, anyway I wanted to integrate my Iphone to my car because I don't listen to radio stations..

So i saw this Pioneer AppRadio best buy has it for only 199.00 it looks pretty sweet, I really didn't want to get rid of my OEM radio as I like the look, but i was wondering ig anyone has this AppRadio in their X-type and what's your take on it.

Thanks a lot

 

I just installed an AppRadio in my '03 X-Type so here's my long-winded reply:

• First and foremost, it doesn't really fit the dash. The back side of the head unit butts into the HVAC duct before you're able to slide it all the way in. If you're careful with the wire placement behind the HU, you can get it in far enough that the dash panel/fascia will sit almost flush with the dash. Unless someone knew what it looked like before, they might not notice.
  • I bought the mounting parts from Metra and didn't pay attention. I ended up with a black fascia panel that didn't match my grey dash. Ended up covering the whole section with that carbon fiber shrink wrap stuff.
• Second, if you're replacing a standard radio (radio controls in a separate panel UNDER the HVAC controls, not the all-in-one touch panel thing), the placement is less than ideal. For GPS, it's really low and for radio/iPod control it's just a little inconvenient.
• It's a little bit flaky. If you're patient with technology, you probably won't be bothered with it's eccentricities, but if you're at all like my wife (heaven forbid!), you'll probably be aggravated far more than pleased by the radio
  • Takes a long time to boot (30-45 seconds)
  • Some apps (Pandora, for one) need to be launched first on the iPhone, before you plug in. Sure the AppRadio app claims to makes the integration seamless, but I find it could use improvement.
  • While the phonebook can be downloaded from the phone, Favorites are NOT available. You have to scroll the entire phonebook to find the number you want to dial. And the dialpad is not laid out like every other dialpad on earth. It's like
    12345
    67890
  • Some of the menus are fully touch-integrated, some are not. For example, in the settings menu, you can simply touch the item you want to edit. However, in the iPod app, you tap up/down arrows to move to the item you want, then tap an OK button. It appears that different teams worked on different parts of the software and no one worked to make sure the user experience was consistent.
  • Not configurable enough for me. For example, there are only two background images to choose from - light and dark. (I can tell you a trick to add others, though.) The only option for the clock is one big ol' digital clock in the dead center of the main screen. What if I want a smaller clock, or a different font?
  • Speaking of the clock, if I'm listening to the radio, I have to go back to the home screen to see the time. But if I'm listening to Pandora, there's a teeny-tiny time display in the top right corner. (Recall what I said earlier about the lack of a consistent user experience.)
  • Lastly (for now, anyway), is the STUPIDSTUPIDSTUPID inability to view certain content while the car is moving. For example, I like the ShazamPlayer app because it will play the lyrics karaoke-style in time with the music. So if my passenger wants to run this app (cuz I never would doncha know....I'm driving!), the car has to be stopped. No, wait, not just stopped. I have to stop the car, apply the parking brake, then let off the parking brake, then re-apply the parking brake. Serioulsly?! Anyway, I'm looking into a device that will fool the radio into thinking the PB is always on.

Aside from all that, I love it! :-) No, seriously, I do like it alot. It's just not as perfect as I'd like it to be. I'm wondering if the next version (due out soon) will improve more than just the screen real estate. I'm sure V2 is why BestBuy's price is dropping. Don't overlook the $50 rebate being offered by Pioneer, too.

This is probably far more than you wanted to hear when you asked your question, but if you want to hear more, just let me know. I'll even post some pix if you're interested.

 

Thanks a lot for all the information in your reply, and yes if you don't mind can you post some pictures, BB had it for 199 and I was very interested but today I checked and It was not showing up on their website maybe they ran out already.

I did go to Pionner's website and compared V1 vs V2 and it looks like aside from screen estate, Android support and 2RC instead of 1RC thats it, didn't see any other difference on the comparison on their site.

I wonder if I tell the installer ppl (whenever I get the $$) that they gotta make sure it flushes, if they'll b able to.

Anyway whenever you can pictures pls

 

Thanks Banhjee for the reply. I'm in the same boat as Ar15fonsi. I was looking at the appradio for an '06 x-type stereo swap. I only listen to spotify and other music apps like soundcloud and hypemachine on an iphone4, so I'm still not 100% convinced that AppRadio is exactly what I want, but I thought I might switch from spotify to rdio to use the rdio optimized app through the headunit.

I'm still toying with the ACM option, but I'm annoyed by the idea of spending $300 for what essentially is just going to end up being used as an aux cable.

If you could snap a pic that would be awesome. I'm a little gun shy over this whole issue of the double DIN units not mounting flush.

 

I apologize for taking so long on this...i've been swamped with other projects (read "honey-do" lists).


One other pic I should have taken is of the cable. It's crazy big...and there's two of them coming out of the head unit that converge into one before entering the plug for the iPhone. Why must it be so big/bulky when my sync cable can carry the same data at 1/4 the size?!

 

Thanks a lot for the pictures, they are awesome, and it looks good, I thought that the head unit was going to be sticking out in a very bad way but I think it looks good, I guess BB doesn't have it anymore because I've searched their site and its unavailable (like if it never existed) and then some guy down here was selling one on CL for only $140.00 but he sold it, and It was brand new in BOX missed the opportunity.

Oh and if you can, can you post the pics of where the cable is located (where does it come out from), and btw if i get it you're gonna have to let me know how to change the background like yours

Maybe I'm gonna have to buy the Appradio 2 we'll see

Thanks again

 

Amazon.com still has the AppRadio listed (at $279). And Pioneer.com is still offering the $50 rebate. So if you're OK with the not-quite-perfect fit, $229 is a pretty good price. I saved another $250 and did the installation myself.


My wife thought I was crazy because I had the driver's side pretty much disassembled.

• Took out most of the dash to install the head unit.
• Took out much of the trim on the driver's side and overhead to install the phone mic in the same location as the factory phone would have been.
• Took out the entire back seat to run the cable for the back up camera.
• Took out the trim in the trunk to install the camera and wiring.

I'm not a mechanic (but I am a cheap SOB), so in my garage, this was a pretty major undertaking. It looked like a bomb had gone off in the Jag with parts lying everywhere! :-) If I hadn't had the foresight to tape all the screws and other parts in or near their original location, I'd have never gotten it back together again.

Anyway, at lunch I'll go out and get pics of the cable and how I fed it out from the dash.

 

Great response plus pictures.

Doesn't look half bad.

 

Thanks for the update. It looks great in the dash. I'm really close to going with this head unit, especially considering the price. The only thing I wish it had was stereo bluetooth.

Did you wire up steering wheel controls too?

 

Yes, I did wire up the steering wheel controls. Using the adapter from Metra, it was pretty simple and painless and required no programming or tweaking when finished.

See pics below regarding the cable. You'll see why I'm puzzled that the cable must be so big and bulky. If my phone can communicate with my PC using a thin sync cable, why does the AppRadio need such a monster? Its size also makes it pretty stiff and unmanageable in the car.

As you can see in the second pic, to route the cable I drilled a hole in the sidewall of the center console and dressed the hole up a little with a rubber grommet. To keep the cable up out of the floor, I put a piece of velcro on the back of the cable's plug and the matching velcro piece on the phone holder (windshield mount). The velcro has the added bonus of making it easy to tell which way to orient the cable when plugging in at night.

 

You weren't kidding, its an industrial size cable.

 

I am not replying directly to your post but like you, I too ise my iphone for my music in the car. However, here what i need and as long as you can het the part for cheap, the installation isn't too hard. I list the benefits at the end:

1. I got the Jaguar ACM ( the ACM module fits inside your center arm rest, but you could install it elsewhere as well. This is an official jaguar accessory and comes with 3 connection options an ipod/iphone interface that will charge, play and allow you to use your steering wheel controls. In my case i can even change tracks on some of my online radio stations using the click wheel on the steering. The following link is an image of how I usually use the iphone as an app radio. As you can see, i place the iphone either flat over the cup holders, or into one of the cup holder. I use 4-5 different app radios. Used to even have Sirius but recently discontinued.

http://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Nd...208:32:16%20AM

2. I use Tetrax phone mount that is attached using a vent clip. You can serch for it on Amazon. It's called a fixway. When mounted the iphone is at the perfect height and angle and the AC helps keep the phone very cool. The mount is much smaller than anything else I have seen and totally integrates with the car. It uses a magnet to hold the phone and has been tested on the most bumpy roads!

3. I use a Sendstation audio adapter. Again you can find it on Amazon and clips to the 30 pin port on the iphone. The adapter has 2 ports, one for charging via USB (which I do by connecting to the power plug near the ashtray) and connnect the audio cable from the ACM to the adapter. In this case I use the iphone touch screens for all the controls other than volume. The set up looks neat if you have right length cables. If 2 cables is a problem, the other option is to get an extension cable for the ipod/iphone cable in thr ACM and you're done. You'll need a 36 inch or so cable and they are readily available on Amazon.

4. I have step 3 as an option since the ipod/iphone cable from the ACM does not stretch all the way to the dashboard. However, I also have an ipod that is permanently connected to the ipod/iphone cable inside the center console. My default ipod music player is the inconsole ipod. That way when I want to use my iphone for navigation I simply mount it to the dash and connect the charge cable to the car charger and use the ipod for music. The bluetooth on the iphone still works and the jag will mute the ipod when a call comes to the iphone. So the ACM comes fully integerated with the cars bluetooth system by default.

Cost: The ACM can be expensive and general retail is in the $400 mark, but I've seen them on ebay for $200 or so. Installation takes a couple of hours or so.
http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Qx...208:20:47%20AM

Sendstation unit: $30 comes with the audio cable
http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Vx...208:18:04%20AM

Tetrax mount: 30
http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-wx...208:16:16%20AM


Extension cable (if you need it): 20
Car charger with USB cable for the Sendstation: 30 for Juice Morphie which is a high end 2.1 amp charger so iphone charging is very fast, will also charge the ipad. It is small enough that you can shut the ashtray cover without removing it. has high quality build and comes with a high quality spiral USB charger for the iphone.

So in my case it is the ACM + around $130 in accessories to get great iphone integration with your stock components with no bulky cradles or extra wires etc.

If you're so inclined you can hide the cables that run from the ACM to the dash underneath the center console and wood triming. If i did the project today, that's what i would have done. In general i prefernusing the iphone for navigation over any inbuilt car system I've seen. Plus if you have the new iphone siri voice commands work with the Jag bluetooth.

 

Thanks aluni. Do you know if you can trigger Siri from the steering wheel? I heard some cars let you do that.

 

Yes if you have the voice control activated. I found the bluetooth pairing between the jag x type and iphone to be rock solid and love the seamless integration of the phone bluetooth and the ACM.

In my case, the iphone is just at the right height where I can use the iphone itself for Siri. I use it to get directions, make calls and even search for songs. It will even search for songs in your iTunes Cloud library (i.e. if the song hasn't been downloaded). Siri also engages the bluetooth in the car automatically when a reminder is due and dials a call for you if needed

So in my case a cars inbult infotainment system would have to be pretty awesome to be better than what I get with the iphone + ACM combo. I used to have a Samsung Galaxy phone and you could not use the ipod connector (obviously) so the click wheel would not work and the bluetooth was not as reliable as with the iphone. I also could not find a Sendstation like alternative for the Galaxy phone that had both a line out and charging ports. As a result I was limited to headphone quality sound with the ACM. The ACM is great if you have an iphone and/or ipod.

 

I like the Tetrax mount. But I sorta made my own. :-) I have a Lego case on my iPhone so I glued a Lego piece to a magnet and use that to mount my phone on the dash.

When I want to mount the phone on the dash, I stick the Lego on the back of the phone and then stick it via the magnet on a larger magnet on the dash. You can see the Lego and the dash-mounted magnet in some of the pix I posted.

If I had seen the Tetrax first, I probably would have gone with that.

 

The magnet on that little Tetrax is very strong. I tested it with an iPad 2 as well!

 

I work in I.T. so I have access to a lot of hard drives. I've taken apart probably hundreds of these drives so I could get at the neodymium magnets inside. You're right, they're crazy strong. I'm talking pinch-your-fingers-till-they-bleed kinda strong!

I went with a much weaker ceramic magnet for my phone mount because the neodymium magnets wouldn't let go of the dash when I wanted them to.

 

How did you get the "jaguar" screen on your appradio?

 

I don't have my PC in front of me, so I can't give precise details, but when Pioneer provides a firmware update, that update contains wallpaper files. I found a nice Jag logo image and modified it to fit as wallpaper and replaced one of the Pioneer-supplied images with my own Jag image. When I applied the update, the Jag WP was there to choose. Trouble is, you can only apply an update once. If your AppRadio is current, you're stuck.

I'll try to sit down tonight and write out details. The thing is, the AppRadio is running Windows CE so it should be easy to "jailbreak" it to modify anything/everything you want. And speaking of jail breaking, I've been considering the possibility of replacing the AppRadio with an iPad mini. I've not measured, but seems to me that the Mini's screen is about the size of my current head unit's screen. I'm thinking that would be pretty awesome. It also gets me to wondering why the AppRadio is so flipping huge, when the iPad can do so much more in a tiny little package