Note: AppRadio Mode and AppRadioLIVE are currently not compatible with iOS 8 due to stability and display issues. Please see "Details" for more information. Siri® Eyes Free With the Pioneer SPH-DA120, you can control either your iPod or your iPhone through your car’s dashboard. Rear Camera I will not report on CarPlay itself on the Pioneer because, what is written today can change or could be improved upon next month with software updates, so be sure to read our other articles for opinions on Apple CarPlay OS, its app updates and changes to Apple’s CarPlay platform with each new iOS update.

A: Please see the Connectivity Cables section above and follow the diagrams to see what cables are required for connecting a phone. The AppRadio 4’s interface features menus, upon menus; a sea of buttons and options litter the front screen from the very start, all begging for your attention, and with no clear winner. Thankfully, with an iOS device connected, a ‘CarPlay’ option sits prominently in to top corner of the front screen, so Apple users can dive right in and feel right at home with Apple’s ‘clean and simple’ user interface. MirrorLink is also here, should you have a non-Apple device.

Interface & Apple CarPlay

A: Make sure you are using a mirrorlink compatible device such as the Sony Xperia Z or Galaxy S3 (requires drivelink app installed from samsung apps). You have to make copious use of Siri to use these apps, since touch-functionality is limited for safety. There is no keyboard input, everything is done through voice. You can have Siri compose messages, or read out unread messages from your iPhone (it only “reads” out, and no text is displayed, again for safety – to avoid your visual focus shifting from driving.) Ensure the device is set to 'iPhone' and connection is set to 'USB', ensure that 'CarPlay' is turned on If you have an iPhone 4S or 5, you'll hear Siri's voice prompts through your vehicle's sound system, and you can make commands or ask questions through the microphone that's included with this receiver. You can set reminders, ask for songs, request directions, or anything else you'd normally do with your iPhone. Works with Android™ phones

And what apps can you take advantage of? You'll find plenty to enjoy, including MotionX-GPS Drive, INRIX® traffic, AUPEO! Personal Radio, Pandora® Internet radio, and Pioneer's MIXTRAX, with more coming down the road. The apps will look great on the 6.2" capacitive touchscreen, which recognizes all zoom, swipe, and pinch gestures just as if you were using your smartphone. There are usually two types of touchscreen technologies sold in automobile head units: resistive and capacitive. A capacitive touchscreen requires less force to register a touch and also allows for multi-touch gestures like scrolling, swiping, and pinching to zoom in and out. If you are looking for a smartphone-like experience, the DA120’s 6.2-inch capacitive touchscreen will feel good to your fingertips. FLAC support It is worth highlighting that CarPlay is an evolving software platform that lives on your Apple iOS device, not in the receiver itself. So whichever aftermarket receiver you choose to install in your vehicle, the OS experience will be the same throughout – Don’t let any dealer tell you otherwise!

Audio

If you simply want to connect your Android phone to listen to music, you can do that without an app too.

Powering up the Pioneer you’re taken to its main home screen. In today’s age of digital displays and tough-screens, I think it is now time for Pioneer to heavily invest some time in this area. For me, their current menu screens feel somewhat archaic. It’s practically ancient now, in its design, and it oozes that ‘boy racer’ style and doesn’t carry the sophistication that Apple has ushered into our lives and will be something iOS owners will be accustomed to. Navigating through the menus can feel you’re physically running through a mental mind maze, regularly finding yourself taking the wrong turn and ending up at a dead end. Interface & Apple CarPlay When you power up the device (without turning on CarPlay), you are taken to the Pioneer Home screen, that features quite a lot of menus and navigation options and might feel like a complex maze, especially for users accustomed to iPhone’s sophisticated, simple interfaces. But the only problem is – even though most car manufacturers are all licensing CarPlay in their latest models, many older models do not have CarPlay support. Out of the box it is clear that Pioneer has chosen to mimic the look of Apple’s iOS devices. With its silver edge rimmed bezel design, the AppRadio 4 carries a close resemblance to an Apple iPad. The glass-fronted display houses a 6.2-inch capacitive touch-screen, with a resolution of 800×480 – similar to both the Alpine and JBL headunits, and most other headunits selling in 2016 come to think of it. Without a CD/DVD drive, you’re limited to radio and media over USB or HDMI, but by simply connecting your smartphone to the AppRadio 4, it will bring new life into the headunit, with the possibility of feeding it a variety of your own content, not only through Apple’s CarPlay platform or MirrorLInk, but with your device connected, applications such as Apple Music, Spotify or Pandora can be played through the receivers own audio player. This is great if you find CarPlay’s crashing a real burden from time to time, and it’s a nice way to have something a bit more stable to use until Apple iron out all the niggles that its CarPlay platform can bring! Wireless Bluetooth AudioFor audiophiles, the AppRadio 4 offers a number of features and modes to cater for your critical ears. Pre-set and customisable equalisers allow you achieve the type of sound you want, however if you’re on the lazy side, you can plug in a microphone and let the Auto EQ measure your vehicle’s acoustics and adjust the receiver’s audio levels automatically to suit your car’s interior.