Music and the iPhone are inseparable companions of bed for years. Whether with Apple Music, Spotify or other streaming music service, mobile phones have become our preferred devices for listening to music anywhere, including daily commuting.
But what happens if you want to play music from your favorite list of your iPhone in the car? We tell you the possibilities in this article.
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Can your iPhone connect to your car?
If it turns out that you have a next-generation car, the connection will be much easier. Otherwise, we will have to resort to alternatives. Nowadays it is easy to find a car radio that has a mini-jack or AUX-type port on its front .
There are also car stereo systems that implement a USB port to physically connect your iPhone. You can hardly charge your mobile’s battery, but in return, you can connect your iPhone with the audio system of your vehicle.
You may even have a Bluetooth connection so you can do the same wirelessly, more comfortable, although it will not hurt if you have a car charger so your iPhone’s battery does not run out.
What happens when you have an old car that does not offer any of these connections? Do not despair, there are still different ways to listen to music from your iPhone in the car. You just need to have the right accessory.
What iPhone connectors do you have?
There are other factors to consider. You must make sure that the solution to play music in your car really works with the iPhone model that you have, since it depends not only on the radio but also on the generation of the iPhone.
Although it is unlikely that you will continue to use an iPhone with a 30-pin connection instead of the Lightning connector, it may also be the case that your iPhone does not have a stereo plug (or a headphone plug), in which case some of the options do not They will be available unless you also buy a Lightning to 3.5mm jack adapter, like this one that Apple markets.
How to connect an iPhone to the car stereo through AUX
If your car is relatively modern, it is very likely that you have a 3.5mm auxiliary connector, either in the stereo unit, or accompanying it somewhere on the vehicle’s dashboard.
If so, you can choose to purchase an auxiliary cable with mini-jack connectors from 3.5 to 3.5 mm to connect it from the headphone jack on your iPhone to the connector on your car. An example that can be worth you is the one of the Syncwire brand of economic price.
As we have already mentioned, if you have an iPhone 7 or a newer one, you will have to look for an AUX to Lighting connector, since your phone does not have the typical 3.5 mm connector needed for the connection, as it has happened with the headphones. cable.
Here the option is to use a 3.5mm AUX audio cable such as Belkin with Lightning connector whose price on Amazon amounts to € 23.99. If you need a longer cable, there is an option of almost two meters from the same manufacturer for € 34.99.
Ribbon adapters for iPhones
Some of us, undoubtedly, still use car radios equipped with cassette tape players. Although the cassettes are no longer manufactured, many users have infinity in their homes as traditional support.
what we can do with them? Well, it turns out that for some time now there is an ingenious device designed to convert the sound coming from a stereo mini-jack source, to a modified cassette. In this way, you can enter it in your stereo as you did with your tapes and you will have your iPhone connected to the car.
There are plenty of different brands that address this solution. Take a quick look on Amazon with the search word ‘Cassette Adapter’ and you will have a wide response with models like the Belkin V8V366bt whose price is € 12.99.
The way it works is as simple as you can imagine. Insert the cassette into the radio deck, connect the mini-jack to your iPhone, choose your song, press ‘Play’ on both the iPhone and the stereo of your car, and voilà, the music will sound.
The quality will not be the best, of course, but it’s better than having nothing, which would be listening through the small speaker of your iPhone, a difficult experience!
Recommended: How to use the gestures of the iPhone
Can I use an iPhone with a CD player?
If you have a car stereo with a CD player, you may wonder if someone has invented a similar solution. Unfortunately, you can not put a fake CD connected to a stereo cable in your CD player: since the discs spin, the results can be complicated.
Which explains why these products do not really exist. Fortunately there are other options.
FM transmitters for iPhone
Another option to use with these old players and something in disuse is to acquire an FM transmitter. No wonder they are more expensive, but they can work very well.
The idea is simple: you connect your iPhone (or any other compatible iOS device) to it, and start transmitting the audio from your iPhone on a particular radio frequency.
Tune your car radio to that frequency and, in the blink of an eye, you can listen to your music wirelessly.
Again, you can find a wide range of products of this type with prices ranging from € 15.99 for the VicTsing FM Transmitter , to the eSync DAB-Bluetooth with LCD panel amounting to € 35.99.
You will find them in the form of a charger to be able to connect even to the car cigarette lighter to obtain the power, a connection that still remains present in many of the vehicles with which we circulate.
FM transmitters work by transmitting the music that plays on your iPhone on a frequency that can be picked up by your radio. The Belkin Tunecast is capable of scanning and choosing the best available frequency, so you can also save and memorize favorite stations and tune them quickly the next time you want to use it.
This is the main problem with the FM transmitter solution – there are many radio stations out there so it could affect and interfere with your device, even when the device transmits on little used frequencies.
Of course, you can always change that frequency manually, but it may take some time to find the perfect one, with the risk that when you change your geographical location on your trips, you have to re-tune again.
Buy a new car stereo
Being honest, the best option to play music from the iPhone in your car would be to install a new stereo, which come with a lot of USB ports and modern functions that are a plus.
But beware, the fact that it has a USB port does not necessarily mean it works with the iPhone; you may be able to listen to your music, but your iPhone’s battery does not charge, for example.
Therefore, it is important that you make sure you get one with a sticker made for iPhone or MFi. There are specialized Car audio stores where you can test the experience of using each model, making sure that what you buy will work.
Of course, this would be a more expensive solution than the ones mentioned above, but what you will get is a higher quality sound. It is a matter of assessing if you plan to extend the life of your car before making a large investment.
Keep in mind that there is one more option to assess among those we have revealed to you.
Install CarPlay in your car
It was in 2014 when Apple launched CarPlay, the car platform connected to iOS that provides direct access to your iPhone and allows you to use certain applications, respond to text messages, accept calls or play music.
Initially, CarPlay was only available as an integrated display system that was offered as an optional accessory when buying a new car. Now, there are some that can be installed later, such as the Pioneer CarPlay system with a 7-inch multimedia screen priced at € 372.
The Pioneer’s touchscreen replaces the radio or the existing CD player in your car. Show information and use Siri so you can focus exclusively on driving. You just have to say “Hey Siri” to use the hands-free assistant.
Recent updates in iOS 12 also make it possible for you to now use CarPlay with third-party navigation applications, such as Google Maps map services or the Waze drivers application.
In fact, there are a limited number of applications available on CarPlay (mostly for security reasons), but along with Apple’s phone, messages and maps there are also music and podcasts , so you can play your music. iPhone through the car stereo
Keep in mind that you may also have to budget the converter cables if your car does not have standard ISO connectors (most do not have them) and also a special cable or adapter if your car has an existing USB port, since it is not very likely to connect directly to the back of the main unit.
Use a Bluetooth speaker
If none of the above options still seduce you, you can always turn to the faithful Bluetooth speakers. If you only want to listen to music, podcasts or audio books on your iPhone, Bluetooth speakers can do it without any problem.
In addition, you will have the added advantage that you can take it when you leave the car, on your field trips or back home.
Load the iPhone in the car
In any of the ways we have exposed you previously, the iPhone continues to play its role as a source of music reproduction, so it is convenient that you have a car power charger to charge your battery.
Once again, there is a wide list of solutions available on Amazon, but consider choosing one in which you can handle various connections, as it will always be good for your companion or to charge several devices at once.
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