How to connect the phone to the car stereo
If you are interested in understanding how to play music from your phone on the car stereo (and use the speakers "on board" even during voice conversations), then this is the section of the tutorial for you. In the sections to come, in fact, I will explain how to proceed using the simplest and most widespread communication systems used: Bluetooth, AUX cable and USB cable.
How to connect the phone to the stereo with Bluetooth
In my opinion, one of the best solutions to connect the phone to the car stereo is to use the connection Bluetooth. Most recent cars have this feature, which allows you to both listen to music wirelessly and easily answer calls received on your smartphone (or, in some cases, control it by voice).
The steps for making the connection between the phone and the car stereo via Bluetooth differ depending on the vehicle model in use. Therefore, I advise you to take a look at the owner's manual of your car, so as to have detailed information about it.
Generally, what you need to do is access the settings of the on-board computer of the car by pressing the key Menu / Settings, go to the section relating to phone settings / phone settings and then choose the option for connect new Bluetooth device / connect new Bluetooth device.
After this step, take your smartphone and, if you have not already done so previously, activate Bluetooth: if you have a phone Android, then tap the button of Settings, access the sections Connected devices, Connection preferences e Bluetooth and move up ON the lever at the top of the screen; if you have a iPhone, tap the icon instead Settings iOS, tap on the item Bluetooth and move up ON the corresponding levetta alla voce Bluetooth. For more information on this procedure, I recommend that you read my guide on how to activate Bluetooth.
Once Bluetooth is enabled on your phone, wait for, between available devices, the Bluetooth system of your car appears: then tap on his name and, if prompted, enter the PIN displayed on the car display. To finalize the connection, tap the button Connect / Pair And that's it!
If you have a car with features Android Auto o Apple CarPlay, the question is even simpler: both control systems allow, in conjunction with the Android Auto app and the iOS CarPlay functionality, to connect the phone to the car within a couple of taps, and to use it through the vehicle's on-board computer. If you are interested in learning more about the subject, my guides on how Android Auto works and how to install Apple CarPlay may be useful, in which I have explained everything to you in great detail.
How to connect phone to stereo with AUX cable
Another simple solution to connect the smartphone to the car stereo involves the use of a AUX cable, that is a particular cable (defined, in jargon, male-male cable) equipped with 3.5 mm jack connectors on both ends. Usually, the AUX input is present in both newer and slightly older car models.
Making the connection between the car stereo and the telephone is literally child's play: all you have to do is insert one end of the cable into the AUX / AUX IN input of the stereo and the other into the same input on the smartphone, the one where headphones usually fit. Once connected, press the button AUX on the stereo (or repeatedly press the buttons SRC, Source o Media) until AUX appears on its display.
When this happens, you just have to start the music you prefer, through the phone display, to play it through the car speakers. Note that in this way both the incoming call ringtone and the conversation will be played through the car speakers.
On older cars that do not have AUX inputs (but not even USB inputs, nor Bluetooth), equipped with a classic cassette stereo, you can connect between devices using a cassette adapter. Its cost, in general, is between € 4 and € 15.
It looks like a common cassette tape, from which an AUX cable comes out which, in turn, must be connected to the 3.5 mm jack of the phone: once the cassette has been inserted into the stereo and the connection between it and the smartphone is made, you will not just press the button Play on the stereo (the one that starts reading the tape) to reproduce, through the speakers of the machine, everything that is playing on the smartphone.
How to connect phone to stereo with USB cable
If your car stereo is equipped with USB inputs, you can connect the phone via the USB cable supplied with it: in this way, if the software of the stereo allows it, you can read the MP3 files (or any other type of audio file compatible with the stereo in use) present in the device memory.
For this to happen, however, you need to set up Android in mode file transfer (PTP), so as to allow the stereo to access the phone memory: to do so, connect the two devices via USB cable, call up theAndroid notification area, select the comic related to USB options and, when you reach the new screen, put the check mark next to the item File transfer.
Finally, set your car stereo to play songs from USB (you can do this by pressing the key several times Media / Source) and wait for the device to read the contents of the smartphone memory. After a few moments, if everything went well, the songs present should be played automatically (you can still navigate between files and folders using the physical buttons of the stereo).
For iPhone, things are slightly different: for connection via USB to be possible, the stereo in question must have, in addition to USB ports, also explicit compatibility with the iOS operating system. You can retrieve this information from the technical sheet of the stereo of your choice.
If so, all you have to do is connect the "iPhone by" to the stereo via the cable Lightning / USB supplied, allow access to the memory by touching the appropriate button displayed on the screen and wait for the stereo system to start playing the audio.
If your car is not equipped with "stock" Bluetooth, you can still opt to purchase one Bluetooth receiver from car, usable through special adapters. Below I point out the most common models.
- Bluetooth hands-free kit - it is a Bluetooth kit for cars which, through the AUX input and the car cigarette lighter, allows you to make the connection between the latter and the smartphone. This kit allows, in addition to listening to music, also to receive and initiate calls, without intervening on the phone screen, using the supplied keypad to be applied near the steering wheel.
- Bluetooth AUX - it is a Bluetooth receiver that can be connected to the car stereo via the AUX IN input.
- FM transmitter - it is a device that allows you to add a Bluetooth receiver to the machine, which communicates with the stereo via radio waves.
How to connect the phone to the home stereo
Contrary to what it might seem, connect the phone to the home stereo it's not difficult at all: just have the right tools and, I guarantee you, it all comes down to a few seconds! Find everything explained in detail below.
How to connect the phone to the stereo with Bluetooth
If you have a home Hi-Fi system equipped with Bluetooth, you can easily connect your smartphone and listen, through the speakers of the stereo, to everything that is playing on the smartphone.
Before proceeding, however, I recommend that you take a look at the user manual of the system you own, as the instructions for connecting via Bluetooth differ from device to device.
Basically, what you need to do is turn on the stereo, press the button Bluetooth / Pairing located on the same (or access the section Bluetooth of the menu settings stereo) and wait for the PIN code to be used during connection to appear on the display.
With that done, grab your phone and, if you're using Android, go to the section Settings> Connected devices> Connection preferences> Bluetooth and then, if necessary, move the lever at the top of the screen from OFF a ON. On iOSinstead, you have to go to Settings> Bluetooth I will post your ON the homonymous lever, if required.
Next, wait for the name of the stereo appears in the list of detectable devices, tap it and enter the pin code displayed on the system screen. When you're done, tap the button Connect / Pair And that's it! From now on, the phone's audio will be played through the stereo speakers; if necessary, press the button several times SRC / Mediauntil you see the writing on the stereo display Bluetooth.
Some home systems also allow you to control the audio stream of the phone (skip to the next song, to the previous one, stop playback and, sometimes, also answer incoming calls) without touching the latter's screen, using the physical buttons available on the stereo itself.
How to connect phone to stereo with AUX cable
If your stereo system has an input AUX IN and, on the smartphone, you have the 3.5 mm jack input (the one in which the headphones are usually inserted), you can use a male-male AUX cable to make the connection between the two devices.
Also in this case, exactly as I explained to you in one of the previous sections of this guide, all you have to do is connect the first end of the AUX cable to the smartphone, the other to the AUX IN input of the stereo (or its equalizer, if you have a modular system), and then set the right playback source on the latter by pressing the key several times Media / SRC.
How to connect phone to stereo with USB cable
The steps to connect the phone to the stereo with USB cable are exactly the same as already seen for car radios: after connecting the phone to the stereo using the supplied cable, set up the smartphone Android in mode Data transfer (PTP); if you are using a iPhone and the stereo you own is natively compatible with iOS, no additional configuration is required.
Once the connection is established, press the button several times Media / SRC stereo until appears on the display USB. After a few moments, the stereo should read the memory of the connected device and start playing the songs in it (the audio stream can be controlled via the physical buttons of the stereo).
How to connect the phone to the stereo
