Hi guys,
Before installing this, on my CL9 I had the Xcarlink iPod unit, which worked fine.
Well ... it worked fine for my wife as she has an iPhone but didn't work for me at all ... as I have an Android phone
I've emailed those guys from Xcarlink asked them if they sell any Android compatible unit, but the answer was negative.
I did not want any Bluetooth or FM streaming units ... I was looking for a wired one
It could be easier/cheaper just to sell my HTC One and buy an iPhone but I refused to go that route, I hate ISO/Apple and their proprietary things (cables, software ...)
So I started to google around and finally found this Canadian company Grom Audio which sells units compatible with Android, iPod and regular USB sticks.
They have a UK dealer where I've bought if from:
http://www.gromaudio.co.uk/grom-usb2
So I've ordered one and today I've replaced my Xcarlink with this one .
I'm not going to post pictures with the install , as the install is similar with the Xcarlink install , for which there are a lot of tutorials on this forum, also.
Basically as I have a CL9 with Navi unit, I've followed this great tutorial in order to remove the Navi unit:
http://www.civinfo.com/wiki/index.php?***le=Install_Xcarlink_in_2007_Accord
After all these I've managed to replace my Xcarlink unit with the Grom Audio unit.
As I was interested in connecting either both, an iPhone and an Android phone I've ordered only the USB2microUSB cable and iPod cable.
You can also order the Aux 3.5 cable or a separate unit for Bluetooth unit but I did not need these so I did not ordered them.
After install I tried the unit:
- first I've connected the micro-USB cable to my Android phone (a HTC One)
- in order to make it work you need to install a free app from Google Play Store , called AALinQ
- I've installed the app, and started the app
- then press the CD/AUX button from the head-unit and switch to AUX
- wait a few seconds and you''ll hear a lady saying "USB"
- then OEM head unit started to play the songs from my Android phone which is awesome
- you can control the music from Android phone (from the above mentioned app) or from the steering wheel , too which is great
- while connected to micro-USB port, the phone is charging also which is awesome
Later I've connected the iPhone to the iPod cable.
- now the trickier part was to switch from Android to iPhone , this is not intuitive , I had to read the manual for this
- basically to switch the source you need to press something like FM/AM button then press back the CD/AUX button
- wait for the lady to say "USB" then right after press the skip track button (i.e. using steering wheel buttons) and you''ll here the lady saying "iPod"
- then the music started to be played from the iPhone , so both of them are working which is awesome
- the iPhone is being charged while connected, too
- and something else I can control the music from the iPhone and from steering wheel, too (the Xcarlink did not allow me to do both at the same time)
These guys from Grom Audio seem to have a great support, they are releasing new firmwares and you can upgrade the firmware on these units.
So I'm happy that I replaced my Xcarlink unit with the Grom Audio one , finally I can hear the music from my Android phone and from the iPhone also, and the phones are kept charged at the same time, no other charge cables are needed
Before installing this, on my CL9 I had the Xcarlink iPod unit, which worked fine.
Well ... it worked fine for my wife as she has an iPhone but didn't work for me at all ... as I have an Android phone
I've emailed those guys from Xcarlink asked them if they sell any Android compatible unit, but the answer was negative.
I did not want any Bluetooth or FM streaming units ... I was looking for a wired one
It could be easier/cheaper just to sell my HTC One and buy an iPhone but I refused to go that route, I hate ISO/Apple and their proprietary things (cables, software ...)
So I started to google around and finally found this Canadian company Grom Audio which sells units compatible with Android, iPod and regular USB sticks.
They have a UK dealer where I've bought if from:
http://www.gromaudio.co.uk/grom-usb2
So I've ordered one and today I've replaced my Xcarlink with this one .
I'm not going to post pictures with the install , as the install is similar with the Xcarlink install , for which there are a lot of tutorials on this forum, also.
Basically as I have a CL9 with Navi unit, I've followed this great tutorial in order to remove the Navi unit:
http://www.civinfo.com/wiki/index.php?***le=Install_Xcarlink_in_2007_Accord
After all these I've managed to replace my Xcarlink unit with the Grom Audio unit.
As I was interested in connecting either both, an iPhone and an Android phone I've ordered only the USB2microUSB cable and iPod cable.
You can also order the Aux 3.5 cable or a separate unit for Bluetooth unit but I did not need these so I did not ordered them.
After install I tried the unit:
- first I've connected the micro-USB cable to my Android phone (a HTC One)
- in order to make it work you need to install a free app from Google Play Store , called AALinQ
- I've installed the app, and started the app
- then press the CD/AUX button from the head-unit and switch to AUX
- wait a few seconds and you''ll hear a lady saying "USB"
- then OEM head unit started to play the songs from my Android phone which is awesome
- you can control the music from Android phone (from the above mentioned app) or from the steering wheel , too which is great
- while connected to micro-USB port, the phone is charging also which is awesome
Later I've connected the iPhone to the iPod cable.
- now the trickier part was to switch from Android to iPhone , this is not intuitive , I had to read the manual for this
- basically to switch the source you need to press something like FM/AM button then press back the CD/AUX button
- wait for the lady to say "USB" then right after press the skip track button (i.e. using steering wheel buttons) and you''ll here the lady saying "iPod"
- then the music started to be played from the iPhone , so both of them are working which is awesome
- the iPhone is being charged while connected, too
- and something else I can control the music from the iPhone and from steering wheel, too (the Xcarlink did not allow me to do both at the same time)
These guys from Grom Audio seem to have a great support, they are releasing new firmwares and you can upgrade the firmware on these units.
So I'm happy that I replaced my Xcarlink unit with the Grom Audio one , finally I can hear the music from my Android phone and from the iPhone also, and the phones are kept charged at the same time, no other charge cables are needed