Depending upon the make and model of your car, you’ll either connect to your device via Bluetooth or directly with a USB cable. If you’re driving an older car from before 2004, you can use an auxiliary cable to play audio from your phone through your car’s speakers. With your phone plugged in, you can access all kinds of apps from your car display, including Spotify, Apple/Google Maps, and Apple Music. You can also make phone calls and dictate text messages without ever having to let go of the steering wheel. Most new smartphones have moved away from auxiliary headphones jacks in favor of different connection types, so you may need an aux adapter cable. But if you have an older device with an auxiliary jack, you can just plug a cord in between your phone and your car. Note that an auxiliary cable only allows you to play audio through your car’s speakers. You can’t set up Apple CarPlay or Android Auto with auxiliary speakers, nor can you set up hands-free calling. This is just the classic method to get music and podcasts from your phone playing on your car’s speakers.
Connect with Bluetooth: Put both your phone and car radio in Bluetooth pairing mode and connect the two devices. You can easily do this by accessing the Bluetooth menu on your car display and opening the Bluetooth settings on your device’s Settings app. Connect with a USB cable: New cars allow you to connect your smartphone to your car directly with a USB plugin. All you need to do is plug in the USB side to your car, and plug in the phone adapter side to your (you guessed it!) phone. You should see either Apple CarPlay (for iPhones, iPads, and other Apple devices), or Android Auto (for Samsung Galaxy and other Android devices) pop up on your display. Connect with an auxiliary cable: If you have an older car that doesn’t have built-in Bluetooth or USB connections, you can try to connect an auxiliary cable between your car radio and your phone. Most new smartphones don’t come with an auxiliary input, so you’ll need to find a device that still offers an auxiliary port or get an adapter cable.
