We used to have earbuds that don’t need to be charged because they had a headphone jack, didn’t get lost so easily because they had a cord attached to a headphone jack, never lost the bluetooth connection because they had a headphone jack, and they cost less because they had a headphone jack. https://bsky.app/profile/daisyfm.bsky.social/post/3l3mfjc6sn62k
It also destroyed the “pass the aux cord” when driving with friends.
“Hey, I want to show you a song. Pass the aux cord.”
Plugs
Plays
Now:
“Hey, I want to show you a song. Let me connect to your car’s Bluetooth.”
“Oh, I can’t while the car is driving. Can you pull over for a minute?”
“Which submenu was is it in? Bluetooth or Settings?”
“Do you mind if I remove one of the devices already connected?”
“Oh, it just auto-connected to your phone instead.”
“Here, I’ll just send you a link.”
“Your phone locked. Can you enter your password again?”
“Oh, you don’t have [streaming service] premium? We’ll have to sit through an ad first.”
I feel a cold and detached anger, reading that.
Still can’t get my honda to Bluetooth.
My old car was a Kia. (Don’t hate me. It was 2009, and I was earning $19,000 a year.)
I got a used model that was the one higher than base, that included the deluxe audio package. Basically, it included an aux input and the crappy speakers had metal grills instead of plastic ones.
I spent years trying to figure out why the aux jack never worked, until in 2014 I took apart the insides, and then took it to a dealership to confirm that the factory had installed the standard wiring harness, which didn’t include connectors for the aux jack. They said it would be cheaper to buy a new car than it would be to have them fix the wiring.
I wound up missing the aux roadtrip experience entirely, and replaced the radio with one that did Bluetooth.
Bastards.
If cheap is the goal and Honda is out of budget then Kia appears to be a wise choice.
Why are you worried that others would be unhappy that you chose a Kia?
I’m still traumatized from Reddit, where everyone had an opinion, and the consensus is that whatever I said was wrong.
I’m glad you got yourself out of that abusive situation.
I’ve never heard of any Kia hate, that makes absolutely no sense. Nobody had any idea that Kia Boyz would become a thing, so nobody judges people who bought Kias before that….
Kia isn’t bad, they have a bunch of engines out there that if you stare it long enough it’ll kick the rods out, but most of them are covered by the extended warranty. They had dirt from the casting in them and it eats the bearings. The other downside is theft and because of that insurance rates are a bit higher for them.
Because a brand became the target of theft others dislike those that purchase them? That makes no sense whatsoever.
You’ve misunderstood me. I was agreeing with you.
You’ve delivered non-sequitur. I’ve not misunderstood. You’ve failed to adequately communicate.
I feel like I was clear.
I drive a 2001 which is in that sweet spot of being too new for a cassette deck and too old for an aux port. Fortunately, the stereo was built to connect to a 6-CD changer in the trunk and I was able to install an adapter that fools the CD player into thinking my phone is the 6-CD changer in the trunk.
You can still do that if you want. My car’s bluetooth is finicky, so I just have a USB C->aux cable adapter I use. You can share between people and have them share their music. It doesn’t help with the password issues, but you absolutely can still use an aux cable with modern phones. You just need to use a USB C->aux rather than an aux->aux.
So glad the Europeans finally broke Apple and their ridiculous charger shenanigans. A coworker just got a new iPhone and asked me if I had an iPhone charger, I told them no all Ive got is USB C. They said they didn’t know what they had and showed me the bottom of their phone and, sure enough, it’s USB C. They had no idea that only Apple kept making their own charge connector and that basically everyone else had settled on one charger/data port like two or three standards ago.
And make sure it’s not a cheap adapter so you get a reasonable volume out of it.
I love my car but it DOESN’T HAVE AN AUX JACK. Insanity. This fancy ass infotainment system with insanely delayed Bluetooth and I can’t use my amazing Bluetooth-to-3.5mm adapter that connects INSTANTLY and doesn’t lag two second behind when I hit pause and ughhhh
Well, then that is truly bullshit. I wouldn’t even buy a car without one. Have you checked your manual? Maybe there’s a hidden wire somewhere that you can attach an extension cable to.
I have indeed read the manual :c it’s wild too, cuz it’s a super high end stock system with a million speakers and a subwoofer hahaha. Checked forums and yep… USB and Bluetooth ONLY :c
I could swap it out but it’s whatever, it’s not worth the effort and money. It sounds excellent, I just wish the BT was fast like my cheap BT-Aux adapter…
Maybe try a Bluetooth fm transmitter? I have one because my car is too old for bluetooth and also doesnt have aux, but its great and snappy and i just have to reach down to the cigarette lighter to switch songs.
Great suggestion! My sound system is nuts tho, and I’m otherwise an audiophile so that doesn’t work out for me. But thank you <3!
Then use the USB? That seems just as good, no?
Nawhhh I prefer Bluetooth… I like to be able to just get in and go but listen through my phone. I do have a flash drive in the USB, though!
You don’t just pass a phone around? Any long trip, start a queue, add a song, pass clockwise. And if you fuck up the queue and hit play by accident you have to do a shot wherever we end up.
You pass your unlocked phone to another person!?
You’re probably joking, but yeah, I don’t really hang out with people I don’t trust at this point in my life, I’m 37.
You can sorta cheat at this with a USBC DAC/dongle (converts USB C to a headphone jack) and just pass the dongled cord around.
Why on earth would you not just hand them the phone to put a song in queue. Also what songs are exclusive to a specific streaming service? Just play it on whatever you were already listening on.
You can do this with wired carplay/android auto if you really want. Basically every car made after 2018 has the two, even the cheapest of the cheap.
Bluetooth audio (only) only ever had a pretty short reign. And basically every car that came with bluetooth also had a USB port for ipods which still works with modern iPhones (and some android devices).
My civic has a Pioneer audio ui and I have an aux cord!! It’s a usb-c to aux but yeah. It works nicely. Too bad it’s USB-c and everyone’s phones still take lightning.
Give it 4 years and lightning will be a faint memory
Yep, I look forward to it.