The AppRadio interface isn’t bad, but of course it seems cluttered compared to Apple’s clean interfaces.

Without a CD/DVD drive, you’re limited to radio and media over USB or HDMI, but by simply connecting your smartphone to the AppRadio 4, it will bring new life into the headunit, with the possibility of feeding it a variety of your own content, not only through Apple’s CarPlay platform or MirrorLInk, but with your device connected, applications such as Apple Music, Spotify or Pandora can be played through the receivers own audio player. This is great if you find CarPlay’s crashing a real burden from time to time, and it’s a nice way to have something a bit more stable to use until Apple iron out all the niggles that its CarPlay platform can bring! Wireless Bluetooth Audio as listening to text messages, calendar information, and reminders. The head unit's audio is muted while Siri Install the AppRadio app onto the device from the AppStore/PlayStore, including any compatible apps that you wish to use.Compatible apps can be found by opening the AppRadio app and selecting the 'recommended apps' tab. When you power up the device (without turning on CarPlay), you are taken to the Pioneer Home screen, that features quite a lot of menus and navigation options and might feel like a complex maze, especially for users accustomed to iPhone’s sophisticated, simple interfaces. Well, I have numerous complaints about this device, but the brightness of the screen is not among them. I don't believe you can adjust the brightness of the screen, but it does not seem overly bright to me. My issues with this device are 1. software related to CarPlay by Apple and 2. just specific to this device. I'm not totally sure which category each complaint falls into; the reader can decide.With this head unit you can also do everything in a voice-automated and “eyes-free” way by making use of your iPhone’s Siri functionality. You don’t have to be distracted to look at and touch-control your head unit again and again while driving. The voice-input is taken through a built-in microphone on the head unit, and not the one on your iOS device. Dual USB Port

Now you can play audio files in FLAC format on your car’s stereo, without having to convert. Voice-control with Siri It is worth highlighting that CarPlay is an evolving software platform that lives on your Apple iOS device, not in the receiver itself. So whichever aftermarket receiver you choose to install in your vehicle, the OS experience will be the same throughout – Don’t let any dealer tell you otherwise!

My instant reaction, when turning on the Pioneer, was that the screen felt lower in quality. The pixels on CarPlay icons looked more pixelated than on the Alpine, even though both displays share the same resolution of 800×480, and the Alpine’s display is bigger. If you have an iPhone 4S or 5, you'll hear Siri's voice prompts through your vehicle's sound system, and you can make commands or ask questions through the microphone that's included with this receiver. You can set reminders, ask for songs, request directions, or anything else you'd normally do with your iPhone. Works with Android™ phones Whether you connect your phone via a USB connector or not, this head unit does have some basic Bluetooth support for actions like hands-free calling, wireless song search and audio streaming, and audio control. This is built-in to ensure driver safety in accordance with local driving laws. Works with your iPod Ensure the device is set to 'iPhone' and connection is set to 'USB', ensure that 'CarPlay' is turned on