Listening to music in your car is one of the brighter spots in driving, and can make a daily commute a lot more bearable. If you want to listen to the music on your iPhone 6, you can connect your iPhone to your car’s stereo and speakers – which are much louder and better-sounding than the iPhone’s own internal mono speaker.
So – how do you do it? There are quite a few ways to connect your iPhone 6 to your car stereo. Here are some of the most common ways, with the preferred ways coming first.
1. Connect over Bluetooth
Newer and higher-end stereos include Bluetooth capabilities, making it easy to connect your iPhone 6 to your car stereo. Simply enable Bluetooth on your iPhone 6 (Settings > Bluetooth) and then select your car stereo from the list of devices. You may need to put your stereo in pairing mode to see it in that list, so refer to your stereo’s documentation to do so. Usually, you’ll be holding down a Bluetooth button until you get an audio and/or light cue that pairing is ready to proceed.
2. Use a 3.5mm audio cable to an AUX audio input
Some stereos include 3.5mm audio ports, which make it very easy to connect the iPhone 6. Simply get a 3.5mm audio cable, then connect one end to your iPhone 6’s headphone jack, and the other to the 3.5mm AUX input on your stereo.
3. Use a Lightning to 30 Pin adapter
Some older but higher-end cars have Apple 30 pin connectors, allowing iPods and older iPhones to be connected directly to their stereos. The new iPhone 6 uses a Lightning connector instead, so in order to connect to these 30 pin systems you’ll need an adapter. This Kit Lightning to 30 pin adapter is tiny but works well, and is also available in black. If you’d prefer the adapter in cable form, you can pick up a genuine Apple Lightning to 30 pin converter cable.
4. Use an FM transmitter
If there are no Bluetooth or wired connections available to your car’s stereo, you’ll have to get creative. One clever option is to use an FM transmitter, which makes a very short range FM broadcast. You can tune into this broadcast using your car’s FM radio. This Olixar Smartune Bluetooth FM transmitter connects to your phone using Bluetooth or a 3.5mm audio cable, then transmits to FM on the frequency of your choice.
5. Use a tape deck adapter
If even FM radio isn’t an option, there’s still hope. If your stereo has a tape deck, you can get a special tape deck to 3.5mm adapter. You insert it like a normal cassette, then use the trailing 3.5mm cable to plug into your iPhone 6’s headphone jack. This allows you to get music playing through your car’s speakers, without any newfangled technology whatsoever.
Anything we missed?
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