The Scosche freqOUT is the best way to listen to iPhone in the car using the in-dash radio and speakers. That is, if your car is more than a few years old. The in-dash stereos in many new cars have an auxillary jack to connect your smartphone using a USB or mini-jack cable to your phone's headphone jack. Stereos without an auxillary jack require other methods to connect to your smartphone's music and play through your car's speakers.
An FM transmitter that creates a mini broadcast from your phone to a radio station (frequency) on your car stereo has been a popular, yet often unreliable method. The problem with using an FM transmitter, is that you often need to change stations as you drive along and lose the station to static and interference. I've tried most brands of FM transmitters and Scosche makes the best ones around.
The freqOUT and Scosche tuneFREQ app to the rescue
The freqOUT plugs into your car's 12 volt power socket (previously called the "cigarette lighter"). A bendable stem connects to control buttons for easy access while driving. The freqOUT works together with the Scosche tuneFREQ iPhone app (free from the iTunes store).
Connect the iPhone to the freqOUT using the iPhone adapter, open the tuneFREQ app and press the station finder in the bottom left corner. The frequency of a clear channel is shown in huge numbers on your iPhone. The freqOUT automatically switches to the station identified by the tuneFREQ app.
The biggest reason that the freqOUT is the best way to listen to iPhone in the car is because of the way the tuneFREQ apps works. What is unique about the tuneFREQ app is that it uses the phone's GPS to determine where you are, choosing free radio stations for your location. Along with the best station, it offers six alternate frequencies that are good possibilities —telling you exactly which frequencies don't have a radio station in the area (my wish come true).
Tune the car radio to the station frequency chosen by the tuneFREQ app. If that station isn't perfectly clear, tap on another displayed option. This is much easier than letting an FM transmitter repeatedly scan to find a new station.
Create custom driving playlists
Another feature of the tuneFREQ app is creating customized playlists for your drive. From within the app, you can choose songs and albums to play that can suit the mood of your route, or help you to stay awake in areas where the road trip is boring. I put together a happy playlist that adds sing-along songs for long stretches of desert.
The freqOUT plays all music from your smartphone
If you don't want to listen to the music you have saved to your iPhone, the freqOUT works with any music that is playing on your iPhone. If you have a premium Spotify, MOG, or Rhapsody account where you can listen to playlists on your phone, you can listen to it on the freqOUT including using play, skip, and repeat controls. Artists will be displayed in the same way your iTunes music is displayed.
Best used with iPhones
The freqOUT is designed to work with an iPhone, iPod, or iPad. The iPhone adapter makes it possible for the freqOUT to control the music playback on your iPhone, show the current song title and artist playing on the freqOUT LCD display, and will charge your phone so you don't arrive at your destination with a depleted battery.
Control while keeping your eyes on the road- One of the best features of the freqOUT is its easy to use push button music control. The large center button on the head of the freqOUT can be pressed without taking your eyes off the road. One press pauses/plays the music. Two quick presses skips forward to the next song, and three quick presses takes you back to the beginning of the song or returns to the previous title. This was the only frustration I had with the freqOUT, the three-press-return was tricky and took my concentration to make it work (aka "distracted driving").
Displays current song and artist - The freqOUT uses Radio Data System (RDS) to display the song and artist on the freqOUT LCD as well as on car radios that have the RDS feature. If your car stereo can display the title of a CD or track, it may also be able to display the song playing from your iPhone.
Not just iPhones
While the freqOUT's adapter connects to iPhones, and the tuneFREQ app is only available in iTunes, you can use any kind of device that has a headphone or line-out connection. A mini-jack port can be found on the backside of the freqOUT control head to connect to your device. Although it will play the music from other devices, the control or song display features are only available on iOS devices. You will also need to connect the device to another USB car charger.
What do you use to listen to music in your car?
