[APP][1.16+] PodEmu - connect Android to 30pin iPod docking station or car

This thread is a spin-off of the original thread by spadival. As the original thread is mostly related to original spadival's application called PodMode, I created separate thread to discuss my implementation of the same idea which is called PodEmu.

About
PodEmu is Android application that allows you to connect your Android device to iPod docking station or your car audio system. PodEmu supports both AiR (Advanced) and Simple modes so you can control your Android music app directly from docking station or from your cars steering wheel. PodEmu uses serial protocol to communicate with iPod docking station so it will work only with "old" 30-pin iPod connectors. Lightning interface is not supported.

This application is very similar to PodMode application that already exists out there. So why build new application? There are 3 (well, maybe 4) simple reasons:

1. PodMode didn't work with my car


2. PodMode is not open source (at least it was not when I started the development. Spadival promised to publish source code though)


3. PodMode is not maintained anymore (so author wouldn't fix point 1)


4. for fun... :)

Requirements

1. Android device with USB host support (USB host support not required if you are using FT311D or FT312D chips)


2. DIY cable. Unfortunately there are no ready to use cables available on the market so you need some soldering skills to assemble your own cable. All details on how to do that could be found on original thread by spadival in the second post.

Features

• No root required


• Display track/time information for currently playing song on your docking station or car audio system display.


• Control your favourite Android music app (eg. Spotify) directly from car's steering wheel or docking station remote control


• Download docking station color image to android device. Car audios usually have this feature.


• wide variaty of serial devices are supported (see detailed list below).


• easy to use debug information gathering. If for some reason you car is not supported it is not a problem - using 2 clicks gather all necessary debug information and send it to the developer.


• Entirely Open Source :) You can modify and redistribute as long as you comply with GPLv3.

Download
The application is available on the Market or for manual installation from the GitHub here: https://github.com/xtensa/PodEmu/blo...pp-release.apk.

Source Code
This application is Open Source. Source code is available on GitHub: https://github.com/xtensa/PodEmu/

Screenshots

Supported serial interfaces (for DIY cable)

• FTDI: FT232R, FT231X, FT311D, FT312D


• Prolific: PL2303


• SiLabs: CP2102, CP2105, CP2108, CP2110

PodEmu was tested with FT312D, PL2303, FT232R and CP2102. Other chips should also work (as claimed by driver developer), but were never tested with PodEmu.

TODO

• Add support for playlist/album/artist browse


• Support for more music players