Is there any feedback from the radio to the cellphone hotspot that is streaming?

[micky]

When a cellphone is a hotspot and it streams web-radio to a real radio
(in this case the car radio) is there any feedback from the radio to the
cellphone or the app that is running? Would the app know if I had
turned the radio off, or changed input so it was no longer detecting and
playing the cellphone signal?

It seems very unlikely to me, but I can't keep up with new advances in
tech. And it would account for what seems to be happening.

Specifically, I listen to CNN or MSNBC on the Tunein app and it streams,
is that the right word, through the car radio. The free version of
Tunein is free but you pay by having to listen to mannnny commercials.

One in particular annoys me. It's a commercial for Aramco. A feel-good
ad using a woman's mellifluous voice, talking in cliches about the
future, etc. They don't mention its full name, Saudi Aramco, or that
its majority owner is Saudi Arabia. SA seems to have decided it wants
to improve its image, after the murder of Adnan Khashoggi and
allegations of war crimes in Yemen, and they seem to be starting with
Aramco.

Tunein has a practice of running the same commercial over and over and
over, several times an hour all day long. If one listens to broadcast
tv or radio, different programs have their own set of commericals, so
they change as the day goes on, and it's not annoying, but Tunein plays
the same ones all the time. And in many cases it plays the same one
several times an hour. The Aramco commercial runs 5 or 6 times an hour.
And it's part of a series of ads that take 3 or 4 minutes, maybe longer.

So in the car, I used to change to FM while waiting for the ads to end,
and then I'd forget and listen to FM for 10 or 20 minutes, and when I
went back to Tunein, it is almost always in the middle of another Aramco
commercial. Yesterday this happened 4 times in a row, one break and
then another 4 times.

So now I'm starting to wonder if it could be the same commercial, that
was on pause while I was listening to FM??? Or while the radio was off
altogether?? Is that possible? That the app knew the signal was not
beling played through the radio? Finally I've taken to turning down the
volume so I don't hear it. The app certainly doesn't know ablut that,
and it seems to work, or must it be my imagination?

[Bertrand Sindri]

In sci.electronics.repair micky <NONONO...@fmguy.com> wrote:
> Specifically, I listen to CNN or MSNBC on the Tunein app and it
> streams, is that the right word, through the car radio. The free
> version of Tunein is free but you pay by having to listen to mannnny
> commercials.

The overload of commercials, coupled with the fact that every FM radio
station wants to try to recreate a Howard Stern Jr by having their
variant talk all morning (when they are not otherwise running
commercials) during the commute hours is why I now *only* play
pre-recorded, commercial free sound files from my phone over my car
radio. No commercials, ever, and no talking DJ's either.

> So in the car, I used to change to FM while waiting for the ads to
> end, and then I'd forget and listen to FM for 10 or 20 minutes, and
> when I went back to Tunein, it is almost always in the middle of
> another Aramco commercial. Yesterday this happened 4 times in a row,
> one break and then another 4 times.

This is not at all surprising. They cut to commercial breaks so
frequently that your probability of randomly switching back, and being
in the middle of a commercial break becomes quite high. You'll see the
same effect when channel jumping around on TV -- you more often than
not jump into a commercial break on channel X when switching away from
channel Y.

> So now I'm starting to wonder if it could be the same commercial,
> that was on pause while I was listening to FM???

Unlikely. It is much more probable that you were just unlucky and
picked the right delay time to return such that you were in the middle
of a commercial. If you were to time the content vs. commercials one
day you'd likely find you get a 2-3 minute commercial break every 4-5
minutes. It is not hard to end up returing during each of those 2-3
minute slots, given how often they likely occur.

[Jim Joyce]

On Tue, 25 Jul 2023 06:04:25 -0400, micky <NONONO...@fmguy.com> wrote:

>When a cellphone is a hotspot and it streams web-radio to a real radio
>(in this case the car radio) is there any feedback from the radio to the
>cellphone or the app that is running? Would the app know if I had
>turned the radio off, or changed input so it was no longer detecting and
>playing the cellphone signal?

To me, 'hotspot' implies WiFi, but I have no experience with streaming over WiFi
so I'm going to talk about Bluetooth (BT).

I frequently stream SiriusXM via BT from the SXM app on my phone to the radio in
my pickup, the radio in my garage, or the music system in my home theater. When
I'm streaming via BT and I turn off the receiving device, the SXM app
automatically switches to Pause within about 1-3 seconds.

It's clearly a two-way protocol. I'm not sure how my experience relates to you
and your situation, if at all.

[micky]

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 25 Jul 2023 20:54:33 -0500, Jim Joyce

<no...@none.invalid> wrote:

>On Tue, 25 Jul 2023 06:04:25 -0400, micky <NONONO...@fmguy.com> wrote:
>
>>When a cellphone is a hotspot and it streams web-radio to a real radio
>>(in this case the car radio) is there any feedback from the radio to the
>>cellphone or the app that is running? Would the app know if I had
>>turned the radio off, or changed input so it was no longer detecting and
>>playing the cellphone signal?
>
>To me, 'hotspot' implies WiFi, but I have no experience with streaming over WiFi
>so I'm going to talk about Bluetooth (BT).

You're right, Hotspot means Wifi. And yes, I was talking about
Bluetooth. I'm glad you figured it out, and I'm glad I gave details
about the phone and the car. :-)

>
>I frequently stream SiriusXM via BT from the SXM app on my phone to the radio in
>my pickup, the radio in my garage, or the music system in my home theater. When
>I'm streaming via BT and I turn off the receiving device, the SXM app
>automatically switches to Pause within about 1-3 seconds.

Wow

I guess I should look at the app when I turn off the radio. Usually
I'm driving and try to distract myself as little as possible, but I
could do this while standing still too. Also usually the map is showing
on the phone, so if Tunein shows that it has paused, I wouldn't see it.

I guess I could have thought to look without posting here, but it did
not occur to me (Sometimes it's hard to believe I'm as smart as my
mother said I am.) I've been in the car from Thursday night to Monday
morning. About 600 miles. Plenty of time to have thought of this but I
didn't.

Tomorrow I will watch the phone app while I turn the radio off.

I also got a new map DVD in the mail today.

>
>It's clearly a two-way protocol.

Wow. Those people who make this stuff are so clever.

> I'm not sure how my experience relates to you
>and your situation, if at all.

It's directly applicable. Not necessarily binding, but I bet mine works
like youre does. The situation is the same. If that's what's
happening, it's pretty stupid of me to change to FM and then change back
again just to pick up where I left off with the same annoying commercial
I tried not to hear. LOL



Thanks, Bertrand. I waited to answer you until I got an answer I liked
better!

[micky]

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 25 Jul 2023 20:54:33 -0500, Jim Joyce
<no...@none.invalid> wrote:

BTW, I started the car where there was** no cellular signal. I forget
if I had turned off the phone or the app. And Tunein played for a full
10 minutes just on previously buffered data. IIRC my phone has 64GB of
storage and maybe that made a difference.


**I went to Jamestown, Yorktown, and Norfolk and I think they all had
good coverage but north of there and south of Waldorf Maryland is very
rural and there were a lot of areas with no T-Mobile coverage and not
that much Verizon or anything else. The FM radio still worked,
however, and AM though no station I liked.

[micky]

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 25 Jul 2023 20:54:33 -0500, Jim Joyce
<no...@none.invalid> wrote:

Well, by golly, you were exactly right. Sitting still I could watch the
app go to Pause in less than 2 seconds after I switched from CD Changer
(Bluetooth)** to AM. More than half the time it would switch back to
Play when I switched the radio back to CD Changer.

**This is a car and radio from 2005 and didn't come with Bluetooth.
GTA Carkit has add-ons for many older cars to connect the phone to the
radio, to play phone calls and webradio through the much better car
radio speakers. I think it was about $140 and well worth it. Also has
an AUX input. There might be another company that sells something
similar.

It works in my and I think most cases by plugging into the CD Changer
jack in the back of the radio. I didn't have and didn't want a CD
changer anyhow.

If the phone is on and has once been paired with the car, it connects
when the car is turned on. If the car is on, I think one has to do
something on the phone when you turn the phone on. I've noticed that
bluetooth is so clever that when I'm wearing bluetooth headphones and I
turn the car on, the car takes over the bluetooth without my doing
anything,

I could have known bluetooth was 2-way because, when I turn the car off,
or turn off whatever the phone is connected to, the sounds from the
phone either switch to the phone's speaker or stop altogether. Of
course changing from CD Changer to AM or FM is not the same as turning
the car off, and it's still paired and connected because when I press CD
changer again, it starts playing in under 2 seconds (in those cases
where it restarts on its own.)

So all those times I thought I was killing time until the ad was over, I
was just fooling myself! And though the same ad is played 5 or 6 times
an hour, at least it's not so omnipresent that every time I switch back,
another copy of the ad is playing.

[Jim Joyce]

On Tue, 25 Jul 2023 22:28:24 -0400, micky <NONONO...@fmguy.com> wrote:

>In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 25 Jul 2023 20:54:33 -0500, Jim Joyce
><no...@none.invalid> wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 25 Jul 2023 06:04:25 -0400, micky <NONONO...@fmguy.com> wrote:
>>
>>>When a cellphone is a hotspot and it streams web-radio to a real radio
>>>(in this case the car radio) is there any feedback from the radio to the
>>>cellphone or the app that is running? Would the app know if I had
>>>turned the radio off, or changed input so it was no longer detecting and
>>>playing the cellphone signal?
>>
>>To me, 'hotspot' implies WiFi, but I have no experience with streaming over WiFi
>>so I'm going to talk about Bluetooth (BT).
>
>You're right, Hotspot means Wifi. And yes, I was talking about
>Bluetooth. I'm glad you figured it out, and I'm glad I gave details
>about the phone and the car. :-)
>>
>>I frequently stream SiriusXM via BT from the SXM app on my phone to the radio in
>>my pickup, the radio in my garage, or the music system in my home theater. When
>>I'm streaming via BT and I turn off the receiving device, the SXM app
>>automatically switches to Pause within about 1-3 seconds.
>
>Wow
>
>I guess I should look at the app when I turn off the radio. Usually
>I'm driving and try to distract myself as little as possible, but I
>could do this while standing still too. Also usually the map is showing
>on the phone, so if Tunein shows that it has paused, I wouldn't see it.

<snip>

Be sure to let us know how it goes! I'm curious to see if your experience
matches mine.

[Jim Joyce]

On Wed, 26 Jul 2023 12:23:47 -0400, micky <NONONO...@fmguy.com> wrote:

>In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 25 Jul 2023 20:54:33 -0500, Jim Joyce
><no...@none.invalid> wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 25 Jul 2023 06:04:25 -0400, micky <NONONO...@fmguy.com> wrote:
>>
>>>When a cellphone is a hotspot and it streams web-radio to a real radio
>>>(in this case the car radio) is there any feedback from the radio to the
>>>cellphone or the app that is running? Would the app know if I had
>>>turned the radio off, or changed input so it was no longer detecting and
>>>playing the cellphone signal?
>>
>>To me, 'hotspot' implies WiFi, but I have no experience with streaming over WiFi
>>so I'm going to talk about Bluetooth (BT).
>>
>>I frequently stream SiriusXM via BT from the SXM app on my phone to the radio in
>>my pickup, the radio in my garage, or the music system in my home theater. When
>>I'm streaming via BT and I turn off the receiving device, the SXM app
>>automatically switches to Pause within about 1-3 seconds.
>>
>>It's clearly a two-way protocol. I'm not sure how my experience relates to you
>>and your situation, if at all.
>
>Well, by golly, you were exactly right.

Oops, guess I should read ahead. That's the feedback I was looking for.

>Sitting still I could watch the
>app go to Pause in less than 2 seconds after I switched from CD Changer
>(Bluetooth)** to AM. More than half the time it would switch back to
>Play when I switched the radio back to CD Changer.
>
>**This is a car and radio from 2005 and didn't come with Bluetooth.
>GTA Carkit has add-ons for many older cars to connect the phone to the
>radio, to play phone calls and webradio through the much better car
>radio speakers. I think it was about $140 and well worth it. Also has
>an AUX input. There might be another company that sells something
>similar.
>
>It works in my and I think most cases by plugging into the CD Changer
>jack in the back of the radio. I didn't have and didn't want a CD
>changer anyhow.

Yes, Toyota factory radios tend to have the CD changer port. I've never seen
anyone actually connect a changer there, but I've seen and helped install 15-20
adapters of varying kinds for people who wanted an aux port or a USB port or
even BT. It's a handy port. I hope other car manufacturers do similar.

>If the phone is on and has once been paired with the car, it connects
>when the car is turned on. If the car is on, I think one has to do
>something on the phone when you turn the phone on. I've noticed that
>bluetooth is so clever that when I'm wearing bluetooth headphones and I
>turn the car on, the car takes over the bluetooth without my doing
>anything,
>
>I could have known bluetooth was 2-way because, when I turn the car off,
>or turn off whatever the phone is connected to, the sounds from the
>phone either switch to the phone's speaker or stop altogether. Of
>course changing from CD Changer to AM or FM is not the same as turning
>the car off, and it's still paired and connected because when I press CD
>changer again, it starts playing in under 2 seconds (in those cases
>where it restarts on its own.)
>
>So all those times I thought I was killing time until the ad was over, I
>was just fooling myself! And though the same ad is played 5 or 6 times
>an hour, at least it's not so omnipresent that every time I switch back,
>another copy of the ad is playing.

How many times in life do we fool ourselves. :-)

[Brian Gregory]

On 25/07/2023 11:04, micky wrote:
> When a cellphone is a hotspot and it streams web-radio to a real radio
> (in this case the car radio) is there any feedback from the radio to the
> cellphone or the app that is running? Would the app know if I had
> turned the radio off, or changed input so it was no longer detecting and
> playing the cellphone signal?

A real radio doesn't connect to a hotspot. It receives radio signals.
So what are you talking about?

Hotspot usually refers to a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Perhaps the "real" radio is an internet radio?

If so it's up to the software or app running in the "real" radio what it
sends back.

ON the other hand perhaps you are referring to a bluetooth connection
from the phone to the "real" radio which is acting as a Bluetooth speaker?

In that case the app in the phone may stop or pause when the "real"
radio disconnects, or it may not.

> It seems very unlikely to me, but I can't keep up with new advances in
> tech. And it would account for what seems to be happening.
>
> Specifically, I listen to CNN or MSNBC on the Tunein app and it streams,
> is that the right word, through the car radio. The free version of
> Tunein is free but you pay by having to listen to mannnny commercials.
>
> One in particular annoys me. It's a commercial for Aramco. A feel-good
> ad using a woman's mellifluous voice, talking in cliches about the
> future, etc. They don't mention its full name, Saudi Aramco, or that
> its majority owner is Saudi Arabia. SA seems to have decided it wants
> to improve its image, after the murder of Adnan Khashoggi and
> allegations of war crimes in Yemen, and they seem to be starting with
> Aramco.

Adnan Khashoggi is, as far as I know fine. Perhaps you mean his nephew
Jamal?

> Tunein has a practice of running the same commercial over and over and
> over, several times an hour all day long. If one listens to broadcast
> tv or radio, different programs have their own set of commericals, so
> they change as the day goes on, and it's not annoying, but Tunein plays
> the same ones all the time. And in many cases it plays the same one
> several times an hour. The Aramco commercial runs 5 or 6 times an hour.
> And it's part of a series of ads that take 3 or 4 minutes, maybe longer.
>
> So in the car, I used to change to FM while waiting for the ads to end,
> and then I'd forget and listen to FM for 10 or 20 minutes, and when I
> went back to Tunein, it is almost always in the middle of another Aramco
> commercial. Yesterday this happened 4 times in a row, one break and
> then another 4 times.
>
> So now I'm starting to wonder if it could be the same commercial, that
> was on pause while I was listening to FM??? Or while the radio was off
> altogether?? Is that possible? That the app knew the signal was not
> beling played through the radio? Finally I've taken to turning down the
> volume so I don't hear it. The app certainly doesn't know ablut that,
> and it seems to work, or must it be my imagination?

What radio station are you listening to using Tunein Radio?
As far as I know Tunein don't add their own commercials, except maybe at
the beginning immediately after you choose and start playing a radio
station, though it's difficult to tell, some of the stations do that too.

--
Brian Gregory (in England).

[micky]

In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 26 Jul 2023 15:35:55 -0500, Jim Joyce

<no...@none.invalid> wrote:

>
>>Sitting still I could watch the
>>app go to Pause in less than 2 seconds after I switched from CD Changer
>>(Bluetooth)** to AM. More than half the time it would switch back to
>>Play when I switched the radio back to CD Changer.
>>
>>**This is a car and radio from 2005 and didn't come with Bluetooth.
>>GTA Carkit has add-ons for many older cars to connect the phone to the
>>radio, to play phone calls and webradio through the much better car
>>radio speakers. I think it was about $140 and well worth it. Also has
>>an AUX input. There might be another company that sells something
>>similar.
>>
>>It works in my and I think most cases by plugging into the CD Changer
>>jack in the back of the radio. I didn't have and didn't want a CD
>>changer anyhow.
>
>Yes, Toyota factory radios tend to have the CD changer port. I've never seen
>anyone actually connect a changer there,

My previous car, same model Solara, but 2000, had a changer IN the
radio. I liked that, but by 2015 it stopped working. I couldn't fix it
and to get my CDs out, I had to destroy it. A changer in the trunk
would probably not be so compact or fragile, but I don't want to have to
the trunk to change CDs. And now we have smartphones!

>but I've seen and helped install 15-20
>adapters of varying kinds for people who wanted an aux port or a USB port or

Wow, you must be an expert on this.

>even BT. It's a handy port. I hope other car manufacturers do similar.

GTA Carkit has adapters for many makes of cars, including detailed
videos for iirc every car they make an adapter for. I didn't have to
have a video, but they had one for mine and it does inspire confidence,
when the radio in the video looks just like mine.

Usually only one possibility for any one car. I think they all come
with microphones, which I ran up the A-pillar. I've called home and
left a message and the fidelity is good, even with the top down.

All the extra parts go below the radio and behind the little storage box
that is below the radio. I bought a panel mount with USB and AUX jacks
that I put in the box. Plus I added a cig lighter that is on even when
the car is off. I can use it for charging batteries when I'm not by the
car. And another gizmo that goes in a similar hole that displays the
voltage and has 2 USB jacks. It was hard to get the box back in place
with all the extra things sticking out.

https://www.gtacarkits.com/ (More at the end.)

>
>>If the phone is on and has once been paired with the car, it connects
>>when the car is turned on. If the car is on, I think one has to do
>>something on the phone when you turn the phone on. I've noticed that
>>bluetooth is so clever that when I'm wearing bluetooth headphones and I
>>turn the car on, the car takes over the bluetooth without my doing
>>anything,
>>
>>I could have known bluetooth was 2-way because, when I turn the car off,
>>or turn off whatever the phone is connected to, the sounds from the
>>phone either switch to the phone's speaker or stop altogether. Of
>>course changing from CD Changer to AM or FM is not the same as turning
>>the car off, and it's still paired and connected because when I press CD
>>changer again, it starts playing in under 2 seconds (in those cases
>>where it restarts on its own.)
>>
>>So all those times I thought I was killing time until the ad was over, I
>>was just fooling myself! And though the same ad is played 5 or 6 times
>>an hour, at least it's not so omnipresent that every time I switch back,
>>another copy of the ad is playing.
>
>How many times in life do we fool ourselves. :-)

In some ways this was the worst. It was at least 6 months ago I
starting changing to FM, when they had constant annoying ads for WGU
online college. But most ads they repeat over and over. There is one
now with Danicka Patrick, and she's cute, and she even has a cute voice,
and she's a race-car diver, and she's advertising a non-profit that
saves food that would be discarded for people who need food. Four big
things in her favor, and nothing against her, and yet after the 50th
time, I'm sick of her.

What I got they make for 89 different cars:
https://www.gtacarkits.com/product-category/iphone-aux-car-kit/
$154 for mine, but works perfectly, so well worth it. The webpage and
video show the previous year's radio.
https://www.gtacarkits.com/product/bluetooth-and-iphone-ipod-aux-kits-for-toyota-solara-2004-2008/


This is good: CarPlay & AndroidAuto Add-On for Original Car Stereos
These are much more expensive than the 140 I paid. These are 450 to 600.
I guess they include a lot more, like a screen.
I was condidering for the next car the Buick Cascada. BMW,
Infiniti, Land Rover, many Mercedes, mini-cooper, Nissan, several
Porsches (I think these are all German-owned), but no Cascada. (It has a
built-in map and GPS, but won't work with Andoid Auto.

https://www.gtacarkits.com/product-category/carplay-androidauto-for-original-car-stereo/

Phone holders for specific cars.
https://www.gtacarkits.com/product-category/indash-car-holder/
But they are $65 each. I have a ~$10 magnetic one clamped to an AC
louver.
They have a video on just how to mount the phone holder!
https://www.gtacarkits.com/product/toyota-camry-2007-2011-phone-holder/

It was so humid the other day there was water above the middle two AC
vents. And when I take the keys out of the ignition, they are cold.

[Jim Joyce]

On Thu, 27 Jul 2023 21:15:28 -0400, micky <NONONO...@fmguy.com> wrote:

>In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 26 Jul 2023 15:35:55 -0500, Jim Joyce
><no...@none.invalid> wrote:
>
>>
>>>Sitting still I could watch the
>>>app go to Pause in less than 2 seconds after I switched from CD Changer
>>>(Bluetooth)** to AM. More than half the time it would switch back to
>>>Play when I switched the radio back to CD Changer.
>>>
>>>**This is a car and radio from 2005 and didn't come with Bluetooth.
>>>GTA Carkit has add-ons for many older cars to connect the phone to the
>>>radio, to play phone calls and webradio through the much better car
>>>radio speakers. I think it was about $140 and well worth it. Also has
>>>an AUX input. There might be another company that sells something
>>>similar.
>>>
>>>It works in my and I think most cases by plugging into the CD Changer
>>>jack in the back of the radio. I didn't have and didn't want a CD
>>>changer anyhow.
>>
>>Yes, Toyota factory radios tend to have the CD changer port. I've never seen
>>anyone actually connect a changer there,
>
>My previous car, same model Solara, but 2000, had a changer IN the
>radio. I liked that, but by 2015 it stopped working. I couldn't fix it

My 2002 Highlander had a 6-CD changer like that, but it still had the rear panel
connector for an external CD changer. I added an Aux port. This was before
Bluetooth and USB were a thing.

>and to get my CDs out, I had to destroy it. A changer in the trunk
>would probably not be so compact or fragile, but I don't want to have to
>the trunk to change CDs. And now we have smartphones!
>
>>but I've seen and helped install 15-20
>>adapters of varying kinds for people who wanted an aux port or a USB port or
>
>Wow, you must be an expert on this.

No, you've seen how easy it is. A chimp can do it.

<snip>

>It was so humid the other day there was water above the middle two AC
>vents. And when I take the keys out of the ignition, they are cold.

I currently live in south Mississippi. I know something about humidity.

[Xeno]

A single CD changer that can deal with MP3 format, convert all the songs
you want into MP3 format and stick them onto a *single CD*. I had the 6
stack CD in my 2010 Corolla - and found I never used it much. In my
current car I have all the songs I want to listen to on a thumb drive.
If I get sick of them, I keep others in the glove compartment. The
advantage, not so prone to heat issues like CDs. I used to burn copies
of my CDs to use in the car. At the same time I would rip them into MP3
format and the CDs would then be stored in a safe, dry and cool spot.
Haven't used a CD in the car in, quite literally, years. I think they
are phasing car CD players out in newer models, my current Toyota is
2016 and still has one.


--
Xeno


Nothing astonishes Noddy so much as common sense and plain dealing.
(with apologies to Ralph Waldo Emerson)

[Jim Joyce]

I experimented with MP3 CDs but I pretty quickly transitioned to USB thumb
drives, especially the little fingernail-size ones. I still have some of those
but these days I almost always use SiriusXM. I have a single subscription that I
use (via Bluetooth) in both vehicles, the office, the living room, the back
porch, the garage, and everywhere in between since it runs on my phone.

>I had the 6
>stack CD in my 2010 Corolla - and found I never used it much.

Exactly my experience.

>In my
>current car I have all the songs I want to listen to on a thumb drive.
>If I get sick of them, I keep others in the glove compartment. The
>advantage, not so prone to heat issues like CDs. I used to burn copies
>of my CDs to use in the car. At the same time I would rip them into MP3
>format and the CDs would then be stored in a safe, dry and cool spot.

>Haven't used a CD in the car in, quite literally, years.

Same here. I don't use CDs in the house, as well. My fancy Technics 5-disc
changer hasn't been out of its box in 15-20 years, and none of my computers has
an optical drive of any type, although I do still have an external CD/DVD drive
in a drawer, just in case. I haven't needed it in years.

>I think they
>are phasing car CD players out in newer models, my current Toyota is
>2016 and still has one.

My 2016 Kia and 2017 Toyota, both bought new, still have CD players. I've never
used either of them.

[micky]

In alt.home.repair, on Thu, 27 Jul 2023 00:39:03 +0100, Brian Gregory

<void-invalid...@email.invalid> wrote:

>On 25/07/2023 11:04, micky wrote:
>> When a cellphone is a hotspot and it streams web-radio to a real radio
>> (in this case the car radio) is there any feedback from the radio to the
>> cellphone or the app that is running? Would the app know if I had
>> turned the radio off, or changed input so it was no longer detecting and
>> playing the cellphone signal?
>
>A real radio doesn't connect to a hotspot. It receives radio signals.
>So what are you talking about?
>
>Hotspot usually refers to a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Yes, I meant bluetooth.

>
>Perhaps the "real" radio is an internet radio?

No, the original car radio.

>If so it's up to the software or app running in the "real" radio what it
>sends back.
>
>ON the other hand perhaps you are referring to a bluetooth connection
>from the phone to the "real" radio which is acting as a Bluetooth speaker?
>
>In that case the app in the phone may stop or pause when the "real"
>radio disconnects, or it may not.

Well, after Jim's answer, I watched the app, and the app stops playing
in less than 2 seconds. When I have the radio go back to pplaying, if
the app restarts playing -- sometimes it doesn't -- it takes less than 2
seconds

>
>> It seems very unlikely to me, but I can't keep up with new advances in
>> tech. And it would account for what seems to be happening.
>>
>> Specifically, I listen to CNN or MSNBC on the Tunein app and it streams,
>> is that the right word, through the car radio. The free version of
>> Tunein is free but you pay by having to listen to mannnny commercials.
>>
>> One in particular annoys me. It's a commercial for Aramco. A feel-good
>> ad using a woman's mellifluous voice, talking in cliches about the
>> future, etc. They don't mention its full name, Saudi Aramco, or that
>> its majority owner is Saudi Arabia. SA seems to have decided it wants
>> to improve its image, after the murder of Adnan Khashoggi and
>> allegations of war crimes in Yemen, and they seem to be starting with
>> Aramco.

And Aramco itself is also responsible for 2 oil boycotts of the USA and
for raising prices for political reasons. I understand that they have
only so much oil and eventually they will be like a 50-year old football
player, who should have made as much money as he could when he was
younger, but it's the political reasons I object to. And I'm sure they
have not stopped, despite their feel-good radio commercials.

>
>Adnan Khashoggi is, as far as I know fine. Perhaps you mean his nephew
>Jamal?

Yes, I'm sure I do. I didn't notice they had the same last name.

>
>> Tunein has a practice of running the same commercial over and over and
>> over, several times an hour all day long. If one listens to broadcast
>> tv or radio, different programs have their own set of commericals, so
>> they change as the day goes on, and it's not annoying, but Tunein plays
>> the same ones all the time. And in many cases it plays the same one
>> several times an hour. The Aramco commercial runs 5 or 6 times an hour.
>> And it's part of a series of ads that take 3 or 4 minutes, maybe longer.
>>
>> So in the car, I used to change to FM while waiting for the ads to end,
>> and then I'd forget and listen to FM for 10 or 20 minutes, and when I
>> went back to Tunein, it is almost always in the middle of another Aramco
>> commercial. Yesterday this happened 4 times in a row, one break and
>> then another 4 times.
>>
>> So now I'm starting to wonder if it could be the same commercial, that
>> was on pause while I was listening to FM??? Or while the radio was off
>> altogether?? Is that possible? That the app knew the signal was not
>> beling played through the radio? Finally I've taken to turning down the
>> volume so I don't hear it. The app certainly doesn't know ablut that,
>> and it seems to work, or must it be my imagination?
>
>
>What radio station are you listening to using Tunein Radio?

CNN and MSNBC mostly.

>As far as I know Tunein don't add their own commercials, except maybe at

I'm sure they do.

>the beginning immediately after you choose and start playing a radio
>station, though it's difficult to tell, some of the stations do that too.

They do play an ad at the beginming, but also in middle. Sometimes
tthey seem to go longer, but on those two stations every 10 or 12
minutes and since they play the very same ads on each, for Saudi Aramco,
for some brand of mayonaisse, for WGU online college, etc. I'm sure
Tunein is providing themn.

They may play many fewer when it's C-span radio or an NPR station,
because I suppose they get those stations for free or almost for free.
compared to commercial raadio.