Although the ILX is the entry-level sedan in the Acura stable, the car does not fall short with its technology features. If you wish to know how to mirror your smartphone into an ILX's infotainment screen, then we've done the research for your convenience.
To mirror your smartphone to your ILX's infotainment screen, you can choose from a few options.
- Use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto
- Connect through an aftermarket mirroring kit
- Use a third-party phone bridging software
Do read on as we discuss these smartphone screen mirroring options in greater detail.
How Do I Mirror My Phone To My Acura ILX?
Based on the National Safety Council's (NSC) research, driving while using a mobile phone leads to almost 1.6 million car accidents every year. With these statistics in mind, we should think twice before using our phones while driving.
For most of us nowadays, however, mobile phones are very important tools. They are not just for communication, but also for navigation, information, work, and entertainment. They're a part of our lives.
This is where phone pairing and screen mirroring become useful innovations. Automotive brands, phone companies, and software engineers developed the technology to address this road safety issue.
Smartphone mirroring, like phone pairing, allows you to use your phone through your car's infotainment system.
Phone pairing allows you to route your messages and phone calls to your infotainment system for hands-free operation. However, screen mirroring goes a step beyond and lets you access your phone's screen through your infotainment screen.
Three of the four Acura ILX trims for 2022 come standard with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatibility. These technologies will allow you to mirror smartphone apps to make phone operation while driving a safer activity.
The base ILX trim, however, does not have these compatibilities. You may want to upgrade to an aftermarket infotainment system to avail yourself of these pairing and mirroring systems.
However, both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay will not allow you to mirror your phone's games or videos on your front infotainment screen. These applications can lead to distracted driving and even accidents.
In the next sections, we will share with you the different options of mirroring your phone to your Acura ILX's center screen.
Apple CarPlay
To make driving safer for its iPhone users, Apple introduced CarPlay. As Apple puts it, this system allows people to use their iPhones smartly and safely while they're driving. Using CarPlay, an iPhone user can do the following things.
- Send and receive messages
- Make and receive calls
- Listen to music
- Get driving directions
As mentioned earlier, most of the Acura ILX trims come with an Apple CarPlay-compatible infotainment system. However, the base ILX trim does not have the said feature.
If you have the base ILX trim, however, you can still enjoy Apple CarPlay compatibility by upgrading to an aftermarket infotainment head unit.
Check out this ILX-compatible head unit on Amazon.
All iPhone models, from iPhone 5 to the current iPhone 13, have Apple CarPlay as a standard feature. If you're gunning for the upcoming iPhone 14 this 2022, it will also have the CarPlay feature.
If both your iPhone and your infotainment system are CarPlay compatible, then you simply need to connect them using an Apple Lightning-to-USB cable.
How Do I Activate Carplay?
See the steps below on how to connect your iPhone to your ILX's infotainment system.
- Bring the iPhone and Lightning-to-USB cable into your car.
- Turn the ILX's ignition to "on" or "start" to power up the infotainment system.
- Plug in the Lightning-to-USB cable to your iPhone and to the car's USB data/multimedia port.
- Tap on the "smartphone" button on the center dash to switch between your smartphone display and your Acura's display.
Your ILX's infotainment screen will now show your iPhone's screen icons. Moreover, your iPhone's audio will also be routed to your ILX's car audio system.
For more convenience and safety, you may also want to use the Siri Eyes-Free feature.
How Do I Use Siri On My Acura?
If you have been using an iPhone for some time now, then you probably know about Siri. For new iPhone users, here's a quick background.
Siri is a voice-activated program that acts as a personal assistant for Apple devices such as the iPhone. Siri can answer your questions, type in your dictated messages, or even open your favorite iPhone apps.
Your Acura ILX's CarPlay connection also lets you use the Siri features. For added safety, you can use the convenient "talk" button on the steering wheel to activate Siri.
Check out this short video about using Siri while driving your Acura.
How Do I Use Android Auto On My Acura?
For Android phone users, phone mirroring is as simple as plugging in your smartphone to your car's USB data port. Like with CarPlay, you will need to press the "smartphone" button on the center dash to select between Acura mode and smartphone mode.
With Android Auto, you can do the following:
- Play music, audiobooks, or listen to the news
- Navigate with Google Maps or Waze
- Use voice-activated messaging, phone calls, chat apps
- Use Google Assistant to help you use your Android phone features
However, like CarPlay, Android Auto also does not allow you to mirror online or offline videos through your front infotainment screen.
Does The 2022 Acura ILX Have Wireless CarPlay?
Wireless CarPlay and Wireless Android Auto allow users to connect their smartphones to the car's infotainment system without using a cable. Instead, these wireless features will use Bluetooth as well as a closed wi-fi connection.
Unfortunately, none of the 2022 Acura ILX trims supports wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. Currently, only the following Acura models have these features.
- 2022 Acura MDX
- 2022 Acura RDX
- 2023 Acura Integra A-Spec
However, if your Acura ILX's head unit supports CarPlay, then you still have an aftermarket option. You may get an aftermarket CarPlay adapter to have wireless CarPlay access. Here's a short video featuring a wireless CarPlay adapter.
To use a wireless CarPlay/Android Auto adapter, follow these easy steps.
- Plug in the wireless adapter to your car's USB data port.
- Turn on your smartphone's Bluetooth connection.
- Pair your smartphone and your adapter using Bluetooth.
- Operate your mirrored connection as you would with a wired connection.
Check out this new adapter on Amazon.
Aftermarket Mirroring Kit
As discussed earlier, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto allow you to use your smartphone smartly and safely while driving a car. Although both technologies can mirror most of your phone apps, they do not allow video mirroring.
Playing videos on your front infotainment screen is neither safe nor legal while the car is moving.
However, you may want to watch Youtube or Netflix through your infotainment system while you're parked. For safety reasons, we will always emphasize "parked".
For instance, you may be waiting to fetch your kids from school. Moreover, you may find yourself bored at the supermarket parking lot waiting for your spouse. Watching a video would ease the boredom.
Of course, you can watch videos on your phone outside the car. However, you would probaby rather watch from a bigger screen, with better speakers, a comfortable seat, and air-conditioning.
This is where an aftermarket smartphone mirroring kit would be a delightful convenience. Using a mirroring kit, your car's infotainment screen can also mirror your phone's video files or streaming apps.
Check out this video about aftermarket smartphone mirroring kits and how they stack up against Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
However, current aftermarket smartphone mirroring kits may not integrate with your car's original button controllers. Thus, you will need to tap, scroll, and swipe on your phone and not from the car's infotainment screen.
Third-Party Bridging Software
Some unofficial phone applications allow you to override your phone's factory settings to allow complete screen mirroring, including videos. However, many of these apps need you to jailbreak or root your smartphone.
Jailbreaking is another term for "hacking" an Apple iPhone. On the other hand, rooting means hacking an Android phone. Either way, jailbreaking or rooting can give you more control over your smartphone.
As you may expect, jailbreaking or rooting has its risks.
- Warranty can get voided
- Your smartphone's firmware can get corrupted
- Malicious software can steal personal data from your phone
Because of these risks, we cannot recommend rooting or jailbreaking your smartphone just for complete mirroring purposes.
Instead, we recommend safer mirroring apps like CarBridge because they do not require any phone hacking for installation. Check out this instructional video on how to download and install the CarBridge app.
To download and install CarBridge on your smartphone, just follow these steps.
- Go to your smartphone's browser [Google, Safari, etc.]
- Find the app's website, https://carbridgeapp.com
- Choose the "Download now" button
- Select either "iOS" or "Android" depending on your phone
- Choose "Start Installation"
- Wait for the phone to download and start installing CarBridge
- The Carbridge installer will advertise some free apps and prompt you to install some of them (this is CarBridge's way of covering costs)
- Select and install your free apps [maybe two to five apps depending on CarBridge's requirements]
- Open the new free apps to finish the CarBridge installation on your smartphone
- Plug in your smartphone to your car's infotainment system.
Takeaway
To mirror your smartphone screen to your Acura ILX's infotainment screen, you can choose from the following methods.
- Connect through Android Auto or Apple CarPlay
- Mirror your smartphone through an aftermarket mirroring kit
- Install a third-party smartphone bridging app
Thank you very much for reading. We hope we were able to help you figure out how to mirror your smartphone to your Acura ILX's infotainment screen.
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