Galaxy S4 - No Analogue Audio Through USB/Dock connector

Update - My son has a Galaxy S3. I installed SoundAbout on his phone and tested the cable using the Dock (Analogue) setting and it works perfectly. So I know the cable is not at fault. It seems that Samsung have changed something on the S4 that effects the audio output through the USB connector, or how the Dock mode is triggered. I'm really hoping now that Dave can find a fix for this and update SoundAbout.

Dave, please let me know if you are looking into this, and if so do you think you can get SoundAbout working for the S4?

The S4 has Android 4.2.2.   Is the version of Android the same on the S3 versus the S4?

What version of Android is on the S3?

I'm not sure what pins this connector is using to get the audio from the micro USB on the phone to the 3.5mm plug.  Do you have a URL to this connector?

SoundAbout wrote:The S4 has Android 4.2.2.   Is the version of Android the same on the S3 versus the S4?

What version of Android is on the S3?

I'm not sure what pins this connector is using to get the audio from the micro USB on the phone to the 3.5mm plug.  Do you have a URL to this connector?

Hi, thank you for the reply.

My sons Galaxy S3 has Android version 4.1.2.

I purchased the cable from Amazon. It is made in China and looks very good quality. The Galaxy S4 (GT-19505) is not listed as supported, but I assume that the pin connections would be the same on all Samsung Galaxy models. This is the link to the item - Cable

There cannot be that much of a difference because I have found an alternative. The iBOLT xProDock Active Music Vehicle Dock for Samsung Smartphones is compatible with both the S3 and the S4 and uses a similar cable, but is expensive at a price of £39.95 plus postage. Here is a link - Dock

Any movement on this? Good or bad. All my music is on my phone, so it would be great if you could get your app to work with the S4. If you don't think it is possible in the near future, I think I might buy the iBolt dock. I know it's expesive, but it's got great reviews and I would like to use my S4 in my car as soon as possible. I've still bought the Pro version of Soundabout to support it's development as I know it will be usefull, even if I do buy the iBolt dock.

If it is a resistor that is needed, the app might not be able to resolve the issue as the switch would occur before the software layer.

There is an old thread about this, regarding the S2, S3 HERE

Another thread HERE

I don't think the resistor is needed, or Soundabout would not be able to direct sound to the USB port on the Galaxy S3. It is possible that the S4 will only allow sound to to the USB port when dock mode is triggered. I was hoping that it was Android 4.2.2 that was causing the problem and you would be able to find a work round. I have noticed that as I have been installing various app's, that some of them will not work on the S4. The question is, is it the phone hardware causing the problem or the operating system? Are there any other manufacturers using Android 4.2.2 that Soundabout could be tested on?

That's why audio can be tough to deal with in Android. There are changes occurring in Android itself and there are also differences to audio features, like Bluetooth, that vary from phone to phone. One thing I've noticed is that 4.2.2 brings some variations to Bluetooth as they switched from Bluez to Broadcom.

I noticed this thread regarding your issue. It sounds like someone did get the phone to send audio from micro USB to the 3.5mm cable.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-accessories/256005-review-inexpensive-dock-cable.html#post2895977

The cable they bought from eBay mentions some Android settings needed to get the cable to work:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=111002137997&ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:US:3160

The link that you posted is referring to the S3. My cable works with the S3. The settings that you mention have already been set on my S4, so this is not the problem. It looks like there isn't a simple solution to this issue, so I'm going to buy the iBolt dock. Although it is expensive, at least I know it will work with my S4. I still hope that you find a solution as I'm sure there will be other S4 owners that would want SoundAbout to be fully compatible.