I just brought my F56 home Monday night, and I am learning how things work. I got the basic radio, so none of the stuff that comes with the screen.

I'm kinda of bummed that I can't connect using bluetooth to my phone to listen to music (something I had in my previous car), but it is what it is. So I am trying to use the USB connection, and I am having some issues.

When I connect using the USB cable, sometimes the phone plays the songs on it in a shuffle (which is what I want it to do), sometimes it plays them in alphabetical order, and sometimes it just repeats the same song, over and over. I haven't done anything differently, I just plugged the phone into the car via USB.

Has anyone experienced this, and if so, what the heck is going on? I can use the audio jack to listen to music, but then I lose the ability to scroll through the songs or skip unless I use the touch screen on the phone, which I am trying to avoid doing since I am driving.

Also, is there any way to use Pandora over the USB connection, or am I stuck with using the audio jack for that?

My phone is a HTC One M8, so it's not like I'm using some ancient Android version.

Thanks,
Heif

 

to be blunt, having the music on the phone and scrolling through it on the basic display just sucks...it's always going to be a PITA to deal with. i gave up on it and purchased a bluetooth "audio only" adapter that plugs into the cigarette adapter. it allowed me to connect via bluetooth to play music and still take advantage of using the cars built-in bluetooth for phone calls....so essentially the phone will connect to 2 bluetooth services simultaneously.


didnt' really answer your question but am giving you other possible options to use both phone and audio services.

 

How is this working for you? The reviews on Amazon are mixed.

 

Almost 3 months now and zero problems. Works exactly how I want it to. Amazon prime you get 30 days to try it out and if you don't like it you lose out on $8.

 

Maybe I'm confused. If your phone is plugged into the USB and you have the radio set to "Multimedia" and you're playing music on Pandora, it doesn't play through the car?

I have an iPhone, and listen to Beats all the time in the car. Shouldn't it work the same way for Android?

 

no it doesn't. iphone does audio over USB...android does not. although one of the features of Android L (5.0) will be audio over USB.

 

Nope. When you plug in an Android phone, it basically turns into a little hard drive, and the only thing that the Mini will grab are the songs stored on the phone, usually what's on the SD card. So I can be playing Pandora on my phone speakers, but if the phone is connected via USB to the car, the Mini radio is playing the songs I have saved on my SD card. And it's got other quirks, with every radio being different. For example, my Veloster wouldn't even play music through the USB, but I had BT A2DP, so it was no big deal. In Minis with the advanced bluetooth and visual boost (or whatever it is is with the screen), I believe they have the A2DP. The basic radio does not.

I'm getting the quirks worked out, and I may just go with MarcoPolo's bluetooth adapter idea and avoid using the USB altogether.

 

I got mine yesterday and it works very well. One question for you, though. Do you leave it plugged in all the time? Mine was still drawing power after the car was shut off, and I am worried that it will drain the battery.
Thanks!

 

if i'm not mistaken, power stays on for 3 minutes after you shut-down/lock the car. may want to do a test, but i've had mine since april and it has never been unplugged and i've been fine so far.

let me add that i specifically recommended this unit to you because MOST units out there run an old version of bluetooth connectivity (1.0, 2.0, 2.1, etc...) and the older versions lack some of the features (dual BT connectivity, power draw, etc...). this was a 2014 Release by Rockford fosgate.

 

Thanks! I was having one of those "is this car totally shut down" nights. I'm still working out the quirks on this little beast.

It works great, I had the hubby call me and it shut down the music, I got the phone call, and once the call ended the music started right back up. Sounds pretty good, too. Appreciate the recommendation

I also installed the CravenSpeed phone mount last night, too. Another excellent product.

Heif

 

It has been possible to add the capability starting with Android 4.0, but it isn't built into the system yet.

https://www.google.com/search?q=android+usb+audio+out