Bluetooth Music Streaming

[milleron]

As I don't get metadata via BT on my Samsung Galaxy S III, I thought I'd try connecting it through USB. It won't stream audio at all through USB. It would play MP3s from my phone if I had any, but it won't play Pandora through the Fusion's audio system at all.

My nephew's iPhone DID play Pandora through USB AND displayed song titles.

Can anyone else on the forum please relate experience with Android phones and USB Pandora or Internet-radio streaming?

 

Thanks

Edited May 20, 2013 by milleron

[neod192]

As I don't get metadata via BT on my Samsung Galaxy S III, I thought I'd try connecting it through USB. It won't stream audio at all through USB. It would play MP3s from my phone if I had any, but it won't play Pandora through the Fusion's audio system at all.

My nephew's iPhone DID play Pandora through USB AND displayed song titles.

Can anyone else on the forum please relate experience with Android phones and USB Pandora or Internet-radio streaming?

 

Thanks

That's correct. Android phones will only act as a media storage device when you connect them through USB. They won't output sound, like the iDevices do.

[fusionTX]

That's correct. Android phones will only act as a media storage device when you connect them through USB. They won't output sound, like the iDevices do.

That's interesting. i have not tried that since streaming works well for me.

 

On a related subject, I was trying charge my iPad using USB, and the music stored on my iPad would start playing immediately, but the iPad would not charge. I think an iPhone was charging correctly using USB.

 

Anybody else have problems charging an iPad with USB connections?

[corncobs]

That's interesting. i have not tried that since streaming works well for me.

 

On a related subject, I was trying charge my iPad using USB, and the music stored on my iPad would start playing immediately, but the iPad would not charge. I think an iPhone was charging correctly using USB.

 

Anybody else have problems charging an iPad with USB connections?

I'm not an expert and I don't have an iPad (yet) but I believe to remember that an iPad has a higher power/charging demand than the iPhone and therefore doesn't charge thru the USB.

[neod192]

I'm not an expert and I don't have an iPad (yet) but I believe to remember that an iPad has a higher power/charging demand than the iPhone and therefore doesn't charge thru the USB.

The higher power/charging demand part is correct, but it can charge through USB if there's enough power there :) I think Mac computers have enough power, but the Fusion doesn't - I can try later this evening and see what happens.

[47Minutes]

I'm not an expert and I don't have an iPad (yet) but I believe to remember that an iPad has a higher power/charging demand than the iPhone and therefore doesn't charge thru the USB.

 

It can if you have an auto charger plug that outputs 5A. I have a plug with 2 USB sockets, one is 1 or 2A for phones and one is 5A for devices like an iPad. Works flawlessly for me.

[milleron]

That's correct. Android phones will only act as a media storage device when you connect them through USB. They won't output sound, like the iDevices do.

Thanks, I did some more research on this since posting and found that native Android will not output the PCM stream necessary for digital-to-analog conversion via USB. Manufacturers, however, may choose to add this capability to their Android smart phones. Those that do, apparently output a stream that works with SOME, but not all, DACs. The Galaxy S III I have will, in fact, allow analog conversion from USB through a few third-party devices, but obviously and sadly not through the DAC in Ford hardware. The request to add digital output via USB to the Android OS has been one of the top ten requests by users for over a year, but Google has not acknowledged that they're considering the correction of this deficiency.

Wonder what it would cost to switch the entire household to Apple stuff <shudder>.

[milleron]

Oops -- must edit what I said about Google's intentions.

 

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6965/the-next-version-of-android-some-of-whats-coming

Edited May 26, 2013 by milleron

[TENO1010]

The skipping problem is something I've been dealing with for a while now with my iPhone 4 and I hate it. It seems to happen randomly and will sometimes do it with a certain album one day and then not do it for the same album the next day. Along with this issue I've had a couple other Bluetooth problems that I'll list. Any advice or help to fix these issues would be much appreciated.

 

1. Songs skip randomly when playing Bluetooth. Typically the skip happens between 10 and 30 seconds into the song and will occur through an entire album. I swear this will get me into an accident one day.

 

2. Upon starting up the Bluetooth, the audio will come out of my phone instead of the car speakers. It will still be controlled from the fusion's center console as if its working right. Again this is random and will seem to fix itself next time I start the car.

 

3. Artist and Song info will not correctly appear. Either it will say Unknown for both and at other times it won't show the song name in the bottom left corner when in the home menu and just be blank.

I have had the exact same problems with my bluetooth on my Iphone 4. I have a 2013 Ford Fusion SE not a hybrid. It is so annoying. Has anyone solved, including Ford, this problem?

[elle]

I don't even try to play music in the car anymore from my phone. This is possibly my biggest disappointment with this car. I'm so very glad I didn't spring for the Titanium for the Sony system with the 12 speakers. What would be the point of that expense?

Edited July 4, 2013 by elle

[milleron]

Elle,

There are more critical components in the situation than the Fusion. I do have the Sony system, and with a Galaxy S III, I have no

trouble playing music over BT. It sounds awesome. I'd have a hard time distinguishing it from HD radio or even a CD. The point is that unless you've tried this with several different phone models on more than one wireless carrier with the same poor results, it's difficult to blame "this car." Have you been through those steps?

[JimArch]

Elle,

There are more critical components in the situation than the Fusion. I do have the Sony system, and with a Galaxy S III, I have no

trouble playing music over BT. It sounds awesome. I'd have a hard time distinguishing it from HD radio or even a CD. The point is that unless you've tried this with several different phone models on more than one wireless carrier with the same poor results, it's difficult to blame "this car." Have you been through those steps?

I agree, iPhone 4 on Verizon using BT for music into the standard FFH SE radio, sound quality is excellent. I can't say the SiriusXM sounds as good (end of trial = cancel), but the BT or USB approach do sound clear and solid. No complaints from me.

[elle]

Elle,

There are more critical components in the situation than the Fusion. I do have the Sony system, and with a Galaxy S III, I have no

trouble playing music over BT. It sounds awesome. I'd have a hard time distinguishing it from HD radio or even a CD. The point is that unless you've tried this with several different phone models on more than one wireless carrier with the same poor results, it's difficult to blame "this car." Have you been through those steps?

 

There are old threads here from me discussing this issue, months ago. Did a LOT of research on it then. It's not unique to the phone; all sorts of systems are having the problem. Please don't confuse me with someone who spouts off without doing my research. Thank you.

[elle]

 

There are old threads here from me discussing this issue, months ago. Did a LOT of research on it then. It's not unique to the phone; all sorts of systems are having the problem, and it began happening when people "upgraded" to MFT 3.5.1. Please don't confuse me with someone who spouts off without doing my research. Thank you.

[milleron]

 

There are old threads here from me discussing this issue, months ago. Did a LOT of research on it then. It's not unique to the phone; all sorts of systems are having the problem. Please don't confuse me with someone who spouts off without doing my research. Thank you.

Gee, sorry, but it's customary to provide a link to those other threads, so that readers of this thread will know where you're coming from. What, in fact, were the results of testing with other types of phones and other wireless carriers in your car? Did you also experiment with these variables in different geographic locations?

How would you explain the fact that many of us with 2013 Fusions get flawless performance if the fault lies in "this car?"

[elle]

Actually, what's customary is to read the old threads and do searches on a topic instead of pretending to know it all or getting puffed up and defensive. My Google works just fine. Outta here.

Edited July 5, 2013 by elle

[elle]

And, here it is, since you couldn't find the same topic a few posts down in this forum: http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/6233-myford-touch-glitches/?p=47573

 

As I said in this post and here, I did a lot of investigating, read a lot of online complaints on various forums, not just this one. It's not specific to the platform, it's not specific to the car. It's specific to MFT 3.5.1. Upgrading to 3.5.1 is when it began for everyone who has this problem, no matter what kind of Ford they are driving or what year it is.

 

No, I cannot tell you why it works for some and not for others. I'm not a software engineer. My guess is that there's some obscure setting that, if you hit that lottery just right, keeps it from starting. Mine worked fine until I introduced a second phone to my car. All hell broke loose after that. I sincerely hope that the next update to MFT fixes this problem. They've been getting complaints about it from many MFT users ever since 3.5.1 came out.

Edited July 6, 2013 by elle

[acdii]

Mine worked fine until I introduced a second phone to my car. All hell broke loose after that. I sincerely hope that the next update to MFT fixes this problem.

Here is the problem. The system can stream from 2 different sources, one for the phone sync and one for the music stream, and this can cause issues even if only one phone is present. Since only one of our phones has music streaming on it, we dont have this issue, but I have had issues where my phone, which is set as primary does not connect, but my wife's phone will, yet I can stream music from my phone while hers is connected. It is possible that if both phones can stream and both are in the car, that can cause the system to hang.

 

I dont know if you tried this yet, but have you deleted both phones and added back in only one?

[elle]

Oh yeah, that is the first thing I tried.

[spartanmisfit]

Luckily my BT issue is not as bad as it seems many others are having, however it's enough to make me just about pull my hair out. This problem seems to be completely random but who knows. Sometimes while streaming music from my Motorola RAZR HD using Rhapsody it will play about 10-30 seconds of each song and then skip to the next one. I have checked to see if it's caused by my phone or the car and it has to be the car. Sometimes it works fine and sometimes it does not. I have tried all sorts of different methods to get it to work normally when it's skipping and I'm about as frustrated as I can get without spitting on the screen. lol

[acdii]

Luckily my BT issue is not as bad as it seems many others are having, however it's enough to make me just about pull my hair out. This problem seems to be completely random but who knows. Sometimes while streaming music from my Motorola RAZR HD using Rhapsody it will play about 10-30 seconds of each song and then skip to the next one. I have checked to see if it's caused by my phone or the car and it has to be the car. Sometimes it works fine and sometimes it does not. I have tried all sorts of different methods to get it to work normally when it's skipping and I'm about as frustrated as I can get without spitting on the screen. lol

Pandora used to do that on my iphone, and it seems an update to Pandora fixed it.

 

One thing I found is that I cant make a call when I first start the car, I have to wait for the system to fully boot, so I wait at least 5 minutes before I make a call now after starting the car.

[sdeeble]

Is it possible to play a movie thru the screen?

Looks like all the connections are there. :drool:

[murphy]

Is it possible to play a movie thru the screen?

Looks like all the connections are there. :drool:

Yes but it only works when the vehicle is in Park.

[neod192]

Is it possible to play a movie thru the screen?

Looks like all the connections are there. :drool:

Yes, as long as the car is in Park ... There are some kits out there that unlock the screen while the car is in motion, but they're over $400 and come with huge legal liability!

[corncobs]

Is it possible to play a movie thru the screen?

Looks like all the connections are there. :drool:

I haven't tried but yes it should be possible as long you are parked and the shifter is in P. :-) It plays the audio nicely thru BT when watching videos on the iPhone screen. ;-)